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August 2008

CONSTITUTION DAY, CITIZENSHIP DAY AND CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

How perfect is it that this federally mandated day falls at the beginning of the year? It’s the perfect time to connect the establishment of our country’s structure and principles with those of your class. It’s also the perfect time to teach the rights, privileges and duties of being both a citizen AND a student. We have a few ways to do just that... and then some!

The Constitution is in three parts: Preamble, Article and Amendments. We’ve offered some classroom management ideas for each of those parts and have incorporated themes of citizenship. We’ve also provided some great ideas for working the Constitution into your curriculum.

Get to know the Constitution. Before you can make the connection between the Constitution and classroom management, your students need to know what the Constitution is.

- The National Constitution Center has an interactive online Constitution that lets you examine the Preamble, Articles and Amendments and lets you search by keyword, topic (there are more than 300!) and even related Supreme Court cases: www.constitutioncenter.org/constitution.

- Read a book. There is a plethora of books for all ages relating to the Constitution and government. Our MY AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, SYMBOLS OF FREEDOM and ALL ABOUT AMERICA ACTIVITY BOOK PACK provide a wealth of information.

- Take a virtual field trip. Take students on an online visit of the White House, the Capitol Building and even the Rotunda of the National Archives, where our founding documents are on display. You can also find information on those documents here: http://www.archives.gov/education/.

THE PREAMBLE

We’ve broken down the preamble into six major parts with classroom management ideas for each. Start your lesson with “We the People of Mr./Mrs. Smith’s Classroom”:

“In order to form a more perfect union” – The better students know each other, the more tight a “union” they become. Have a few get-to-know you activities. For younger students, our WRITE-ON/WIPE-OFF GRAPHS, which combine icebreakers with data collection, are ideal.

“Establish justice” – It’s time for classroom rules! Collaborate with your students to create your own constitution. List all suggestions for rules, discuss them and choose the best ones. Explain and use the democratic process. Write the rules and have each student sign them, just like the Constitution signers!

- Include rules on how students should treat each other - great for Citizenship Day! Incorporate the five themes of citizenship into your rules: honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility and courage. Our CHARACTER EDUCATION READERS are a great way to reinforce these themes, and they include audio CDs to make learning fun!

- Discuss justice as it applies to citizens. Invite a police officer, judge or lawyer to explain community laws and to discuss what they think it takes to be an involved citizen. Encourage students to look for ways they can volunteer in the community.

“Ensure domestic tranquility” – What better way to get some peace and quiet (tranquility) than by reminding students about appropriate noise levels? The YACKER TRACKER® and MAGNETIC CLASSROOM NOISE-LEVEL CHART are two stoplight ways to do just that.

“Provide for the common defense” – Every student needs protection from bullies. Our BULLY-PROOF YOUR CLASSROOM TEACHING KIT includes books and activities that show examples of bullying and jumpstart discussions about it - a great resource for Constitution Day, Citizenship Day or any day!

“Promote the general welfare” – Health and safety is important. Review evacuation routes and first-aid instructions with your students. Make sure you have a binder with emergency numbers, student allergies and the like. Keep an EMERGENCY RESPONSE KIT and EMERGENCY RADIO handy in case of a lockdown or natural disaster.

“Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” – Ensure students will follow the rules by establishing a system of rewards and consequences and following through. Our MAGNETIC CLASSROOM CONDUCT CHART helps keep track of behavior and our CHARACTER EDUCATION/CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT POCKET CHART tracks how students are faring with the citizenship themes. Our TEACHER REWARD KIT provides a nice selection of rewards.

ARTICLES

It’s easy to work the Articles into your management, curriculum or school program, and we’ve provided a few suggestions.

Articles I, II and III. These deal with the branches of government. Have students chart the responsibilities of each branch, or use a visual organizer (like our VENN DIAGRAM POCKET CHART) to show the separation of powers and checks and balances.

Article IV. This governs relations among the states. Work with other classes/departments to create a grade- or school-wide program on the Constitution. Have an assembly and invite an elected official to discuss how the election process works. Ask the librarian to display government documents. Use the intercom to guide students in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Article V. This lays down the rules for amending the Constitution. Our congress must work together and compromise. It’s the perfect time to practice conflict resolution and problem-solving techniques.

Article VI. Just like national and state governments share powers, so do a school and its individual classes. Take time to review school policies with your students and remind them that school rules are “the supreme law of the land.”

Article VII. Although our Constitution was signed, each state had to ratify it. Now is a great time to have students research the signers and the state they were from. Have them write a report on the signer/state using our YOUNG AUTHORS’ BLANK BOOKS.

AMENDMENTS

Don’t worry, we’re not going to provide suggestions for all 27 of them, but we’ll give you a few:

Bill of Rights

- Have a 10-day lesson. Teach one amendment a day!

- Write each amendment on a SENTENCE STRIP and have the students place them in order in a 10-pocket chart like our MULTI-PURPOSE POCKET CHART.

- Divide the class into 10 groups and have each one of them research, discuss and report on one of the 10 amendments.

12th Amendment. This established the electoral college, which provides some great math lessons:

- Have students list the 50 states and their electoral votes. Draw two columns beside each state for “Democrat” and “Republican.” Toss a coin to determine the winning party for each state and assign all electoral votes to that party. Add up the votes for each party to see which one won.

- Electors are assigned to each state based on the House of Representatives. Have a lesson in percentages by having students determine what percent of the total vote each state gets.

15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd and 26th Amendments. These are voting amendments.

- Students, especially older students, are naturally interested and sometimes nervous about first-time voting. Demonstrate an electronic voting system or voting booth. Distribute samples of absentee ballots. Provide voter registration forms.

- Hold an election! Older students will of course elect class officers. However, younger ones can too! Have students nominate classmates to run for office. Have the nominees give speeches (our SPEAK-EASY PODIUM is perfect). Vote by secret ballot and see what happens!

HOT TIP: Parent/teacher conferences start early! Keep a handheld recorder (like our MP3 PLAYER/RECORDER) handy. If a student performed well or needed correction, verbally record it near the time it happened and write it down later. This makes your written documentation very accurate and helpful when meeting with parents.

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