Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional
Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing
educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and
improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org
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NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
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CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: Congress in the Classroom 2003®
Congress in the Classroom® is a national, award-winning
education program now in its eleventh year. It is sponsored by
The Dirksen Congressional Center located in Pekin, Illinois,
in cooperation with Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, and
is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching
about Congress.
Congress in the Classroom® is designed for secondary school
teachers and community college faculty who teach U.S. history,
American government civics, political science, social studies,
or related subjects. Between 30 and 35 teachers from throughout
the country are selected each year to take part in the program.
Nearly 200 applied for last year's workshop.
The 2003 program theme will be An Overview of Congress.
Individual sessions will be offered on such topics as:
- The case for representative democracy
- What you can learn about Congress Members from statistics
- How Members make decisions
- How does a bill become a law? Not the way the textbooks say
- How does one lead Congress?
- The Media and Congress
Participants will also gain experience with The Center's educational
Web site, CongressLink - http://www.congresslink.org --
which features online access to lesson plans, student activities,
historical materials, related Web sites, and subject matter experts.
Throughout the program, participants will work with national
experts as well as colleagues from across the nation. This combination
of first-hand knowledge and peer-to-peer interaction will present
new ideas, materials, and a professionally enriching experience.
The workshop will take place from July 28 through July 31, 2003,
on the campus of Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. Congress
in the Classroom® is free to participants. Teachers who are
selected for the program will be required to post a $100 deposit
which will be refunded in full once they have completed the program.
Participants also have the option of purchasing one hour of graduate
credit from Bradley University. We expect the per hour charge
for graduate credit to be from $435 - $450.
Those teachers who are not selected for the program will have
an opportunity to register for the Web-based Congress in the
Classroom® course.
The deadline for applications is March 15, 2003. Enrollment
is competitive and limited to thirty-five. Selection will be
determined by The Center. Individuals will be notified of their
acceptance status by April 1, 2003.
Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/progcongressinclassroom.htm#what --
to see what participants say about the program. If you are interested
in registering for the Congress in the Classroom 2003® workshop,
you can complete an online registration form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/CiCapplication.htm
THE POWERS OF CONGRESS
Congress has both specific and implied powers under the Constitution.
The amendment process, as well as Congress's own legislative
action, has expanded these powers. Visit The Dirksen Center's
Web suite - http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org -
to help your students learn about the powers of Congress and
to understand how Congress, and the other two branches of the
federal government, has exercised those powers given in the Constitution.
The Framers of the Constitution wanted to strengthen Congress.
The Articles of Confederation did not give enough power to Congress
to support the new nation. Find The Powers of Congress on
our AboutGovernment site at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm
Under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, Congress is
given 27 specific powers that are commonly known as the "enumerated
powers." Our CongressLink featured lesson plan offers
an opportunity to present the powers of Congress creatively,
allowing the students to justify which Congressional powers they
believe are most important. Find 2, 4, 6, 8 . . . Who Knows
What's in Article I, Section 8? (or Powers of Congress) at: http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/HCPowers.htm
Implied powers derive from the right of Congress to make all
laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers.
Implied powers are not stated directly in the Constitution. In
1819, the Supreme Court upheld the concept of implied powers
in the landmark case, McCulloch v. Maryland. Learn more
about this Supreme Court case that relied on the elastic clause
to justify a national bank. Find McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
- Landmark Supreme Court Cases at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/judicialbranch.htm#supremecourt
In addition to the legislative powers of Congress enumerated
in the Constitution, there are limitations on congressional powers (Article
I, Section 9) -- http://www.congresslink.org/notes.html#nine The U.S.
Constitution -- http://www.congresslink.org/resourc.html --
also enumerates the powers prohibited to the states (Article
I, Section 10) -- http://www.congresslink.org/article1.htm
Featured Project
Our featured project this month is a WebQuest developed by The
Dirksen Center to introduce students to the concept of "influence" or "power" in
Congress. Find WebQuest: How Influential is Your Member of
Congress? at: http://www.congresslink.org/WebQuests/CongressionalPowerIndex.htm
Knowing about Congress could be considered an effective lobbying
tool. Find out how much you already know, or learn as you go,
using the online flashcards that you can flip through, print
in a variety of formats with custom fonts and font sizes, or
download to a Palm Pilot or Windows CE device. Find Knowing
About Congress at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/senate/2_senate.htm
Congressional "Brain" Power
1. Congress took advantage of one of its implied powers when,
in the _____ _____ Act of 1973, it tried to regulate when the
President could send U. S. troops into combat on foreign soil.
A) Reapportionment
B) War Powers
C) Civil Rights
2. The last clause of Article I, Section 8 gives Congress its
_____.
A) expressed powers
B) implied powers
C) enumerated powers
D) power of the purse
3. True or False: The elastic clause is used
to justify wide expansion of government authority.
Student Web Activity
Congressional powers are used to conduct investigations and
for legislative oversight. The history of Congressional oversight
dates back to the 1792 investigation of the government's handling
of the Indian Wars. Teachers, have your students conduct further
research to learn about other cases of Congressional oversight
investigations. You could have them create an annotated time
line of these events using a poster board or presentation software.
Along with the date, suggest that they write a brief summary
of the background and highlights of the investigation. It would
be really cool if they included pictures or illustrations to
make their timeline more visually appealing. Your students will
find these Web sites helpful:
(1) Find The General Principles of Congressional Oversight at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm
(2) Find Committees of the House of Representatives at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm
(3) Find The Weakening of Congressional Oversight at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm
Answers to January's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link
here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0103ans.htm
Happy Valentine's Day! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe
to the Communicator. If you have questions, comments,
or suggestions, contact Cindy Koeppel at mailto:ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org Your
feedback makes a difference! |
