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Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator–a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress: http://www.webcommunicator.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM 2008 *
- People Who Served in Congress
- Congress Defined
- Congressional Research Awards Winners
- *New* Congress and Interest Groups
- *New* Editorial Cartoons
- *New* AboutGovernment Has Changed
- *New* New Work Product: Congress in the Classroom Online
- *New* Countdown to Election 2008
- Postscript Information
** CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM 2008 **
Deadline: April 15, 2008
Congress in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education program now in its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress. The Center will join with the new Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service in conducting the workshop.
Congress in the Classroom is designed for high school or middle school teachers who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or social studies. Forty teachers will be selected in 2008 to take part in the program. Selection will be determined by The Center. All online applications must be received by no later than April 15, 2008. Individuals will be notified of their acceptance status by April 30, 2008.
In addition to sessions dealing with Congress, the 2008 program will pay special attention to the upcoming congressional and presidential elections. The workshop consists of two types of sessions: those that focus on recent research and scholarship about Congress or elections (and don't always have an immediate application in the classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach students about Congress or elections.
The workshop will be held Monday, July 21 - Thursday, July 24, at the Hotel Pere Marquette -- http://www.hotelperemarquette.com/ -- Peoria, Illinois.
The program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education for up to 22 Continuing Education Units. The program also is endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies.
Participants are responsible for (1) a non-refundable $135 registration fee (required to confirm acceptance after notice of selection) and (2) transportation to and from Peoria, Illinois. Many school districts will pay all or a portion of these costs.
The Center pays for three nights lodging at the headquarters hotel (providing a single room for each participant), workshop materials, local transportation, all but three meals, and presenter honoraria and expenses. The Center spends between $25,000 and $30,000 to host the program each year.
Tentative session titles are listed below. (NOTE: Additional sessions will be listed as presenters are confirmed. More information about the content of each session will be posted as it becomes available.)
- Opening Remarks: A View from Capitol Hill
The Honorable Ray LaHood, (R-IL, 18th District, U.S. House of Representatives) CONFIRMED
Congressman LaHood will retire from the House in January 2009, having decided in 2007 not to stand for re-election in 2008. He has served seven terms. The Congressman will discuss the current agenda in Congress, offer observations about the upcoming election, and respond to your questions.
- Congressional Insight: An Interactive Simulation of a Member's First Term in the House of Representatives
Tara Smith, National Association of Manufacturers CONFIRMED
With Congressional Insight, you experience the high-pressured, uncompromising environment in which legislators must operate. With increasingly tight deadlines imposed by the simulation, you are part of a team that must decide which bills to support, which committee posts to seek, how much time to devote to fund-raising, and what tradeoffs to make amidst constituent, party, special-interest, and media pressures. The quality of your choices will be tested in a re-election campaign.
- Sound Bite: Introduction to The Dirksen Center's Web Suite
Cindy Koeppel, The Dirksen Center CONFIRMED
Sound Bites are 30-minute sessions devoted to a single topic. In this one, Koeppel, the designer of The Center's Web suite, will introduce the six sites within the suite and illustrate how teachers can use them in their classrooms. Almost 1.5 million "unique visitors" generated about 70 million "hits" on the suite in 2007.
- Running for Congress: A Consultant's Perspective
Matt Bisbee, Illinois Executive Director, Victory Enterprises CONFIRMED
Founded in 1993, Victory Enterprises is a comprehensive political consulting and communications firm. The firm offers a full array of campaign services including survey research, media production and placement, direct mail design, grassroots messaging, web strategy and design as well as one-on-one campaign consulting. Since our inception, we have been involved in over 1,500 campaigns. The presenter will talk about how congressional candidates are recruited and how they develop a strategy for election.
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On the Road with Presidential Candidates
Jodi Enda, Journalist
This presenter has covered the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Knight Ridder Newspapers. Since then she has done considerable freelance writing for various magazines. Enda will talk about the challenges of reporting on this beat, suggest story lines to look out for in 2008, and evaluate the state of presidential campaign reporting this year.
- Reception at Bradley University
Workshop teachers
Enjoy refreshments on the campus of Bradley University and learn more about the University and the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service.
- Running for Congress: A Candidate's Perspective
Jim McConoughey, candidate in the Republican primary, 18th congressional district, and CEO of the Heartland Partnership. CONFIRMED
In his first run for public office, the presenter finished second in the primary to replace Congressman Ray LaHood. McConoughey will talk about his decision to run, the development of a campaign strategy, and the unfolding of the race.
- Where We Stand in the Presidential Race and What to Look For
Tim Teehan, National Sales Director, Campaigns and Elections. CONFIRMED
Campaigns & Elections magazine is a nonpartisan publication with more than 84,000 readers involved in the political process. Lieberman has a unique vantage point from which to observe the unfolding presidential campaigns. Prior to serving as publisher, Lieberman consulted on many campaigns and advocacy programs in the United States and abroad.
- “I’m No Lady, I’m a Member of Congress”: Women in Congress, 1917–2006
Kathleen Johnson, Historical Publications Specialist, Office of History and Preservation, House of Representatives CONFIRMED
As one of the authors of Women in Congress—a book chronicling the history of the more than 200 women who have served in the House and the Senate—Johnson will provide background on the publication and its corresponding web component which contains educational materials designed for use in the classroom. She also will discuss the forthcoming publication of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007, and the many web resources created by the Office of History and Preservation that document the history of the House of Representatives.
- Sound Bite: Yes, It is Possible to Find Humor in Congress
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED
Relying on gems located in the archives of Members of Congress, Mackaman provides examples of what constituents expect of their representatives. Consider this request of former Congressman Jon Dent: “I am a future inventor. Tell me some of the inventions of the future so I can start on them now.”
- Teaching with Primary Sources
Cindy Rich, Project Director, Teaching with Primary Sources, Eastern Illinois University CONFIRMED
The Library of Congress's Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program works with an educational consortium of schools, universities, libraries, and foundations to help teachers use the Library’s vast collection of digitized primary sources to enrich their classroom instruction. Schools that have participated in the program know that it encourages educators to embed primary sources into curriculum through all disciplines and grade levels to build a foundation of knowledge, enhance understanding, increase comprehension, and develop multimedia/information literacy skills.
- From the Campaign Trail: Observations from a Reporter
Tanya Koonce, political reporter, WCBU Radio CONFIRMED
How do reporters decide what to cover in a congressional election? What factors affect their relationships with the candidates? How do they know when they've been "spun"? What qualities or skills are required of political reporters? Koonce, who currently covers the 18th congressional district race to replace retiring Congressman Ray LaHood, will address these questions and more.
- Predicting the Outcome of the Presidential Election
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED
Historians, political scientists, economists, and hobbyists all have devised various models, some sensible, some strange, to predict the outcome of presidential elections. Mackaman will introduce you to several of them before focusing on the one that has proven the most prescient.
- How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members
Stephanie Vance, Advocacy Associates, Washington DC CONFIRMED
How do you break through the “noise” to communicate with a member of Congress? Vance has the answers. She advises clients on how to reach Congress people effectively by understanding how congressional offices function and process information. She will introduce her online advocacy course – something you can use even after the workshop ends.
Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm -- to see what participants say about the program.
* Registration *
If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2008 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm.
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1. PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives
Alice Mary Robertson (R-OK). It is often said that no one remembers who came in second—it applies to political history, too. Jeannette Rankin is relatively well known as the first women elected to Congress. Far fewer recall that Alice Mary Robertson was next. “Colorful, quotable, conservative, and hostile to the women’s suffrage movement and its many leaders [including Rankin], Robertson’s single term in the House hinged on her rejection of a significant piece of legislation—a proposed World War I Veterans Bonus Bill.” She was elected to the 67th Congress (1921-23). On June 20, 1921, during a roll call vote on funding for a U.S. delegation to the centennial celebrations of Peru’s independence, Robertson became the first women to preside over a session of the House. She was defeated in her bid for re-election in 1922.
Sources:
Women in Congress, 1917-2006, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives (2006): 43.
2. CONGRESS DEFINED
Words and phrases that describe congressional processes
Joint Resolution. A legislative measure that Congress uses for purposes other than general legislation. Like a bill, it has the force of law when passed by both houses and either approved by the president or passed over the president’s veto. Unlike a bill, a joint resolution enacted into law is not called an act; it retains its original title. Most often, joint resolutions deal with such relatively limited matters as the correction of errors in existing law, continuing appropriations, a single appropriation, or the establishment of permanent joint committees. They are also used to propose constitutional amendments. Joint Resolutions are designated as H. J. Res, or S. J. res.
Source:
Congressional Quarterly, American Congressional Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Washington DC; CQ Press, 2001): 1297.
3. CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS WINNERS
Congratulations to the following Congressional Research Awards winners for the 2007–2008 round of competition:
- Royce A. Carroll, Rice University, and Henry A. Kim, University of Arizona
Changing Congressional Rhetoric, Polarization, and the Breakdown of Organizational Parties in the U.S. House – funded at $2,500
- Charles E. Delgadillo*, University of California, Santa Barbara
Forged between the Wars: the Reform Alliance in Peace and War, 1919-1941 – funded at $1,000
- Menna Demessie*, University of Michigan
Navigating Boundaries of Blackness: Congressional Caucuses and Minority Representation of African Immigrants in the United States – funded at $3,450
- Matthew J. Eshbaugh-Soha, University of North Texas
The Impact of Presidential Speeches on Congressional Committees, 1989-2004 – funded at $3,400
- William H. Ewell*, University of North Carolina
Institutional Power and Budget Outcomes in American Government – funded at $3,140
- Brian D. Feinstein*, Harvard University
Congressional Oversight of the Bureaucracy: Motives, Targets, and Consequences – funded at $3,500
- Michael M. Franz, Bowdoin College
Congressional Oversight of Campaign Finance – funded at $2,010
- Miler, Kristina C. University of Illinois
Changing Chambers, Changing Constituencies: Legislative Behavior from the House to the Senate – funded at $3,390
- L. Marvin Overby, University of Missouri-Columbia
Discharge Petitions in the Pre-Conditional Party Government Era – funded at $3,294
- Pearson, Kathryn, University of Minnesota
Congresswomen in Pursuit of Power, 1987-2007 – funded at $1,200
- Eleanor N. Powell*, Harvard University
Reward and Punishment: Career Advancement in the U.S. Congress – funded at $3,500
- Joseph P. Renouard*, Emory University
Limits and Morality: the Emergence of Human Rights in America’s Post-Vietnam Foreign Policy – funded at $2,079
- Matthew C. Sherman*, Saint Louis University
Presidential Assassinations: The Failure to Protect Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley – funded at $2,662
*PhD. Candidate
Learn more about these grant projects and others at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm#Grntrecipient00
For more information about how to submit a Congressional Research Awards grant proposal, please visit: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm.
Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $747,465 to support over 369 projects. The Dirksen Congressional Center intends to award grants in 2009, with February 1 the deadline for proposals. If you have questions about the Congressional Research Awards, contact Frank Mackaman.
4. CONGRESS AND INTEREST GROUPS
* NEW LESSON PLAN *
During our annual Congress in the Classroom® workshop –– http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm –– participants are asked to introduce the lesson plans, resources, and techniques that have proven successful in teaching about Congress in their classrooms. A past participant presented a lesson entitled, Congress and Interest Groups.
After completing this assignment, students will better understand congressional committees and interest groups. They will learn to assess the significance of the donations to committee members, consider from whom they have come, and how the donations might impact the committee vote on legislation. Students will also learn how interest groups seek to influence politicians.
Find Congress and Interest Groups at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_congandinterestgroups.htm
5. * NEW EDITORIAL CARTOONS*
The Dirksen Congressional Center recently announced the completion of the Editorial Cartoon Collection project: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm.
The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans from The Dirksen Center will teach students to identify issues, analyze symbols, acknowledge the need for background knowledge, recognize stereotypes and caricatures, think critically, and appreciate the role of irony and humor.
This month we have posted three new cartoons:
Caption: Dirksen Elected to the Senate –– http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron1-10.htm
Caption: John Kennedy Favors Dirksen -- http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron1-10.htm
Caption: Senate Leadership –– http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron11-20.htm
6. * NEW * AboutGovernment Has Changed!
We’ve made a change to our AboutGovernment Web portal site to focus more selectively on Internet sites related to Congress. With the advent of such search engines as Google and Ask, it is far easier than it used to be to find sites related to the executive and judicial branches and to the hundreds of federal agencies. We simply couldn’t keep up!
AboutGovernment offers links to more than 50 sites about the U.S. Congress. We have also provided links to four major search engines and to a handful of sites about the federal government more generally.
We welcome you to take a look: http://www.aboutgovernment.org
7. * NEW * Work Product: Congress in the Classroom Online
September 12, 2007, marked the official debut of The Dirksen Congressional Center's new online version of Congress in the Classroom® –– http://moodle.congressclass.org –– an award–winning course for teachers. This improved version of the course uses a more interactive approach, featuring many options to engage you (and the instructor) in the course materials.
So that others may benefit from their colleagues’ work, we post selected finished work products on the site. We have recently posted a new work product completed by Ted Guillroy for Assignment 3: What Makes for Effective Members of Congress? In the selection for this assignment, political scientist Barbara Sinclair answers this question: "What are the skills needed to serve effectively in Congress and how do politicians acquire them?"
If you are new to our online course, we encourage you to visit the site – http://www.moodle.congressclass.org – and create a new account or log in as a guest to view Ted’s new work product.
Congress in the Classroom® Online will help you understand today's Congress and suggest ways to teach about it. The self–paced online course is organized around the twin responsibilities of Congress members: representation and lawmaking. There are more than a dozen individual units on such topics as "What Makes for Effective Members of Congress?" "How Representative is the Membership of Congress?" and "Lawmaking: Understanding the Basics." All the information you need to complete the online course is available with just a few mouse clicks.
Do you teach social studies, American government, American history, or civics? Are your lessons about the U.S. Congress out of date? Is it hard to engage your students in learning about the House and Senate? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then Congress in the Classroom® Online is the course for you!
If you need help or have any questions about getting into the course, please contact one of the following:
Instructor: Frank Mackaman fmackaman@dirksencenter.org
Moodle Admin: Cindy Koeppel ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org or moodle@congressclass.org
Take a look –– http://moodle.congressclass.org!
8. * NEW * Countdown to Election 2008
Participate in Election 2008 with polls, bulletin boards, games and quizzes. Find Countdown to Election 2008 at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Elections_eletionpres/2_electionofpresident.htm
Trivia: Which of these two presidential candidates ran against each other for the Senate in 2004?
- Clinton and Giuliani
- Kucinich and Keyes
- Dodd and Thompson
- Obama and Keyes
*Find the answer in next month's issue.
Answer to February 2008"s Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/classroomresources/funfactstrivia_ans0208.htm
9. POSTSCRIPT INFORMATION
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