The Legal Education Goals and Learning (LEGAL) project in the Dade County Public Schools, Florida, is an elective course for students in grades 7-12. Because extensive annual evaluations of this project since 1976 had been extremely favorable, the size and scope of the 1984-85 evaluation was reduced. It investigated the extent to which LEGAL…

A study investigated the readability of current laws for Canadian francophones and anglophones. The 63 subjects were asked to read a variety of brief legal texts available in parallel styles in both languages and to answer questions about the texts' content. Subjects were also surveyed about their preference for a formal or vulgarized style of…

A strong case can be made that the study of law, properly conceived as a resource to enrich civics as a branch of social science, is the broader study of the role of law in the social order. Study about law provides a unique opportunity for: (1) addressing what has historically been a neglected, pervasive daily influence on us all; (2) analyzing…

Presents a lesson which focuses on the question of whether a boy's ownership of a bike entails the right to use that property in any way he wishes. Students discuss the rights they think should accompany ownership of the bicycle and what responsibilities, if any, the owner should have. (JDH)

Describes a role-playing activity and a youth community service club project which illustrate how citizenship can be learned through experience. Shows how community involvement in educational activities can help convey positive values about society and impart knowledge and skills which help youngsters become productive members of that society.…

Presents a lesson plan for grades 4-6 which illustrates the concepts of privacy, property, and search and seizure. Calls upon students to recognize that individual property and society's need for security may conflict. Uses seven cases to help students learn and identify legal search and seizure procedures. (GEA)

Examines how the framers of the Constitution came to choose our system of government, how that system was designed to function, and how the separation of powers has served to maintain our democracy despite attempts to violate it. (JDH)

Reviews the characteristics and landmark cases of the Warren, and Burger eras of the U.S. Supreme Court. Describes the changes taking place under Chief Justice Rehnquist and assesses the future of the Supreme Court with the addition of Justice Antonin Scalia. Maintains that the trend toward judicial activism will continue. (JDH)

Reviews a collection of decisions rendered by the Burger Court during its waning months. The decisions involve (1) criminal procedures, (2) racial bias in jury selection, (3) search and seizure, and (4) the exclusion of jurors who have reservations about the death penalty. (JDH)

Presents a lesson designed to introduce students to the Bill of Rights. Students learn that their rights are protected by laws and that they must act responsibly. The lesson uses several hypothetical situations and a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case involving the use of vulgar language by a high school student during an assembly speech. (JDH)

Using three landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, this lesson teaches students in grades seven through twelve about the benefits and limits of free speech. (JDH)

This publication is concerned with how to keep schools safe. The spring 2001 issue "New Study Reveals Prevalence, Harm of Bullying" (Ira Pollack) discusses a study about bullying based on data collected in 1998 by the World Health Organization's Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey of 15,686 students in grades 6 through 10 and sheds…

This lesson plan uses students' interest in sports to teach good citizenship. With its focus on rules, responsibility, conflict resolution, and teamwork, the unit emphasizes the development of critical thinking, decision-making, and citizenship skills in young people. This lesson plan is part of a series of fully prepared, interactive classroom…

This lesson plan uses students' interest in sports to teach good citizenship. With its focus on rules, responsibility, conflict resolution, and teamwork, the unit emphasizes the development of critical thinking, decision-making, and citizenship skills in young people. This lesson plan is part of a series of fully prepared, interactive classroom…

This article offers a multidisciplinary analysis of the structure of persuasive arguments. Following an introduction, the article contains five main parts, each of which is discussed extensively: (1) descriptions of ideas from the fields of law, communication theory, and argumentation theory that analyze the nature of persuasion and the structure…