EDUCATION

 

AMERICAN TONGUES
VCR No. 2579-H, 1987, 58 mins.

An account of the many different ways that Americans speak -- their accents, regional styles and the vocabulary of various ethnic groups -- and the effect these accents have on the listener.

FREEDOM SPEAKS SERIES

This series, produced by the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, examines First Amendment conflicts and related topics. All programs are moderated by Kerry Brock and Dander Vanocur and involve some audience participation.

POLITICALLY CORRECT SPEECH (VCR No. 3851-H, 57 mins.)
Many colleges and universities across America have laid down the law that hateful and harmful speech will not be tolerated. So which is more important in a democracy: the feelings of others or one's right to speak one's mind? This issue is discussed by feminist author Andrea Dworkin; President of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Dr. Albert Simone; Professor at Tennessee State University, Dr. Eric Doss; and first amendment analyst John Siegenthaler.

 

MAKING CIVICS REAL: A WORKSHOP FOR TEACHERS
VCR No. 4125-4132, 2003, 8 pts., 60 mins. each (8 hours)

This video workshop for the professional development of high school teachers illustrates a constructivist approach to the teaching of civics, with eight video programs, each dedicated to one teacher’s multi-part lesson. Developed in collaboration with the National Council for the Social Studies and the Center for Civic Education, the video programs, Web site, and print guide provide the methodology for the effective teaching of civics, and include complete lesson plans of the lessons shown in the video. Series Web Site available at: http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/civics/

WORKSHOP 1. FREEDOM OF RELIGION (VCR No. 4125)

Ninth-grade civics teacher Kristen Borges involves her students at Southwest High School in Minnesota in a simulation of a U.S. Supreme Court hearing on a First Amendment case. Students assume the roles of Supreme Court justices, attorneys for the school district, and attorneys for the families. They first work in groups to prepare for the hearing, then participate in the hearing, and finally, debrief their experiences and write short papers stating their positions on the case. The methodologies highlighted in this lesson include questioning strategies and mock trials

WORKSHOP 2. ELECTORAL POLITICS (VCR No. 4126)

This program shows the conclusion of a 12-week civic engagement unit developed by the national Student Voices program. José Velazquez’s 12th-grade students at University High School in New Jersey divide into small groups to brainstorm and research community issues, prioritize the issues on the basis of what they have learned, present their findings to the class both orally and through a visual presentation, and develop a whole-class consensus on a youth agenda that they present to the mayoral candidates in a televised question-and-answer forum. The methodologies highlighted in this lesson include issue identification and consensus building.

WORKSHOP 3. PUBLIC POLICY AND THE FEDERAL BUDGET (VCR No. 4127)

Leslie Martin’s ninth-graders at West Forsyth High School in North Carolina create, present, revise, and defend a federal budget, and then reflect on what they have learned. After assuming the roles of the President and his or her advisors to create a federal budget, students are introduced to the actual 2001 federal budget, and in a whole-class discussion, discuss some key concepts involved in creating it. Next, students return to cooperative learning groups, revise their budgets based on what they learned, present their revised budgets, and simulate a Congressional hearing. This lesson highlights the integration of teacher-directed instruction with small-group work.                                                       

WORKSHOP 4. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION  (VCR No. 4128)

Matt Johnson teaches an AP Comparative Government class to seniors at Benjamin Banneker Senior High School in Washington, DC. In this lesson, his 12th-grade students create a constitution for a hypothetical country called Permistan. Matt Johnson uses this lesson to help students review for their final exam and the AP exam by having them draw on what they have learned during the semester about international governments. Students work in cooperative learning groups to discuss and debate issues relating to the executive and legislative branches of government. The lesson closes with a simulation of a constitutional convention. Simulation is the primary methodology highlighted in this lesson.

WORKSHOP 5. PATRIOTISM AND FOREIGN POLICY  (VCR No. 4129)   

The students in this program are seniors at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a public magnet school in Washington, DC. In this lesson, U.S. government teacher Alice Chandler has her students create a Museum of Patriotism and Foreign Policy. The lesson alternates between whole-class discussion and small-group committee work as students create a gallery for the museum using their respective arts concentration as the medium. The lesson concludes with students presenting their gallery contributions in dance, music, theatrical performances, and visual presentations, along with rationales for their selections. This lesson highlights small-group work as a constructivist methodology.

WORKSHOP 6. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT (VCR No. 4130) 

This program shows a group of 11th- and 12th-grade students at Anoka High School in Minnesota engaging in service learning - a requirement for graduation. In this human geography class taught by Bill Mittlefehldt, students work in teams to define a project, choose and meet with a community partner who can help educate them about the issue and its current status, conduct further research, and present the problem and a proposed solution first to their peers, and then to a special session of the Anoka City Council. The primary methodology presented in this lesson is service learning.

WORKSHOP 7. CONTROVERSIAL PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES (VCR No. 4131)  

In this 12th-grade law class at Champlin Park High School in Minnesota, JoEllen Ambrose engages students in a structured discussion of a highly controversial issue - racial profiling - and connects student learning both to their study of due process in constitutional law and police procedure in criminal law. Students begin by completing an opinion poll, which they discuss as a group. Students are then put into pairs in which they conduct research on the topic. Next, students participate in a debate in which each partnership argues both sides of the issue. A debriefing discussion completes the lesson. The methodologies highlighted in this lesson include role-playing and structured academic controversy.  

WORKSHOP 8. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS (VCR No. 4132)

Students in Matt Johnson’s 12th-grade law course at Benjamin Banneker Senior High School in Washington, DC, engage in a culminating activity to help them review and apply what they have learned. Students write and distribute one-page briefs of Supreme Court cases they have studied. Next, students are assigned to small groups and given hypothetical cases related to student rights cases from the Supreme Court’s 2001-2002 term. Students prepare their cases and present them to the Justices. Justices deliberate and present majority and dissenting opinions, after which the class discusses both the process and the disposition of the cases. This lesson highlights the use of case studies for synthesis and analysis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: February  2008