Comments on: Calling for a Teacher Discussion of the Nation’s Civics Report Card

By: Mark Terry

Mark Terry — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:08:42 +0000

Rachel, thanks for the forum. At our school our 5th/6th graders receive dedicated time to learn about the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and especially the events pre-, during, and post-Revoutionary War. We emphasize ‘hands-on,” experienced-based learning. Our students, teachers, and parents present events like Colonial Day and the “Ketchup War” to make it stick with our kids. Our results have been encouraging. To the commentators who bash schools for not teaching about out Founding Fathers and citizen rights…they are ignorant of what we give our kids.

By: shelly r. jennings

shelly r. jennings — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:44:34 +0000

This fall I will be entering my 6th year of teaching. The first 2 years I taught Middle School Math, the last 3 years I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Social Studies. To say there is a difference in staff development between these two subject areas is an understatement. I have read through some of the comments on this blog and, sadly, they all say the same thing. Social Studies is only important when it relates to reading and writing skills. One of the most absurd things I have discovered while teaching Social Studies is at the Special Education Level. Students who have minutes for writing take those minutes with their Special Education Language Arts teacher, yet they are put into the regular education Social Studies classes. In my district we give them two district level writing projects a year. When I inquired as to why they were not in the Special Education Social Studies rooms, the answer was because they only had minutes for writing. I don’t know, this policy seems unfair to the student……..But it made me realize how low the emphasis is on Social Studies as compared to the “other” three.

By: Rachel Gillespie

Rachel Gillespie — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:19:38 +0000

Gregg – Thanks for your great comment! We agree that civics should and can be integrated across multiple classes in order to give students a great exposure to these constitutional principles. We know that Constitution Day is a great way to set aside some time and dig into these ideas with students – hope you are able to use some of our resources for Constitution Day this year.

By: Rachel Gillespie

Rachel Gillespie — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:16:34 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts Flora – we at the Bill of Rights Institute couldn’t agree more that responsible citizenship goes hand-in-hand with character. Thanks for your dedication in the classroom!

By: Rachel Gillespie

Rachel Gillespie — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:13:22 +0000

You are right Tom – it is an uphill battle to “catch” people’s attention, especially students. We hope you can use our resources and games to engage your students! Thanks for your dedication in the classroom!

P.S. – If you can think of a way to teach constitutional principles through Angry Birds, we are on board with helping to make the game!

By: Sabrina

Sabrina — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:03:29 +0000

I’ve heard from elementary teachers across our state (WV) that social studies is not a priority in their classroom and resources and professional development for history or civics lags far behind other subjects.
Our CSOs embed civics and government along with several other topics across all grade levels in social studies but like others have said covering all you have to cover makes it difficult to make everything meaningful.
On a positive note, civics has been reinstated (a couple years ago) for 12th grade as a graduation requirement.

By: Tom Siembor

Tom Siembor — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 17:51:24 +0000

As a teacher of 12th Graders in New York State, I can say we require students to pass a semester course on government in their senior years. With the allure of eye-catching media, we have to work constantly to make the Constitution relevent throughout the course. Thanks Bill of Rights Institute! We we as a nation spent as much time with the law as with Angry Birds, we’d all be scholars !

By: Mike Turner

Mike Turner — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 02:43:04 +0000

Jason;
In Oklahoma, civics/government use to be a part of the middle school experience but in the last several years it has been moved to the high schools. I concur with Claire Faulk, we don’t have enough time at the middle school level to teach the constitution with any rigor so those freshman go to the high school untrained in a government that they are expected to one day participate in!!! And we can’t figure out why test scores are down as a whole!

By: Rachel Gillespie

Rachel Gillespie — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:34:24 +0000

Kari & Toni - We at the Bill of Rights Institute also have lots of engaging resources for students to help them stay engaged with the Founding documents. Check out our games and detailed look at the Bill of Rights. We also send out weekly lessons relating to current events and their relationship to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

By: Toni Perry

Toni Perry — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:13:09 +0000

Thanks for sharing the website of iCivics.com. I’ll check it out. we need good resources and lesson plans that will help students retain information and apply what they have learned.