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
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM 2010
NEW SESSIONS ADDED!!!
* Deadline: April 15, 2010 *
Congress in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education program now in its 19th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress.
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 to take part in the program. All online applications must be received by no later than April 15, 2010. We will notify individuals of our decisions by April 30, 2010.
Although the workshop will feature a variety of sessions, the 2010 program will feature a broad overview of Congress with special attention to the mid-year elections of 2010. Tentative session titles are listed below. Additional sessions will be announced as presenters are confirmed. More information about the content of each session will be posted on our Web site as it becomes available shortly after February 15.
Throughout the program, you will work with subject matter experts as well as colleagues from across the nation. This combination of firsthand knowledge and peer-to-peer interaction will give you new ideas, materials, and a professionally enriching experience.
"Until now so much of what I did in my class on Congress was straight theory-this is what the Constitution says, "noted one of our teachers."Now I can use these activities and illustrations to help get my students involved in the class and at the very least their community but hopefully in the federal government. This workshop has given me a way to help them see how relevant my class is and what they can do to help make changes in society."
In sum, the workshop consists of two types of sessions: those that focus on recent research and scholarship about Congress (and don't always have an immediate application in the classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach students about the federal legislature.
The 2010 workshop will be held Monday, July 26 - Thursday, July 29, at Embassy Suites, East 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 $125 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 $30,000 and $35,000 to host the program each year.
What follows are the sessions planned for the 2010 edition of Congress in the Classroom. Please re-visit the site for changes as the program develops.
Session Titles, 2010:
The View from Capitol Hill
Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL, 18th District) INVITED
Congressional Insight
A team-oriented, highly interactive simulation of a Congress member’s first term CONFIRMED
The Congressional Time Line Project
Frank Mackaman and Cindy Koeppel, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED
Can Congress Ever Be Popular?
Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, University of Nebraska-Lincoln CONFIRMED
How Fantasy Football Saved Congress: Active Learning through a Congressional Drafting Game
Jennifer J. Hora, Department of Political Science, Valparaiso University CONFIRMED
Help for Teachers from the Office of History and Preservation
Kathleen Johnson, Historical Publications Specialist, Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives CONFIRMED
A View of Congress from the White House: What the Presidential Tapes Reveal
KC Johnson, Department of History, Brooklyn College CONFIRMED
A Journalist’s Take on Congress
David Lightman, Congressional Correspondent, McClatchy News Service CONFIRMED
Teaching with Primary Sources
Cindy Rich, Project Director, Teaching with Primary Sources, Eastern Illinois University CONFIRMED
Leadership in the House During the 111th Congress
Bryan Marshall, Department of Political Science, Miami University of Ohio
Introduction to the Virtual Congress
Elaine Larson, Education and Outreach Training, Center of Congress at Indiana University CONFIRMED
What is Most Important to Teach about Congress?
Teachers CONFIRMED
The Five Best New Books on Congress
Teacher Panel CONFIRMED
Election 2010: Why Do Voters Vote the Way They Do?
Andrew Civettini, Department of Political Science, Knox College CONFIRMED
The Ten Most Important Things to Know about Congress
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED
How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members
Stephanie Vance, Advocacy Associates, Washington, DC CONFIRMED
PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives
Eagan, John Joseph (1872-1956), a Representative from New Jersey; born in Hoboken, N.J., January 22, 1872; was graduated from public, parochial, and private schools; in 1894 founded and was president of the Eagan Schools of Business in Hoboken, Union Hill, and Hackensack, N.J., and Brooklyn, N.Y.; first vice president of the Merchants & Manufacturers’ Trust Co.; collector of taxes of Union, N.J., 1896-1899; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1921); delegate to the Democratic National Convention at San Francisco in 1920; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress; again elected to the Sixty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1923-March 3, 1925); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924; resumed his former business pursuits; member and president of the Board of Education, Weehawken, N.J., 1932-1940; appointed collector of taxes and custodian of school moneys of Weehawken in 1940; collector of taxes 1941-1955; resided in Weehawken, N.J., until his death in Paramus, N.J., June 13, 1956; interment in Rosendale Cemetery, Tillson, N.Y.
Smalls, Robert (1839-1915), a Representative from South Carolina; born in Beaufort, S.C., April 5, 1839; moved to Charleston, S.C., in 1851; appointed pilot in the United States Navy and served throughout the Civil War; member of the State constitutional convention in 1868; served in the State house of representatives, 1868-1870; member of the State senate 1870-1874; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872 and 1876; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress; successfully contested the election of George D. Tillman to the Forty-seventh Congress and served from July 19, 1882, to March 3, 1883; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882; elected to the Forty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Edmund W.M. Mackey; reelected to the Forty-ninth Congress and served from March 18, 1884, to March 3, 1887; unsuccessful for reelection in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress; collector of the port of Beaufort, S.C., 1897-1913; died in Beaufort, S.C., February 22, 1915; interment in the Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery.
Image courtesy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Washington, DC.the DC public library.
Greenway, Isabella S. (1886-1953), (later Mrs. Harry Orland King), a Representative from Arizona; born Isabella Selmes in Boone County, Ky., March 22, 1886; attended the public schools and Miss Chapin’s School, in New York City; homesteaded near Tyrone, N.Mex., in 1910; served as chairman of the Women’s Land Army of New Mexico in 1918; moved to Tucson, Ariz., in 1923; Democratic National committeewoman from Arizona; owner and operator of a cattle ranch; owner of Gilpin Air Lines, Los Angeles, Calif., 1929-1934; in 1929 established the Arizona Inn (a hotel resort) in Tucson; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Lewis W. Douglas; reelected to the Seventy-fourth Congress and served from October 3, 1933, to January 3, 1937; was not a candidate for renomination in 1936; member of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission; retired from political activities; died in Tucson, Ariz., December 18, 1953; interment in the family cemetery on the Selmes farm in Boone County, Ky., twenty miles from Covington, Ky.
CONGRESS DEFINED Words and phrases that describe congressional processes
Backdoor Spending Authority. Authority to incur obligations that evades the normal congressional appropriations process because it is provided in legislation other than appropriations acts. The most common forms are borrowing authority, contract authority, and entitlement authority. From the perspective of the appropriations committees, funding by these forms of spending authority slips away from their control through legislative back doors.
Source: Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional Dictionary, 3rd edition (2001):17.
* NEW LESSON PLAN * POLITICAL CARTOON ANALYSIS
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, Political Cartoon Analysis. Students will understand that political cartoons may send messages as strongly as documents and speeches. As a result of this activity, students will know that primary sources have perspective and a purpose. Studying political cartoons and analysis will enable students to: (1) evaluate and gather information from a first person narrative, (2) analyze, interpret, and synthesize political cartoon primary sources, and, (3) identify and use clues from an illustration and text to make decisions about the cartoons meaning.
The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans 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.
* NEW *PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS ON HOUSE HEALTH CARE VOTE
C-SPAN officially launched the C-SPAN Video Library, a free, searchable online collection of every C-SPAN program aired since 1987. This means teachers will now have access to over 160,000 hours of searchable digital video. You will also be able to create your own embeddable clips for lessons and presentations in your classroom.
C-SPAN's Video Library easily equips teachers with thousands of free resources to create authentic learning experiences for students that deepen their understanding of U.S. and world history, the workings of governments, the role of the media, and current political events.
This month we will highlight a video where President Obama talked about the House passage of both the Senate health care legislation and the health care reconciliation bill. He thanked members of his cabinet and Democratic leadership for their perseverance.
Presidential Remarks on House Health Care Vote
* NEW * VIDEO: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DEMOCRAT AND A REPUBLICAN
As Republican Senate leader, Everett Dirksen played a highly visible and key role in the politics of the 1960s, including helping to write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Open Housing Act of 1968, both landmarks of Civil Rights legislation. Dirksen served in the Senate from 1951 to 1969, and was seen quite often on the evening television news shows. His banter with newsmen Walter Cronkite and Roger Mudd, and his unmistakable “raspy” voice made him famous throughout the country and the world.
This video was shot in Southern Illinois in 1967 or 1968 and features a young report (CP Harding) from WSIU Television (Southern Illinois University) asking Senator Dirksen just one question for a proposed children’s news program. Toward the end of the interview, the reporter becomes concerned because he was getting a signal that they were almost out of film and Senator Dirksen just kept talking.
Back in the day, Lyndon Johnson and Everett Dirksen did some horse-trading to get civil rights legislation passed. Read this article on RealClearPolitics to get a sense of how times have changed.
* NEW * PRESIDENT RESCUE, WORDSPY: THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS & TRIVIA
* GAME: PRESIDENT RESCUE *
The President is kidnapped by the terrorists. You are part of an elite task force appointed by the FBI to rescue the President. It is your task to fight all the terrorists and rescue the President!
Press ‘A’ on your keyboard to move left, press ‘D’ to move right, press ‘W’ to move forward, and press ‘S’ to move back. Aim at enemies with your mouse pointer and shoot them with a left mouse click. Move your helicopter from the enemy territory by destroying their tanks and soldiers and reach the helipad. Press the spacebar on your keyboard to land on the helipad and move to the next level. Good luck!
Uncle Sam, the word spy, wants you to take a minute and test your knowledge about the President and Congress. Match the word(s) in the left-hand column to complete the questions or statements in the right-hand column. Check your answers.
Find WordSpy: The President and Congress at: http://www.congressforkids.net/wordspy/wspy_Executivebranch_president_congress.htm
* Trivia *
In 1868 impeachment proceedings were initiated against President Andrew Johnson for his opposition to black rights and Congress' Reconstruction efforts. By what margin did he escape conviction?
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