I have a group of students who love research, love technology and possess a thirst for knowledge. Not only for information contained in classroom text but supplemental material as well.
Unfortunately, for mostly financial reasons, children who live in the inner city are often left out of opportunities presented to people living elsewhere.
This should not be the case.
Living in the inner city effects all families, elderly couples and young working-class members, but nobody is affected more than children. Growing up as a child in the inner city is certainly a challenge. These kids don't have adequate facilities to grow up in a healthy manner. Parks aren't well-kept streets are dirty and above all, the education they are offered is inexcusably poor. For most kids, a solid education is perhaps their only chance to get off the streets, out of the city so that they can create a better situation for their own kids. But if these inner city kids aren't given the same educational opportunities as other kids, then they can never get out and the problem just grows.
My Project
Civics and government teachers don't want to tell a dirty secret, so I will. Students consistently ask questions about legal hypotheticals -- many of them likely based in reality. "But wait Ms. Williams a student once asked me. "Administrators can't just search my backpack without my consent can they? There's an amendment that protects against that, right?" Uh oh.
Timeout for a teachable moment.
Rather than act as informal counsel for our young defendant, a the teacher will turn the learning over to students by offering cases that cover just the types of subjects civics students are most interested in -- their rights.
Students will use the Kindle Fire Device to read about court cases, and books related to the case in question.
A few basic questions could be on their "docket" to answer with a Constitution handy to investigate: can the government constitutionally engage in that activity? What article permits or restricts such action? Is there an amendment to the Constitution that protects the behavior? Without knowing the outcome of the case, have groups judge what they think the verdict should be. Students then will be provided with an excerpt from the majority opinion of the court to half the group and the dissenting opinion to the other half. Students will be allowed to discuss whether or not they think the decision was constitutional and have them cite articles, amendments, or previous cases as evidence.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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