Social Education articles from September 2003

Social Education archives from September 2003

Gangs of New York.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... Benjamin Justice's article on "Gangs of New York" in the May/June issue of Social Education fails to meet the most minimum standards of scholarly discourse. While most historians, including myself, agree Sere are valid criticisms to be made of...

The sound and imaginative teaching.(Editor's Notebook)(Editorial)
September 1, 2003... The sound and imaginative teaching of social studies subjects can give students a lifelong understanding of democratic rights and freedoms. Several articles in this issue of SOCIAL EDUCATION help teachers to deal with major topics relating to...

Letter from Archibald MacLeish about relocating the charters of freedom during World War II: protecting our founding document in war and peace.(Teaching with Document)
September 1, 2003... As tensions mounted, in Europe during the 1930s, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and other European countries formulated plans to protect their national artistic and cultural treasures. By the summer of 1939, these governments put...

African American women and espionage in the Civil War.
September 1, 2003... "The greatest source of military and naval intelligence, particularly on the tactical level, for the Federal government during the war was the Negro." --HERBERT APTHEKER (1) African American women played highly visible roles in the...

The Escape of the Pearl: teaching about slavery with primary source documents.
September 1, 2003... As an education consultant to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut, I was conducting research during the summer of 2000 in preparation for a Teacher Institute to be held the following July. The one-week institute, entitled...

Witnessing the making of history: the trial of Slobodan Milosevic: observing a trial for crimes against humanity and genocide.
September 1, 2003... For over twenty years I have studied, written about, and published essays and books on various facets of genocide. Not a day goes by that I don't think about some aspect of genocide and its many and long-range ramifications. Indeed, the...

Working with the textbook: how to enhance student motivation.(Elementary Education)
September 1, 2003... During the many years that I have taught classes from the elementary to the graduate level, I've had the opportunity to observe various instructor approaches as well as student reactions to the use of textbooks. This investigation, along with...

Low expectations and less learning: the problem with No Child Left Behind.(Point of View)
September 1, 2003... "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND," the name of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), describes a worthy goal for our nation. Tragically, the legislation is exacerbating, not solving, the real problems that cause many children to be...

The shrinking of social studies: as standards-based reform gains ground, social studies is getting squeezed.(In Focus)
September 1, 2003... Social studies is the most important of the academic disciplines. To prove my point to sometimes-skeptical students in our teacher preparation program, I ask them to quickly write down what are the most important things in their lives. The...

No Child Left Behind the impact on social studies classrooms.(In Focus)
September 1, 2003... How is social studies faring in schools in the age of No Child Left Behind? SOCIAL EDUCATION asked six leading NCSS members how No Child Left Behind has affected their schools and their own classroom teaching. The members teach at different...

Where's the history?
September 1, 2003... Being a social studies educator isn't easy. Determining the knowledge and skills needed by citizens, and planning to create meaningful educational experiences, is a daunting task. Since its inception, National Council for the Social Studies has...

Iraq today: the challenge of securing the peace.(In Focus: Iraq Policy Options)
September 1, 2003... This lesson plan, developed by the Choices for the 21st Century Education Program at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies, places students in the role of decision-makers as they explore divergent policy alternatives on...

Iraq: answering student questions.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... Teachers' responses to SOCIAL EDUCATION'S query on how they dealt with the war in Iraq (May/June 2003, p. 190) showed sensitive awareness of their students' social environment and its political implications as well as their levels of interest...

Incorporating effective writing strategies.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... I congratulate Maria McCoy for her article on "Incorporating Effective Writing Strategies" in the May/June issue of SOCIAL EDUCATION. In large measure our thinking processes involve mental word manipulation that we communicate through talking...

Teaching about a controversial issue.(lookout point)
September 1, 2003... The point of an issues-centered lesson is for students to learn how to develop well-reasoned opinions based on disciplined inquiry and thoughtful, in-depth study. An issues-centered lesson does not mean that students sit back and express biases...

Correction.(lookout point)(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2003... In MLL of May/June 2003, at the bottom of page M12, the author's affiliation was incorrect. It should have read, "Andrea Port Jacobs teaches in the sixth grade at the Torah School of Greater Washington, in Silver Spring, Maryland."

State v. tribe: how the Indian gaming controversy began.(background)
September 1, 2003... INDIAN NATIONS are sovereign governments, recognized as such in the U.S. Constitution and hundreds of treaties with the U.S. federal government. Today, tribal governments resemble state governments in many ways--they provide a broad range of...

From furs and wampum to slot machines and megadollars.(case study)
September 1, 2003... Recent Controversy In 1992, the Mashantucket, a Native American tribe in Connecticut, opened Foxwoods--the largest casino resort in the world. Foxwoods Resort now generates gross profits of $1 billion a year. In 1996, the Mohegans,...

The streets are paved with silver.(analyzing a cartoon)
September 1, 2003... LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY CARTOONIST Thomas Nast was famous for his ability to take a complex political issue and represent it in a drawing. His 1871 portrayal of corrupt New York City Tammany Hall politicians in the form of a ravenous tiger...

Deception and games of chance.(analyzing ads)
September 1, 2003... A GAMBLING ESTABLISHMENT, whether it is a private casino or a state government, can survive only if it makes a profit--that is, if it takes in more money than it gives out to winners. One way to bring in money is to make people think that the...

Does gaming hurt or help?(analyzing editorials)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... THE EDITORIAL PAGES of a newspaper are a place where newspaper staff, specialists in an issue, and ordinary citizens can share their opinions with readers. The editorial writer often tries to convince the reader that a certain opinion or point...

Casinos don't help most Indians.
September 1, 2003... Many people think American Indian-owned casinos are making hordes of money and Indians no longer are a population needing federal or private assistance. We can see this perception manifesting itself in several ways, from a 50 percent drop in...

Gaming revenues boost local, state economies.
September 1, 2003... Surveys on Indian gaming, according to the National Indian Gaming Association, have directly and indirectly improved economic conditions on some reservations and in the counties and areas where the casinos are located. The Wisconsin...

Can You Find Me? an American Indian guessing game.(the back page)
September 1, 2003... Introduction (Read Aloud to the Class) Various tribes played hiding games, dice games, and games of dexterity, skill, and strength-occasionally wagering on the outcome. Games and play were essential to Native American culture. "With summer...