The Center for Civic Education – A Gold Mine of Resources for Teaching Civics

We the People: The Citizen and The Constitution

Last weekend, approximately 1,000 students from 47 classes participated in 636 half-hour virtual hearings during the 35th Annual We the People National Finals, which took place April 22-26. The We the People National Finals are a national academic competition that gives students an opportunity to display the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to effectively participate in our constitutional democratic republic through simulated congressional hearings. These hearings provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles while providing teachers an excellent means of assessing student learning. The entire class, working in cooperative teams, prepares and presents four-minute statements before a panel of judges acting as a congressional committee. Students then have six minutes to answer follow-up questions posed by the committee members. Here is an example of the type of question the students could be asked:

The president “ought to communicate such papers as the public good would permit, and ought to refuse those the disclosure of which would injure the public.”

• Do you agree or disagree that the executive can withhold or disclose information at her or his discretion?
• To what extent, if any, has the claim of executive privilege expanded presidential power since its inception?
• Are the constitutional powers that enable the other two branches to counter executive privilege claim sufficient? Why or why not?

* Thomas Jefferson, “Memoranda of Consultations with the President, [11 March–9 April 1792],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-23-02-0219. Center for Civic Education ∙ 5115 Douglas Fir Road, Suite J, Calabasas, CA 91302(818) 591-9321 ∙ cce@civiced.org ∙ www.civiced.org

It is clear that in order to answer this question the students must have a clear understanding of the concepts of government. The Center for Civic Education offers resources to assist teachers in teaching this content through their textbooks and online materials. The textbooks are available on high school, middle school, and elementary school levels. The Center also provides lesson plans for Constitution Day and a daily podcast quizzing students on important civics topics.

For the past several years the Center has organized national hearings on the middle school level. This year, national simulated congressional hearings will be held for hundreds of middle school students who will have an opportunity to display their civic knowledge at the National Invitational being held virtually from April 29-May 2. Not every school can participate in national competitions. In fact, most do not. However, simulated congressional hearings are conducted in thousands of classrooms (high school, middle school, and elementary school) as a realistic assessment tool. Many teachers use the hearings as a culminating activity for a unit on American government. For more information go to:

National Finals 2022 (highschool)

60 Second Civics

The Center For Civic Education

Project Citizen:

In a recent blog post we promised to share a program that teaches students how to petition the government. This is a program from The Center for Civic Education called Project Citizen.

The Project Citizen curriculum provides a practical, first-hand approach to learning about our complex system of government and how to monitor and influence it. Students work together to conduct research in their community to identify problems that they think their governments are not handling at all or not handling well. Through this program students:

• Learn how to monitor and influence policy
• Learn the policy making process
• Develop concrete skills, effective and creative communication skills, and the confidence necessary to exercise their rights and responsibilities

To complete the project, teams of students follow a six-step process that will enable them to identify and study one significant problem, recommend a solution in the form of a public policy proposal, and present their research and proposal in the form of a portfolio and public hearing.

• Step 1- Identify problems
• Step 2- Select a problem to research
• Step 3- Research the problem
• Step 4- Develop a portfolio to present the research
• Step 5- Present a portfolio in a hearing
• Step 6- Reflection

Portfolios

A portfolio is a way for students to organize and display their research for their chosen issues. The portfolio could be created in a physical or electronic display that will then be presented by students in a simulated public hearing. The presentation is often the most memorable and empowering part of a student's Project Citizen experience.

The portfolio is displayed at showcases at the school, district, state, or national levels. Evaluators review each portion of the portfolio and documentation. To see examples of physical and electronic portfolios click here.

Project Citizen is most appropriately used in middle and high school. However, some teachers have successfully implemented with upper elementary school students.

If you are looking for tools to teach constitutional principles (content) and a vehicle to teach students to petition the government (process) these two programs are worth a look.