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Thematic Teaching
constitutional controversies: related resources
Activity Ideas | Related Resources
Find Below: PBS Web Sites, Other Recommended Links, Recommended Books
pbs online
NewsHour Online: Supreme Court Watch
Keep track of all the latest Supreme Court decisions and controversies.
NewsHour Online: Law Background Reports
Examine important law-related political and social events in the news.
NewsHour Online: the Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage
Explore all sides of the argument of this controversial issue.
P.O.V.: "Larry v. Lockney"
Meet a father who took on a local school board to protect the constitutional rights of his son.
NOW: Civil Liberties After 9/11
Learn how the conflict between civil liberties and national security is as old as the nation itself.
NOW: God and Government
Learn about the history of God in American political life.
Frontline: "The Jesus Factor"
Explore the growing influence of America's evangelical Christians.
Reporting America At War: Press Censorship
Examine the ongoign conflict between national security and the public's right to know.
recommended web sites
This I Believe
http://www.npr.org/thisibelieve/about.html
This I Believe is a radio program what provides famous and ordinary people a chance to summarize their life's philosophy in 500 words and discuss the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. Journalist Edward R. Murrow began the program 50 years ago and NPR is reviving the series. Older essays from Harry Truman, Helen Keller, and Jackie Robinson are posted as well as current essays from Colin Powell and Isabel Allende. Essay writing tips from the 1950s show are provided as guidance for you to write your own essay. You are encouraged to send your essay in, and maybe be selected to read it on the radio.
Subject: Reading & Language Arts
More Recommended Reading & Language Arts Links
First Amendment Center
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/
The First Amendment Center, from Vanderbilt University offers general information on First Amendment issues: speech, press, religious liberty, assembly and petition. Each topic has frequently asked questions, legal cases, news, analysis, commentary, and related library resources. Some K12 related topics include prayer in school, dress codes, Pledge of Allegiance, and freedom of expression in schools. The organization conducts an annual survey, The State of the First Amendment survey, on how Americans view these freedoms.
Subject: Social Studies
More Recommended Social Studies Links
Affirmative Action and Diversity
http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/
Affirmative Action in colleges and universities has been prominent in the news the past decade. This site from the University of California, Santa Barbara, collects many primary source documents related to specific state institutions of higher learning from California, Florida, and Michigan. Categories include gender and race, state and federal legislation, alternatives to affirmative action, individual vs. group rights, and quotas. There is an annotated bibliography. Many of the pages are online texts from this site while others are external links.
Subject: Social Studies
More Recommended Social Studies Links
School Prayer: A Community at War
http://www.itvs.org/schoolprayer/issue.html
School prayer is the topic of this film from 1999. While the video can be rented or checked out from a library, you don't need to see the film to read some background on the debate about prayer in schools. The story covers a family's fight to remove school sponsored prayer over the intercom and Bible study classes from their public school. You can see the pro and con points of view, the final court ruling, and outside links to other school prayer and separation of church and state documents.
Subject: Social Studies
More Recommended Social Studies Links
recommended books
The Federalist Papers: In Modern Language: Indexed for Today's Political Issues
By Mary Webster
Published May 1999
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
From the beginning, the U.S. Constitution has been a controversial document. The Federalist Papers, written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, were a series of essays in favor of ratification. This edition of the Papers contains all 85 essays. The volume opens with the original text indexed to the relevant essays. An index allows users to find passages dealing with controversial issues that persist today. The book contains our first and failed national document, the Articles of Confederation, and a glossary.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
By Ralph Ketchum
Published May 2003
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
From 1787 to 1789, an often heated debate in letter, speech, and pamphlet ensued between those who favored ratification of the proposed Constitution and those who did not. The Anti-Federalists, Patrick Henry, James Wilson and others, argued for a less powerful, more decentralized federal government. Ketcham sets the debate in historical context and presents the documents in separate sections from the 1787 convention to 1789 ratification. He includes the Article of Confederation, the U.S. Constitution, and a list of the principal speakers at the convention.
More Recommended Social Studies Books