Valencia Abbott, a Social Studies teacher at Rockingham Early College High School in Wentworth, North Carolina, shared how she uses the Teaching with Current Events resource at BillofRightsInstitute.org.

Ms. Abbott believes that the study of current events is an invigorating way to encompass contemporary issues, conflicts and ideas in the classroom. Current events help raise students’ personal, national and global awareness.  In this time of Common Core assessments and a world where countries are more and dependent and interdependent, it is vital to know the barometer of current events. It is imperative that students learn to consume domestic news with a critical eye while seeking to attain affirmation of global cultures. Students should come to understand the world’s economic, political and social structures to help ensure they make the best decision for their lives.  A deep understanding and appreciation for current events and civic education is important to developing self-empowering and knowledgeable citizens.

Ms. Abbott uses this resource in her Honors Civics and Economics and Honors United States History courses. Abbott begins the school year by creating a discussion blog on her school’s Canvas site. She lists the current events assignment for each week in her syllabus.  By 8:00 a.m. each Monday morning, Abbott makes the current assignment topic available on the online discussion board for the week.  She posts a specific article link on the site and gives her students basic factual information so that she doesn’t sway their opinions.

Throughout the week Ms. Abbott shares information connecting the current event to the Bill of Rights or Constitution on the online discussion board.  Students then have until 11:59 p.m. the following Sunday to post a comment and respond to two other comments regarding the article.  On Wednesdays, she carves out 15-45 minutes of the class period to discuss the current event. She then shows different perspectives of the current event by sharing videos or articles, or by having class discussions or lectures.  Each week she uses a different strategy to showcase the current event.

Ms. Abbott has learned that some students choose to post during the week, but most wait until the weekend or right before the assignment is due.  If the students wait until Sunday to make their initial post, it prevents them from completing the assignment in a meaningful matter.  To remedy that situation, she makes additional posts during the week providing political cartoons, links, videos, and music to advance the online conversation.

In assigning grades for the assignment, Ms. Abbott uses a rubric.  Each week students are rated on a scale of 1-4 in several categories including information presented in the post, community building, use of facts or statistics, writing conventions, critical thinking, and timeliness.  View or download the rubric Ms. Abbott uses.

At the end of the semester, the last discussion blog requests students to respond to these questions:

• Did you enjoy this activity as part of the course?  Why or Why not.
• Do you feel that it added depth and understanding in the study of history?  Why or Why not. What was your favorite topic?
• Did this activity help you make a greater connection to the curriculum in this class or any other class?  Give an example.

Here are some examples of what Ms. Abbott’s student say about the lesson:

“I did enjoy this activity as part of our course.  I enjoyed that it allowed us to debate with our classmates and learn more about them and their views.  Yes, I do feel that this added depth and understanding to our study of history and our constitution.  It helped me further understand how our history is still very present in today’s society.  It is hard for me to pick a favorite topic, because I enjoyed discussing most of the topics.  This activity did help me perform better in this class and my other classes as well.  With all of the writing we had to do, it helped me become a better writer, by letting me practice using more support and details.  I have improved greatly in my writing abilities and it has shown in the grades and comments on assignments that I have submitted to other classes.  Overall, I believe that this activity is very beneficial in both this class and others.”

“I didn’t necessarily hate the blog discussion but it wasn’t one of my favorite things. I did enjoy some topics but some I felt weren’t as interesting as the others. I think it kind of added depth and understanding to the amendments of the U.S. Constitution. It really helped me to remember the amendments and what they are because the topics we discussed each week had different amendments that were discussed. Remembering the discussion helped me to remember the amendments and what they meant. My favorite topic is the week when were discussing if employers should be allowed to fire employees for things that are posted on social media about the company. This activity did not help me make a greater connection to this class or any other class but to life. I never realized the many problems that this country is facing. Like when the young boy was stripped down and searched for a twenty dollar bill that he did not have. It makes me realize that the country is changing and that I need to be prepared. Life has reached its serious point for me, I am definitely not in Kindergarten anymore.”

Here are some examples of weekly topics Ms. Abbott uses:

• Week 1: The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms 2^nd Amendment
• Week 2: Are They Watching You 4^th Amendment?
• Week 3: Citizen Juries- Constitution and 6^th Amendment
• Week 4: Criminal Procedure and Due Process- 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 8^th and 14^th Amendments
• Week 5: Federalism The enumerated powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8; the powers denied to Congress in Article I, Section 9; the powers denied to states in Article I, Section 10; and the 10^th Amendment
• Week 6: Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Petition 1^st and 14^th Amendments
• Week 7: Immigration Law Article I, Section 8, 4th and 14th Amendment
• Week 8: Freedom of Speech 1^st Amendment
• Week 9: Banned Ethnic Studies- 1st and 14th Amendments
• Week 10: Individual Liberty 1st, 3rd, 4th and 9th Amendments
• Week 11: Affirmative Action Programs-14th Amendment, Separation of Powers, the Constitution defines the powers of the legislative (or lawmaking) branch in Article I, the executive branch in Article II, and the judicial branch in Article III.
• Week 13: Ban on Violent Video Games for Children- 1st Amendment
• Week 14: Amendment Freedom of Religion 1st and 14th Amendments
• Week 15: The Defense of Marriage Act- Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution Article IV, Section I, the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution, 5^th and 14^th Amendments
• Week 16: Separation of Powers, the Constitution defines the powers of the legislative (or lawmaking) branch in Article I, the executive branch in Article II, and the judicial branch in Article III.
• Week 17: Property Rights- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th Amendments
• Week 18: The Healthcare Act, Federal Power, and the Commerce Clause 10^th Amendment and the Common Clause

How do you use current events in your class?  How do you assess your students’ understanding when they are relating current events with history?

Although your school year might be winding down, at this time in 1787 the Founders were just getting started at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.  Learn more about Founder George Mason in this week’s eLesson.

George Mason’s ideas helped to shape the Founding documents of the United States, but few Americans remember him today. The words he used when writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution of 1776 inspired the nation’s Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. Mason was an associate of fellow Virginians George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson, the last of whom called Mason “a man of the first order of greatness.”

Though he detested politics, Mason believed that it was his duty to protect the rights of his fellow citizens. He therefore entered public life and took an active role in shaping the governments of his state and nation. He was an eloquent advocate for individual freedom and states’ rights. He also spoke out against the institution of slavery, though he owned hundreds of slaves who toiled on his Gunston Hall plantation. Mason spent the last years of his life fighting to ensure that the newly minted Constitution would guarantee the rights of the people. Though the Bill of Rights was eventually approved, Mason was unsatisfied, believing that it failed to protect the people’s rights adequately. Faithful to his principles, he retired to his plantation a defeated man, choosing not to serve as Virginia’s first senator to avoid joining a government he feared could be the beginning of the end of liberty in the United States.

View the complete lesson plan on George Mason.

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“The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources–because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples.”
― Lyndon B. Johnson

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. From its colonial origins to the present day there has been a steady stream of would-be Americans; however, the laws pertaining to immigrants have changed and evolved over time.

Learn more here!

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Though James Madison has been given the title, “Father of the Constitution,” a case could be made that Gouverneur Morris was second in importance only to the Virginian in shaping the final version of the document. Morris spoke more often (173 times) than any other delegate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Though he was often on the losing side of issues and was not a political theorist on the level of Madison, Morris was a leader of the nationalist bloc at the Convention that ultimately carried the day. In addition, it was the native New Yorker who actually crafted much of the language of the United States Constitution.  Download the complete lesson.

Happy Tax Day! The celebratory tone might be a bit out of place, but from a constitutional perspective tax day, and the 16th Amendment which created it, are fascinating examples of politics in action.

The 16th Amendment, which authorized the Federal Government to levy an income tax, was passed on February 3rd, 1913. Prior to the 16th Amendment, the Federal Government was funded almost exclusively through tariff and excise taxes. Direct taxes, stipulated by Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution, had to be apportioned among the states by population, which prevented a singular federal income tax.

In the Supreme Court case, Pollock v. Farmers’ Land & Trust Co. (1894), the Supreme Court held that certain taxes on property passed at the end of the Civil War were indeed unconstitutional. This helped fuel the drive for an official constitutional amendement to permit the federal government to establish an income tax. Different groups were interested in an income tax for different reasons. Some feared that the growing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few individuals was dangerous to a democracy, while Republicans were eyeing the growing navies of other powers like Britain and Japan and calling for a stronger response. That call was answered when President Taft proposed the 16th Amendment, which upon ratification nullified the Pollock ruling.

It originally called for March 15th to be tax day, but in 1955 the date was moved forward a month to April 15th, to give the IRS more time to process the income tax returns, and, at the time, to let the federal government hold on to your money a little bit longer!

More Resources:

Infographic on the History of Tax Day

Additional Amendments to the Constitution

Pollock v. Farmer’s Land & Trust Co. (1894) – Oyez Project

Love the Bill of Rights Institutes’ resources and workshops? Want to help other teachers expand their knowledge of the Constitution and Founding documents? Join the Institute team today! We are looking for an entrepreneurial, creative, and driven educator who can help us plan and implement new teacher-related programs. Interested? Find out more and apply today!

Bring the people, places, and history of the Prohibition Era alive with these new interactive lessons. In “The Rise and Fall of Prohibition,” your students will learn about the background of the 18th Amendment, the individuals who fought for and against Prohibition, and its eventual repeal. They will use their new knowledge as well as their drawing skills to get classmates to identify and define key terms in a game of Prohibition Pictionary. Finally, they will learn about the roles of historical figures from the era by taking on their identities for a dinner party. Use any or all of these hands-on, modular activities to teach this important part of our history.  Download these three lessons here.

If there’s one gadget nearly impossible to live without in the 21st century, it’s the cellphone. Most of us keep one on us at all times, and a recent survey showed that, for a majority of 18-34 year olds, the hardest possession to live without would be the smartphone. But is it really YOUR smartphone?

A recent decision by the Librarian of Congress, under authority granted by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), made it illegal to unlock your smartphone, aka use the hardware and software in ways not approved by cellphone carriers. Critics contend  this undermines traditional notions of property rights, namely the right to use your property as you see fit, and over 100,000 people have signed a petition on the White House website advocating overturning this policy. Meanwhile, supporters maintain that the restriction is necessary to combat digital piracy, and many major industry groups argue that it is an appropriate legal guarantee of their own property rights.

Property rights have always been a tricky subject, but as property increasingly becomes virtual it is getting even harder to define “what’s mine and what’s yours.”  In this week’s eLesson we’ll explore property rights in the context of smartphones, and evaluate where we should be setting the line.

Learn more here.

Celebrate Black History month with materials on two landmark Supreme Court cases on the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. How could the same words have been interpreted so differently in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and sixty years later in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)? Read some background on the cases, excerpts from the rulings, and thought-provoking discussion questions.

See the complete lesson.

Discussion Questions

1. What Supreme Court decision established the doctrine of “separate but equal”?
2. What Kansas law did the Brown plaintiffs want struck down?
3. How did the Court rule, and what was the constitutional reasoning?
4. What was the Brown II ruling?
5. What role was there for other branches and levels of government in enforcing Brown II?
6. Why might it have taken nearly sixty years to the Supreme Court to get to its current interpretation of the 14^th Amendment?
7. What might this suggest about the importance of looking at the historical context of Supreme Court rulings?