Journey Through History

To help students learn what is in the Bill of Rights and why it’s important, I have students work in groups and I tell them that they can only keep 5 of the 10 amendments.  In the left column of this worksheet, they must paraphrase what is in each amendment.  Then, they must discuss with their group and come to a consensus about which 5 they can keep and use the right column for their rationale.  Once groups have finished, I usually make a chart on the board with one column for each group and check off which amendments each group would keep.  Then, I lead a discussion about why each group made the choices they did.  It usually leads to some interesting debates.  In the end, the students come to the conclusion that I of course wanted them to all along—that they’re ALL important!

We do not learn to drive by reading about it alone, and “citizenship, like driving, is not a spectator sport” (The American Promise, 1998).  I follow this model when teaching Civics, giving students the opportunity to practice participation in government, in addition to learning about it in class.

Therefore, all of my students must write a letter to an elected official or a letter to the editor about an issue of their choice (and we mail them!).  They must also choose from a menu of interactive activities and complete one of them.  These include: visiting a government agency, attending a town meeting, completing a government-related job shadow, or conducting a government-related interview.

Feel free to adapt these documents for your purposes.  I’m sure I did at some point, and I don’t even remember from where I got the original ideas and materials, so thank you to anyone from whom I have borrowed.

The Oral History Project is a semester-long project that I do with an advanced college-prep 20th Century History Class. Students research a major event of the 20th Century, find an interview subject, write questions, conduct an interview, and transcribe the interview.

The project allows students to gain practice in a number of social studies skills and life skills. Students become “experts” in a particular area of history, and they serve a very important function of documenting someone’s history, which might not have been done otherwise. They write for a variety of audiences in a variety of modes including: letters to their subjects, annotated bibliographies, and a reflective journal. Perhaps even more importantly, they work on interpersonal skills and make a connection with an older person in the community.

The project can be used in its entirety, or individual pieces may be useful to different teachers. It can also be modified to suit many grade levels. For example, teachers of younger students might bring interview subjects into the classroom or students might interview family members. Please click to download the complete Word Document.