Constitution Day 2008
September 17th
In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring educational
institutions that receive federal funding to present a program focused
on the U. S. Constitution each year on Constitution and Citizenship Day.
The Center for Civic Education, in collaboration with the American
Association of School Administrators, is proud to offer free lessons on
the Constitution for use in celebrating Constitution and Citizenship Day
on September 17, 2008. Constitution and Citizenship Week is September
17-23, which affords teachers the opportunity to incorporate these
special lessons at any time that during the week.
Helpful Links for Teachers
The website presents a pre K-12 civics education scope
and sequence for New York State teachers, supervisors, and curriculum developers including the
following components: Concepts, Content Understandings, Learning
Objectives, Knowledge Goals, Learning Skills and Civic Dispositions. It
was compiled by NYSBA’s Law, Youth and Citizenship Program
consultant Dr. George Gregory, with input from our many state and
national partners. The project was funded by the New
YorState Bar Association, the New York Consortium for Civic Education
and the Carnegie Foundation. It is broken down by grade
level, linked to state and national standards and offers each level of
instruction various classroom activities. We feel it is very teacher
friendly.
Lessons for grades K-12 are available for no cost from the Center's
website at constitutionday.civiced.org. These lessons,
designed to assist schools and federal agencies to meet the requirements
of the legislation, have been adapted from the Center's We the
People: The Citizen & the Constitution and Foundations of
Democracy curricular materials. Audio recordings of selected
Constitution Day lessons are also available on the Center's website.
Five new lessons will be available September 8.
ConSource was founded in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit with the
singular goal of creating and maintaining the first, free,
fully-indexed, comprehensive online library of constitutional sources.
Towards this goal, the project launched ConSource.org on Constitution
Day, September 17, 2007 with five core founding collections containing
roughly 1,000 documents. Washington's Papers, a collection of over
10,000, was added in time for President's Day February 2008. For each
content addition, over 50,000 students were taught about the
constitution via webcast.
Wednesday, September 17, is
Constitution Day. Help students learn about core constitutional
principles and the upcoming election with CRFC lessons. "Habeas Corpus and 'Enemy Combatants'"
features information and lessons for elementary, middle, and high school
classrooms on this central protection. Students can also explore voting
rights, discuss the importance of democratic elections, and develop ways
to track the candidates leading up to November. All lessons are free and
ready-for-classroom-use.
Online interactive quiz and
activities on Article II and the Presidential Election. A 12-page
Celebrate the Constitution activity book - available in PDF
format.
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New York State Social Studies Standards
www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/ssls.html
www.abanet.org/publiced/resources/home.html
www.constitutionday.us
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National Council for the Social Studies
www.ncss.org
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Constitutional Rights Foundation
www.crf-usa.org
www.statecourtwatch.org
A resource for teachers and students
that makes connections between New York State case law and the subjects
required by the New York Social Studies
Standards.
www.brownvboard.net
Sponsored by the New York State Bar
Association and minority Bar associations, to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Helps bring the
case to middle and high school students through dynamic lesson plans
incorporating primary documents and the 2005 commemoration
testimony.
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