This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Shelby County v. Holder" that Congress had exceeded its Fifteenth Amendment enforcement authority when it reauthorized a part of the Voting Rights Act (a coverage formula) that forced places with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before making changes to their election laws.…

Active learning, including in-class debates, is used in social science classrooms as a means of improving meaning and increasing understanding of complex materials. However, in-class debates do not fully satisfy all aspects of experiential learning because students do not get to experience the results of multifaceted concepts, such as strategic…

Teachers live for the "teachable moments"--those opportunities to connect their subject content to events taking place beyond the classroom. They can occur spontaneously, lucky occasions to bring the curriculum to life grabbed on the fly. In other instances, a teachable moment looms large. In hundreds of thousands of classrooms nationwide,…

Describes a unit on voting conducted by high school seniors for first graders in Bangor, Maine. Lists learning goals for both groups, describing how high school teacher and students collaborated with first-grade teacher to develop the unit and construct teaching aids. Details the unit's components, including a voting game, democracy, voting…

Presents a handbook of activities to sharpen elementary students' observational and critical thinking skills as they monitor national, local, and classroom elections. Activities teach the steps of sound decision making. Students learn to set up complete classroom or schoolwide elections. A poster describes life in the White House. (SM)

Discusses religious influences on nineteenth-century voting behaviors. Demonstrates how such historiographic information might be integrated into standard teaching on this period. Contends this integration of religious materials will promote student understanding of the role of religion in U.S. history. Points out that historiographical study can…

In an experiment conducted under classroom conditions with 8th grade students, the simulation game "Democracy" was shown to be effective at teaching that "log-rolling" is an acceptable part of the legislative process. Two aspects of the game--role identification and game structure--were shown to contribute independently to its effectiveness.…

Describes a two-day activity in which elementary students examine voting rights, the right to assemble, and women's suffrage. Explains the game, "Assemble, Reassemble," and a student-produced talk show with five students playing the roles of leaders of the women's suffrage movement. Profiles Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan…