Connecting with Our Pioneer Past: Letters from the Homestead

—Gary Fertig
In the process of creating homestead dioramas and writing letters from the perspective of pioneers, students learn how geography and natural resources affect the economics and social relations of a community.

269

Voices of a People s History of the United States

Reviewed by Andrea S. Libresco

MEMBERS ONLY

Editor's Notebook

232

MEMBERS ONLY

An Internet Guide to Teaching the Constitution

—C. Frederick Risinger
The author spotlights some key websites teachers can consult for resources and lesson plans on the Constitution.

250
Looking at the Law

MEMBERS ONLY

The Shadow War

—Michelle Parrini and Charles F. Williams
A renewed U.S. government emphasis on espionage to guard against future terrorist attacks brings with it a host of legal challenges concerning the identification and exposure of covert agents and their legal rights.

256

MEMBERS ONLY

The Kingdom of Heaven: Teaching the Crusades

—Scott Alan Metzger
A recent Hollywood film about the Crusades helps students better understand the ongoing conflict between Islam and the West.

263

MEMBERS ONLY

Telling Tales:The Teaching of American History through Storytelling

—Tony R. Sanchez and Randy K. Mills
Teachers can relate the excitement, paradox, and importance of American history to students by conveying the challenges of life in the past with stories.

275

MEMBERS ONLY

Research and Practice: Social Studies and the Social Order: Transmission or Transformation?

—William B. Stanley
Educators have long pondered whether their duty in the classroom was to convey the status quo or to facilitate change. Here, the author presents three historic positions on the role of teachers with respect to the social order.

287

OPEN ACCESS

Teaching with Documents

Resolution and Letter to Congress from the Constitutional Convention

By Lee Ann Potter

MEMBERS ONLY

Lesson Plans on the Constitution: Private v. Public Rights (High School)

Lesson Plan on the Constitution
Students will learn how the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution relates to private property and how the power of eminent domain was defined in a recent Supreme Court case. Students will review summaries from Kelo v. New London to gain a better understanding of the case, which dealt with the limits of a government’s right of eminent domain. They will also have the opportunity to defend one of the two viewpoints contained in this court decision.

MEMBERS ONLY

It's My Right (Middle Grades)

Working in representative groups, students analyze the Bill of Rights and rank each amendment based on its significance to the group.

MEMBERS ONLY

No Time for Teas (Elementary Grades 3–5)

By Stacie Fieth, Neil Deason

Students will learn how the Constitution of the United States provided the framework for the country’s democratic form of government. Students also will learn how the Constitution provided for representation within the government. A short story about the Boston Tea Party gives the background related to the catchphrase “taxation without representation” and how that changed with the advent of the new nation and later the Constitution.

OPEN ACCESS

Enduring Lessons of Justice from the World War II Japanese American Internment

—Nancy P. Gallavan and Teresa A. Roberts
Investigating the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II helps students develop an appreciation of constitutional rights and civil liberties.

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