Class Action Program
This program, offered by the South Carolina Supreme Court twice a month from September through June, is designed to bring middle school and high school students to the Supreme Court to hear oral argument. Afterwards, the Justices meet with the students for approximately 30 minutes to talk about law-related issues of interest and to answer questions. Briefs, a case summary and other information about the Court are sent to the students prior to their visit. Contact Betsy Goodale at (803) 734-1160 or at bgoodale@sccourts.org for more information or to schedule a visit.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
http://www.crf-usa.org/
http://www.crf-usa.org/lessons.html
Constitutional Rights Foundation seeks to instill in our nation's youth a deeper understanding of citizenship through values expressed in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights and to educate young people to become active and responsible participants in our society. CRF is dedicated to assuring our country's future by investing in our youth today. The second link has pre-made lesson plans on the Constitution ready for classroom application.
Federal Courts
The federal courts have lesson plans about the federal judicial system that teachers may use for free. It also may be useful to conduct one or more basic lessons, perhaps with the help of a judge or court employee, while the students visit the court. If you choose to conduct a lesson while at the court, talk to the judge or other court employee beforehand to make sure that they understand their roles in the learning process.
Institute for Public Service and Policy Research at University of South Carolina
www.ipspr.sc.edu
The Institute for Public Service and Policy Research is an interdisciplinary research and public service unit of the University of South Carolina. Its principal purpose is to address current and emerging issues relating to matters of public policy, governance, and leadership through research, educational activities, publications, and direct assistance programs. The goal of the Institute is to improve the quality of social, political, environmental, and economic life, with a primary focus in South Carolina.
Law Day and Planning Guide
www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/
Local courthouses celebrate with mock trials, tours, legal advice booths, and other activities. The American Bar Association has resources available to include a law day planning guide and additional Information on law day art, law day events, and a law day store. Teachers may want to access the guide to connect with the Law Day. The guide also provides speaking points on various areas of the law, information on how to set up essay contests, and order forms for publications.
Let's Go
www.knowitall.org/letsgo/
(Middle and High School) Let's Go! is made possible through SC ETV's knowitall.org. Let's Go! takes users on virtual field trips to historic locations in South Carolina without leaving the classroom. Using a mouse, students can navigate through panoramic images of outdoor locations and building interiors. By zooming in on "hot spots," students can see detailed, close up images, hear narratives, or watch short videos about interesting people, objects, and places. You can currently take a tour of the South Carolina State House and much much more.
Open Lines
www.openlines.org/
(Middle and High School) Open Lines is made possible through SC ETV's knowitall.org. Open Lines is an online message board that challenges teenagers to think about world events from new perspectives and to share their emotions, ideas, and solutions with a global audience. Open Lines presents new, compelling questions weekly that are drawn from world leaders' speeches, political presentations, and news reports. Participants can post replies to questions posed by ETV, respond to replies posted by other users, and submit questions that may be hot topics in their part of the world. Open Lines presents an excellent opportunity for middle and high school teachers to incorporate this electronic resource into classroom activities that address government, world geography, history, foreign languages, social studies, and language arts curriculum.
Opportunities in Law
www.legalexplorer.com/resources/database/PubPDFs/54-OPPLAW.pdf
A publication with information on careers in the law.
Ready to Vote
www.readytovote.org
(Middle and High School) Ready to Vote (RTV)? is made possible through SC ETV's knowitall.org. Are your students Ready To Vote? South Carolina ETV designs RTV as an outreach project of the network's election coverage every election year. The goal of Ready To Vote is to involve as many South Carolina teens in the American electoral experience as possible.
This site provides an online quiz based on eight educational content pages about voting to include: Why bother?, It's your right!, What's stopping you?, Step up!, Who's who?, Look out!, and Know Where To Go!
Once students complete the quiz, they will receive an activated RTV Voter Card that will give the student access to two more areas on this site. The card assigns the student a RTV registration number to be used as a password to sign onto the site, to Vote on bi-weekly issues and to discuss those issues on the Knowitall Talks! posting board.
Ready To Vote also features a RTV Reports section where students can read and watch reports by student journalists from South Carolina. Students interested in participating in this area by writing an article or producing a video package are asked to submit their work. There are also designed classroom activities to complement the Ready to Vote project.
Using Ready To Vote Web site in your classroom encourages students to participate.
Richard W. Riley Institute at Furman University
www.furman.edu/riley/about/index.htm
The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership is a multi-faceted, non-partisan institute affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University. Named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, the Institute is unique in the United States in the emphasis it places on engaging students in the various arenas of politics, public policy, and public leadership. Web site includes information on policy events, institutes, conferences, etc.
Scoot
www.knowitall.org/scoot/
(Grades 3-8) Scoot is made possible through SC ETV's knowitall.org. Scoot is based on a publication from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Scoot is a game designed to teach about legendary South Carolina people, places, and events. Students take a trip through South Carolina with Skeeter, an animated scooter, and stops in each county for some information about a local historic marker. Photographs, videos, virtual tours, and animations serve to enhance each loaction. Students earn points by answering quiz questions correctly. Scores are saved, so students can stop playing Scoot and return to it later without having to start over.
SC Supreme Court Case of the Month
www.sccourts.org/whatsnew/index.cfm
Each month, when the Court is in session, a case which is to be argued before the Court will be highlighted. Materials available on-line will include a summary of the case, links to the briefs and the Court of Appeals decision (if applicable), and an audio/video recording of the oral argument. Educators can sign up to receive e-mail notification when the Court issues its decision in a particular case. Through this program, the Court hopes to introduce students to the appellate process, to a variety of legal issues confronting the Court today, and to legal research.
Social Studies Standards for South Carolina
ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/social-studies/standards/
Review up to date social studies standards for South Carolina on the SC Department of Education's website.
South Carolina Supreme Court Institute
South Carolina Bar Law Related Education Division (803) 252-5139
The institute brings high and middle school teachers from around the state together with Supreme Court justices, circuit court judges, attorneys, and university professors, for two and half days of hands-on learning about the court system. Attendees will have group discussions with judges representing various courts, meet in person the Justices of the SC Supreme Court, observe an oral argument in the SC Supreme Court and participate in a moot court activitiy. Attendees will leave with a wealth of first hand knowledge, materials, lesson plans, and more. The South Carolina Supreme Court and the South Carolina Bar organize the institute.
South Carolina Court System Web Site
www.sccourts.org
The Web site also provides up-to-the-minute opinion releases from the South Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, calendars for both courts hearings, and information about the history, structure, function, and recent initiatives of all levels of court.
South Carolina Supreme Court Case Synopsis
www.sccourts.org/supreme/dspSupRosterMenu.cfm
A monthly, plain-English summary of upcoming cases being heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
South Carolina Supreme Court Color Photograph
www.sccourts.org/supreme/justices.cfm
The photograph of the justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court with access to biographical information about each justice.
Strom Thurmond Public Policy Institute at Clemson University
www.strom.clemson.edu/
The Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs is a Public Service Activity (PSA) of Clemson University. Established in 1981, the Institute conducts applied research and service in public policy areas, drawing on the expertise of Clemson University faculty, staff and students. The Institute also enhances awareness of current public policy issues on the campus and throughout the state and region through informal and formal educational programs. The website not only includes current events, but history of the Institute as well.
Supreme Court Institute
www.streetlaw.org/scsipage.asp
Street Law, Inc, - Allison Hawkins (301) 589-1130, ext. 251, ahawkins@streetlaw.org
The Supreme Court Institute held in Washington, DC each year includes six stimulating days on Capitol Hill and inside the US Supreme Court. The Institute also includes an opportunity to hear the Justices announce final decisions of the term - from a seat In the Courtroom, question prominent Supreme Court litigators about the Court's inner workings, debate the leading cases of that year's term, discuss "Media Coverage of the Supreme Court" with a newspaper report, question key Senate Judiciary Committeee staffers, develop lessons on the Supreme Court to use in your classroom, attend a private reception at the Court, and conduct a moot court of a key case being decided in the current term with the assistance of lawyers Involved in the case. Participants who conduct training for other teachers after returning from the Institute are eligible to receive a stipend of $200.
Website for Researching Primary Sources
http://docsteach.org
The National Archives has recently launched its DocsTeach website designed to help teachers use primary resources in their classrooms. The site has more than 3,000 primary documents available to view and print. In addition, the website contains ready-to-use activities and tools to produce your own activities for teaching these primary documents. This is a valuable resource for teachers in our network.
National Flag Foundation has Patriotic Education Programs for Schools in Your State
Contact: Ellen Wedner c/o: National Flag Foundation
Address: Flag Plaza , 1275 Bedford Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: 412-261-1776
Email: ellen@americanflags.org
Website Home Page : www.americanflags.org
Pittsburgh, PA- During the coming months, National Flag Foundation (NFF), America's Flag Authority and a leader in Patriotic education, will be providing 500 or more schools across the country with multimedia educational materials which address the topics of our nation's flag, voting and citizenship.
Schools in the states of Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia will be selected to receive NFF's newly expanded, award winning Young Patriots' program. This program includes videos, DVDs, password protected websites, teachers' guides, posters and reference materials that cover topics ranging from The Pledge of Allegiance, Flag Etiquette, and U.S. History to Voting and Citizenship. Many of these areas of study are mandated in state school curriculums and are currently not being adequately addressed.
For a limited time, NFF is offering a matching funds opportunity for those who wish to sponsor the Young Patriots' program in one or more schools. For each school that an individual or organization sponsors, one additional school will be selected to receive the Young Patriots' program at no cost.
If you have organizations, or individuals who are interested in participating in this program, please contact National Flag Foundation for additional program and matching funds information. Please feel free to visit a portion of the Young Patriots' website as our guest, using the following information:
www.young-patriots.org
Click on "Guest Login"
Use the user name guest
Use the password flag
With roots back to 1898 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, National Flag Foundation is a non-profit educational organization. National Flag Foundation serves as the Nation's foremost authority on the United States Flag history, etiquette and code. We answer questions from individuals and organizations on any issue related to the current or historical versions of the United States Flag. Our U.S. Flag education programs are being placed in schools throughout this Nation and into American schools overseas.
We strive to deliver multi-media, patriotic education solutions to schools, teachers, students, individuals, businesses, governments and institutions. Our mission is to develop and provide patriotic educational programs and materials that teach the youth of America respect for the flag, pride in our country and responsible citizenship.
America's Legislators Back to School Program, (Starts 3rd week in September)
The annual America's Legislators Back to School Program will kick off the third week of September and run throughout the school year giving legislators and teachers more flexibility in scheduling classroom visits.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) sponsors this program that provides resources such as legislative staff to help coordinate visits of legislators, and lesson plans to help teachers prepare for the legislator's visit.
Frequently Asked Questions Include:
What is America's Legislators Back to School Week?
This special program gives elected officials in all 50 states the opportunity to meet personally with their young constituents and to answer questions, share ideas, listen to concerns, and impart a greater understanding of the legislative processes necessary for developing effective public policy.
Sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, America's Legislators Back to School Week is designed to teach young people--the nation's future voters and leaders--what it's like to be a state legislator: the processes, the pressures, and the debate, negotiation, and compromise that are the very fabric of representative democracy. NCSL emphasizes that America's Legislators Back to School Week is a bipartisan event. Legislators of both political parties are urged to participate in this national event and to tell the story of representative democracy in America.
How is the event organized?
NCSL provides training, resources and materials, promotion strategies, and organizational support. The legislative leaders of each state have been asked to appoint a legislative staff coordinator to work with the legislators to develop a specific state plan to implement the program. Coordinators also will serve as liaisons with NCSL, assist in the distribution of materials and help evaluate the program. A list of the coordinators can be found at http://www.ncsl.org/public/trust/contacts_bsw.htm.
Additional Frequently Asked Questions can be found from NCSL's website. For more information go to http://www.ncsl.org/public/backsch.htm.
Thank you for your consideration of this opportunity. Teachers who have participated in the past have said it was a good experience for teachers and students; an excellent opportunity to increase legislator's awareness of the programs; and an occasion to garner press for your school.
If you choose to participate in this program, please contact the SC Bar Law Related Education Division as we can help get your school additional press at lre@scbar.org or (803)252-5139.