Features
[Professional Development Opportunities] [Instructional Resources] [Pick Me resource materials]
[Web Resources] [AP Government Resources]
Professional Development
Teachers,
Click here to download your resource materials for participation in the Pick Me! A Jury of My Peers program.
To request copies of the DVD, please contact Brooke Williams, Communications Assistant with the Austin Bar Association.
Click here for Calendar
of upcoming class visits
Committee Chairs for this Jury service project sponsored by the Austin Bar Association this year are Leslie Dippel and Robert Robinson of the Austin Bar. The Committee would like to thank the following individuals for their valuable assistance
in creating and editing the project materials:
Rosemary Morrow, Former AISD Administrative Supervisor for Social Studies;
Joe Ramirez, AISD Administrative Supervisor for Social Studies;
Carlen Floyd, AISD Social Studies Teacher.
The Committee gratefully acknowledges the Texas Young Lawyers Association and the
Texas Bar Foundation for permission to reprint and reproduce portions of their jury service curriculum, We the Jury. We also thank Rainmaker Document Technologies for
their generous in-kind donation.
Law-Related Education Conference
Teachers are invited to the Law-Related Education, State Bar of Texas, annual conference to be held in Austin on February 6 and 7 at the Airport Hilton. A pre-conference dinner on February 5 will focus on the Representative Democracy in America project.
Conference sessions will target elementary, middle and high school programs. These sessions will reflect the importance of having student-centered activities that foster an understanding of fundamental constitutional principles. Other sessions will provide strategies for increasing critical thinking skills relevant to the TEKS standards and the TAKS test. Strategies will include extensions for gifted/talented and advanced placement classes. The State Board for Educator Certification has approved all Law-Related Education workshops for professional development credit.
To Download PDF Application, Click here!
Instructional Resources
STUDENT VOICES PROJECT examines political issues
Student Voices makes the study of government relevant and exciting for high school students by helping them examine how issues they consider important are played out in their own governments and election campaigns. Their class formulates a Youth Issues Agenda, reflecting the issues that are of most concern to students and their communities. Students use the interactive Student Voices website to find information on issues and candidates and discuss policy issues online.
The resources at Student Voices, including the curricula, are free and require no password for teachers to access them. The website contains research tools, discussions, and news that students can use to follow the curriculum. The curriculum can be used in its entirety or by individual lessons to complement classroom instruction. Lessons are aligned to the standards.
Relevant news items are posted on the Student Voices website every morning, and there is a new national discussion for students to participate in every two weeks. Discussions are moderated by the staff to ensure they are on-topic and complement the learning objectives in classrooms.
All resources are provided at no cost and just require teachers creating a login on the website. There is a teacher discussion board to allow teachers to talk with teachers who have been working on the projects already.
ABA's Dialogue in the Classroom Series
The American Bar Association Dialogue series is built upon the idea of stimulating conversations about law and its role in society. Often facilitated by a lawyer or judge, these conversations are intended to take place in high school classrooms or community settings.
Each Dialogue includes background information, focus questions, and advice on holiding civil discussions, as well as resources and other related information. Each can be adapted to fit 1 to 4 classroom periods.
Choose from:
- New for 2008 Dialogue on the Rule of Law
- Dialogue on Youth & Justice
- Dialoge on the Separation of Powers
- Dialogue on the American Jury
- Dialogue on Brown v. Board of Education
(this last item available only online)
For free downloads and video samples, go here.
Our Courts
Imagine:
An interactive problems-based civics learning environment! Sandra Day O'Connor has and its in development. Check out what they have up so far at ourcourts.org
STREET LAW INC. LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
Street Law, Inc. has resources to help educators who teach in a variety of settings and subject areas to bring the study of law, democracy, and human rights into their classrooms. Celebrating their 35th Anniversary, they've launched a great new website, putting their resources right at your fingertips. Click here to visit site.
Each state has an LRE coordinator to provide teachers and educators with support, resources, and information on available curricula and professional development opportunities. Texas' Director of Law-Related Education is Jan Miller. Jan and her office staff are always ready and able to provide resources and support to our classroom teachers. Contact them at their website: www.texaslre.org
Bill of Rights INSTITUTE Resources
For excellent Lesson Resources
provided by The Bill of Rights Institute
click here.
In addition, we encourage you to check out their regular newsletters with associated lesson plans. To subscribe to one of the newsletters below, click here.
The Institute's newsletter on Landmark Supreme Court Cases recently 
Have you seen The Bill of Rights Institute's Student Website?
Featuring audio, video, links, study help, and interactive activities, DoYouHavetheRight.org, provides the kind of interactive, multimedia pages students want. Introduce yourself to the site this summer and check back during the school year for new monthly themes. spotlighted the landmark free exercise case
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). 
The Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling at the end of last year’s term with the case District of Columbia v. Heller. Richard Heller challenged the District’s law banning virtually all handguns on Second Amendment grounds. The Court agreed with Heller, finding the ban unconstitutional and holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep suitable weapons at home for self-defense unconnected to militia service. The impact of this decision will continue to be analyzed for many years.
For Lesson Resources and Discussion Questions, click here.
October 6, 2008 marks the beginning of the United States Supreme Court 2008-2009 term. The most recent edition of Bill of Rights in the News focuses on four cases the Court will hear this term which center on Bill of Rights amendments: rights of the accused; dirty words on TV; and a case involving the Ten Commandments. For Resources and Discussion Questions, click here.
Previous Lessons- Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection Method
Last week, the Supreme Court issued a plurality decision upholding Kentucky's use lethal injection to carry out death penalty sentences. The chance of an execution method causing pain, the Court ruled, did not mean it violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. For a punishment to violate the Eighth Amendment, it "must present a 'substantial' or 'objectively intolerable' risk of serious harm," Chief Justice Roberts reasoned. The Court's divided ruling in Baze v. Rees is the subject of the most recent Bill of Rights in the News. Click here to view the entire lesson.
- Article II and Elections
Last week, Bill of Rights in the News focuses on the Constitution, issues of the 2008 general election, and presidential candidates. Students will first read and analyze Article II of the Constitution, and then use Web resources to understand and evaluate candidates' stated positions on issues. Click here to view the entire lesson.
- Surveillance Bill
A showdown took place between House on one side, and the Senate and the President on the other, concerning the government's surveillance power. The House and Senate have each passed bills, but they differ in key ways, including whether to grant immunity to telecommunications companies who provided the government with private data and complied with warrant-less wiretaps. This week's Bill of Rights in the News spotlights this event, highlighting Fourth Amendment protections as well as the constitutional separation of powers. Click here to view the entire lesson.
The final Bill of Rights eLesson on the Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis for this school year brings us up to 2008. In the years following the 
passage of the USA Patriot Act, the federal government's surveillance programs have been criticized as unconstitutional, and have also been defended as essential to the War on Terror. This eLesson focuses on what the National Security Agency (NSA) calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program, known commonly as "warrant-less wiretapping." Click here to view entire lesson.
Supreme Court Subject of Gilder Lehrman Web Publication
In Issue Fifteen, Gilder Lehrman Institute's History Now examined the functions of the Supreme Court, its composition, and the philosophical differences that have emerged within its membership over the centuries. 
It also provided a case study of one of the major crises in the history of the modern court: Roosevelt's "court packing" plan, and provides a portrait of one of the justices, Sandra Day O'Connor.
The essays by leading legal historians provided in the recent issue can serve as the basis for critically important lessons for our nation's future voting citizens.
- And finally, don't miss this issue's interactive feature:
15 Supreme Court Cases Every High School Student Should Know.
Web Resources
NewsHour's Extra provides unique current events resources for teachers, news stories for a tenth-grade reading level, pictures, maps, video, and in-depth lesson plans.
Vote 18
It was 36 years ago that Congress finished action on lowering the voting age to 18. Vote 18 is an interactive game that teaches students the value of their vote when they turn eighteen, register to vote and participate in elections on a regular basis.
Teachers wanting a Vote 18 DVD that shows the game in action should contact Walt Townes, Executive Director, Vote 18, 917-572-8934, www.Vote18.org .
Vote 18 is provided free to schools.
"We visit your school, teach a sample class for you, and provide everything your teachers need to incorporate Vote 18 into your curriculum including a Vote 18 Lesson Plan and Training Video."
If you would like to receive more information please contact: Marco Ceglie
PROJECT V.O.T.E.
The goal of Project V.O.T.E. is to help students become knowledgeable, responsible voters at an early age, and stimulate a life-long commitment to participate in the election process. Voter education curriculum and other resource materials are provided. The curriculum, Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grades, is an excellent resource which provides teachers with lessons and activities to integrate in their classrooms.
single site expedites accessing archives of Nation's 12 Presidential libraries
The Presidential Timeline was designed and developed by the Learning Technology Center in The University of Texas at Austin College of Education, in conjunction with the nation's 12 Presidential Libraries. Educational activities for the Presidential Timeline focus on using original documents, photographs, audio and video to provide students with an in depth understanding of historical events related to the presidents.