Essential Questions are great tools to organize courses and units. Regardless of how we end up using them, sooner or later reality demands that students find some answers! And here’s where the real work begins. Consider the challenge this way: to answer …
The “Federalist Paper 51” is a great entry point for analyzing the theme of power and how our government is set up to put a check on it. Throughout the study of this text and theme I would hearken back …
When I first came across this video from the online knowledge forum Big Think, I really didn’t know what to expect. Looking at the subtitle “Start Breaking Some Rules” I was a little apprehensive since I’ve always thought encouraging adolescents to break rules …
Here’s what I have so far… Does our system of government succeed or fail in preventing the abuse of power? Do interest groups frustrate or promote democratic ideals? Is popular sovereignty a reality or an illusion? Are the media …
I’m teaching William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies and I’m interested in the theme of power and how it can be abused over time. I start off with the John Adams conversation to explore ideas of power and trust …
I am teaching a geography unit about settlement patterns in the United States. In the unit, questions will include “Why is it important to settle near bodies of water?” and “How does climate affect settlement?” I would pair Erik Erikson’s …
Before getting students to understand the basic jobs within different roles in government (president, governor, mayor, judge etc…), I would start off with the Erik Erikson conversation on interdependence. This way, students would gain an appreciation for how people within …
In government I want to teach the theme of power through federalism— the balance of authority between the states and national government. The John Adams conversation would be an effective way to introduce the concept of federalism by getting the …
The United States Constitution was written carefully by our founding fathers with the primary goal of establishing a government that would never makes its citizens victims of tyranny, as they were under the tyranny of King George III. After teaching …
In a government unit, I would be teaching students about the role and duty of individual citizens in a democracy. In this unit, we would learn the definition and importance of voting. I would follow my instruction with the conversation …