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.

An In-Depth Look at the Progressives

The Progressive Era lasted from roughly the 1890s to 1920. The Progressives were not a cohesive group with one strategy or even a single agenda. They simply wanted to improve society. However, their legacy and contributions are much debated. Read more »