Reviews school curriculum treatment of the Constitution noting inadequacies of early instructional methods and textbooks and a dramatic decline of education about the Constitution which began during the progressive education era. Presents the results of surveys which indicate a lack of constitutional knowledge among our youth. Concludes with a…

Examines the life of James Madison, Founding Father and "theoretic statesman." Focuses specifically on Madison's education and character, his friendship with Thomas Jefferson, and his civic legacy: a selfless devotion to republican government and union. (JDH)

Reviews the political history surrounding the development of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Includes a shortened and simplified version of the major articles of the Ordinance. Identifies three instructional resources for teaching about the Northwest Ordinance in secondary schools. (JDH)

Argues that teaching about the United States Constitution can stimulate thinking about key political issues and citizenship values. Offers a list of constitutional issues and questions which students and teachers should address. Concludes that continued study and discussion are essential to the preservation of the ideals contained in the…

Provides an annotated bibliography of instructional materials for teaching about the United States Constitution. The materials span the grades K-12 and are drawn from non-commercial publishers and documents in the ERIC system. Included is a list of 12 organizations which provide technical assistance and instructional resources. (JDH)

Notes the recent trend toward converting sound filmstrips into videocassettes. Reviews offerings from commercial publishers which treat topics related to the constitutional bicentennial and the colonial history of the United States. (JDH)

Presents the case for adding more political science, economics, and history coursework to existing social science requirements for teacher preparation. Provides examples of how each of the three disciplines can contribute to teaching and concludes with five recommendations for implementing reform. JDH)

This article demonstrates how to construct two types of graphs, the line plot, and the stem and leaf plot. States that these graphing techniques improve students' ability to understand tabular data. An instructional model is presented for directing lessons which use the two types of graphs. (JDH)

Offers a lesson which is designed to help twelfth grade American Government students understand the process and dilemmas of congressional reapportionment or redistricting. Includes objectives, teaching procedures and a map of an imaginary state showing districts and their populations. (JDH)

Presents four universal game grids, which may be used to help junior high students learn various kinds of information. Describes the kinds of games which can be played with each grid and includes a sample drawing of the grid's lay-out. (JDH)

Describes the retirement pursuits of the author and includes a list of ten activities well-suited for retiring social studies teachers. Among the suggestions are: becoming an educational lobbyist promoting social studies, tutoring recent immigrants for their citizenship examinations, reading for the blind, and assisting colleges and universities…

Provides a biographical sketch of the author, James A. Michener. This sketch provides information on Michener's background as a student and social studies teacher. Includes an interview and bibliography of Michener's writing on education. (JDH)

Based on the idea that the best way to help students write better is to have them write more, this article describes an instructional process called journal freewriting. Shows how freewriting, or writing without planning and without stopping, may be used cooperatively by social studies and English departments to enhance efforts to improve…

Explains the cartographic qualities of rectangular world maps and compares the merits of various projections such as the Mercator and the recently-created Gall-Peters. States that the Gall-Peters projection does not provide a reasonable base for a general world map; that no rectangular projection does. (JDH)

Reviews two 35mm slide collections recently published by Instructional Resources Corporation. Each collection contains 2100 slides, captioned and categorized to allow easy use. The United States history collection and the Western Civilization collection include many different topics. (JDH)