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:

* GRANTS: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS 2011 *

1. People Who Served in Congress
2. Congress Defined
3. *New* Lesson Plan: The U.S. Constitution Power Grab Game
4. *New* The Dirksen Center’s Lesson Plan Contest
5. *New* A Journalist’s Take on Congress
6. *New* Editorial Cartoons
7. *New* U.S. House of Representatives Oral Histories
8. *New* What’s What in the Executive Branch, What Congress Can and Cannot Do, & Trivia
9. Postscript Information

1. PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
   Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives

African-Americans in Congress: 

Women in Congress:  

2. CONGRESS DEFINED
   Words and phrases that describe congressional processes

Immunity. Members’ constitutional protection from lawsuits and arrest in connection with their legislative duties. They may not be tried for libel or slander for anything they say on the floor of the House or Senate or in committee. Nor may they be arrested while attending sessions of their chambers or while traveling to or from sessions of Congress, except when charged with treason, a felony, or a breach of the peace.

Source:  Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional Dictionary, 3rd edition (2001):121.

3. * NEW LESSON PLAN * THE U.S. CONSTITUTION POWER GRAB GAME

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 2010 participant presented a lesson entitled, The U.S. Constitution Power Grab Game.

Overview
The highest law of the land in the United States is the Constitution.  This is the basic principle we want young people to understand and support in our social studies classes.  Associated with the knowledge of the Constitution are several fundamental ideas: checks and balances, separation of powers, Bill of Rights, and amendments.

Purpose
The purpose of this lesson plan is to encourage students to comprehend these points of emphasis and relate them to the study of the three branches of the federal government.  Several activities are described.  The culminating activity is the “Power Grab Game” given before the final test on the Constitution unit.

Objectives
Students will be able to (1) identify the three branches of American government, (2) describe the function of each branch of government, (3) explain how the “checks and balances” system functions to protect the individual citizen from power-hungry politicians, (4) describe how each branch of government is “separate” in its powers from the other branches of government, and (5) explain how the amendments to the Constitution function today.

Find The U.S. Constitution Power Grab Game at:  http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_powergame.htm

4. * NEW * THE DIRKSEN CENTER’S LESSON PLAN CONTEST

The Dirksen Center introduces a lesson plan contest challenging seventh through twelfth-grade educators to submit lesson plans based on selected content on The Dirksen Center’s web suite.

The contest is open to seventh through twelfth-grade educators who have attended one of The Dirksen Center’s Congress in the Classroom® -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm -- workshops.

The objective is to use resources on our web suite to create a new lesson plan to be posted on our website.  The resource links for you to choose the content to create your lesson plan are: 

• The Dirksen Center's Editorial Cartoon Collection: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm
  
  
• Congressional Timeline: http://www.congressionaltimeline.org/
  
  
• The Civil Rights Documentation Project: http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/index.htm
  
  
• Facing the Post- War World: Everett M. Dirksen Abroad, 1945: http://www.dirksencenter.org/1945trip/index.htm
  
  
• Anatomy of a Congressional Leadership Race: http://www.dirksencenter.org/leadershiprace/index.htm
  
  
• Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership Minutes, 1961-68: http://www.dirksencenter.org/guides_emd/Minutes%201961-1968/index.htm

The entry deadline is January 31, 2011.  Winners will be notified by February 15, 2011.

The lesson plan needs to be submitted online -- The Dirksen Center's Lesson Plan Contest Submission Form -- http://www.congresslink.org/PHPMailer-FE_v4.0.6/lpcontestform.html. Please complete the entire form and upload any additional files associated with your lesson plan.

Two teachers will be chosen to present their lesson plan at a panel discussion during the 20th edition of Congress in the Classroom® 2011.  Your registration fee of $125 will be waived.  The Center will pay for your transportation (subject to limitations) and your hotel stay for the duration of the workshop.

Questions? Contact:

Lynn Kasinger
The Dirksen Congressional Center
2815 Broadway
Pekin, IL 61554-4219 USA
(309) 347-7113
(309) 347-6432 FAX
lkasinger@dirksencenter.org

5. * NEW *  A JOURNALIST’S TAKE ON CONGRESS

What are the challenges and rewards of covering the Hill? How do you decide what stories to cover? What stories should we keep our eyes on throughout the rest of the year? David Lightman, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Hartford Courant for 23 years before joining McClatchy, offered his insights while presenting a session entitled, A Journalist’s Take on Congress, during our Congress in the Classroom 2010 annual workshop.

The McClatchy Company is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States and a leading newspaper and Internet publisher. Lightman has covered every presidential campaign since 1980 and has won the David Lynch Award for outstanding regional reporting in Washington. From 1971 to 1981 he worked for the Baltimore Evening Sun. He joined the Courant in 1981 as a reporter.

Link to David’s MS Word presentation at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm#Journalist

6. * NEW * EDITORIAL CARTOONS

The Dirksen Congressional Center recently announced additions to the Editorial Cartoon Collection project: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm.

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.

This month we have posted five new cartoons:

• Caption: Taft-Hartley and the Filibuster
  http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm  #47
  
  
• Caption: Effort to Repeal 14b
  http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron51-60.htm  #52
  
  
• Caption: Effort to Repeal 14b
  http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm  #48 
  
  
• Caption: Effort to Repeal 14b
  http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm  #49
  
  
• Caption: Effort to Repeal 14b
  http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm  #44

We now have a total of 158 cartoons posted!

7. * NEW *  U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ORAL HISTORIES

Beginning in 2004, the Office of the Clerk authorized the first oral history program for the U.S. House of Representatives. Created to make the rich heritage of the U.S. House of Representatives more accessible to Members, staff, scholars, and the general public, the program seeks to include interviews with a wide variety of House employees such as Member aides, committee staff, support staff, technical assistants, and family of Members. Select former Representatives also are interviewed. Interviews are conducted by the Office of History and Preservation (OHP).

The collection and preservation of the stories and experiences of people who have worked on Capitol Hill greatly contributes to the historical record of the U.S. House of Representatives. Detailed descriptions of legislative processes and procedures, personal and political anecdotes, and recollections about the evolving nature of the institution, represent a vital source of information about the inner workings of Congress.

Elected Clerk under Speakers Jim Wright of Texas and Thomas Foley of Washington, Donnald Anderson began his 35 years of House service as a Page. Even before he was Clerk, Anderson’s duties—running errands, operating elevators in the Capitol, enrolling bills, and serving Members in the Democratic Cloakroom—kept him close to the House Floor. In the video clip -- Donnald K. Anderson: Congresswoman Helen Meyner of New Jersey at:  http://oralhistory.clerk.house.gov/interviewee.html?name=anderson-donn&view=media -- Anderson recalls how Congresswoman Helen Meyner of New Jersey quietly broke gender barriers in the Democratic Cloakroom.

For more information about OHP’s oral history program contact the Office of History and Preservation at (202) 226-1300, or via email at: history@mail.house.gov.

8. * NEW *  WHAT’S WHAT IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH, WHAT CONGRESS CAN AND CANNOT DO, & TRIVIA

* WHAT’S WHAT IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH *

Learn what five of the most important people in the Executive Branch do for our government.  Drag the job descriptions to the positions where they fit best.

Find What's What in the Executive Branch at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/execbranch_cabinet/2_executivebranch_cabinet.htm

 * WHAT CONGRESS CAN AND CANNOT DO *

Congress is not allowed to do everything! The Constitution grants many important powers to Congress such as the power to coin money, declare war, and provide a military. The Constitution also says some things that Congress CANNOT do. Do you know the difference?

Uncle Sam has to take a skill-sharpening test every six months. You take it, too. Tell which statements are true and which ones are false.

Find What Congress Can and Cannot Do at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Execbranch_pres_congress/whatcongresscan.htm

* TRIVIA *

What branch of government is the Federal Reserve Bank under?

*Find the answer in next month's issue.

Answer to October 2010’s Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/classroomresources/funfactstrivia_ans1010.htm

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