Celebrating Constitution Day

Hello AHTC teachers!

Constitution Day is September 17th, and while that seems like that should be a far off date, it is actually rapidly approaching! Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day, is observed nationally to commemorate the principles and practices protected and provided for in the Constitution. It commemorates the day the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 met for the last time to sign the document they had created.

The theme of Constitution Day 2010 is jury service, something in which every American citizen has both the duty and privilege of participating.

If you are still looking for Constitution Day activities for your classrooms, look no further! The five websites highlighted below have numerous resources and activities intended for use in the classroom.

Your first stop is the National Constitution Center's Constitution Day Website. In the resources section, the website has games and lesson plan ideas broken out into elementary, middle school and high school sections. In the elementary section, there are short biographies of 55 Founding Fathers and an interactive Bill of Rights game. The middle school section features ideas on turning your classroom into a town hall debate on the Constitution and Constitution Newswire, which provides daily news about our founding document, demonstrating the Constitution's relevance to what's happening today. The high school level lessons features lesson plans designed to highlight civic knowledge, active citizenship, and democratic deliberation. In addition, the National Constitution contains a downloadable text of the Constitution, video of a naturalization ceremony and an opportunity to take the naturalization test for yourself, as well as full texts of all of the founding documents of the United States, starting with the Magna Carta and continuing through the Reconstruction Amendments.

Next, I recommend that you head to ConstitutionFacts.com . Constitution Facts also has the full text of the Constitution available (as well as the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.) Constitution Facts has a section about Constitution Day 2010, which contains a Tool Kit full of crossword puzzles, interactive quizzes, dates to remember and a glossary of terms. However, the entire website is a useful tool, with biographies, articles, overviews and important dates for America's founding documents and the Supreme Court. In addition, it has collections of interesting facts about the Constitution and fun quizzes about which Founding Father you would vote for or about the Articles of Confederation.

Thirdly, head to the National Archives's website about Observing Constitution Day. As part of their "Teaching With Documents" series, the archives has put together a series of activities using primary sources. Although most of the activities are aimed at the secondary level, the last link on the page takes you to a U.S. Constitution Workshop which is suitable for grades 4-12. The other lessons include a simulation of the experiences of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention and a lesson about the ratification of the Constitution.

The American Bar Association Division for Public Education has put together a very impressive website of resources for Constitution Day. The lesson plans are broken into categories, including "Constitutional Rights," "Representation, Voting and Elections," and "Introduction to Rules, Laws and Government." There are lesson plans available for all grade levels. In addition, the website has a section on interactive games and quizzes and a section of Conversation Starters, which are short, easily read text or images that are meant to illuminate issues, explore areas of conflict and encourage dialogue. Accompanying each starter is a set of focus questions designed to open discussion about the topic and related issues. These Conversation Starters deal with issues such as "The Advice and Consent of the Senate," "War Powers" and "Separation of Powers."

The Federal Courts also have a website of resources for Constitution Day, and these are the resources that best fit the Constitution Day 2010 theme of jury service. Containing videos of the Supreme Court discussing jury duty, a student podcast on jury duty and a variety of other resources, this website is an excellent way of introducing the 2010 theme to your Constitution Day activities.

Lastly, don't forget to check out the AHTC website for lesson plans by your fellow AHTC teachers! In the Lesson Plans section, under Founding Era Lesson Plans, you can find lesson plans on the Constitution, Citizenship and on the Articles of Confederation, so make sure to check those out!

Please enjoy these resources and if you have any other suggestions or want to highlight what you did in your classrooms, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the AHTC Facebook page.

Enjoy Constitution Day 2010!

The Disability Rights Movement

As a follow up to this Summer's exploration of the Civil Rights movement, the National Museum of American History has an online exhibit that explores the Disability Rights Movement. Although it is not heavy on background information, the website has a great collections of photographs and photographs of artifacts with some audio and video supplements. It's an interesting way to spend some time!

NMAH: The Disability Rights Movement

2010 Civil Rights Summer Institute

One of the most fun parts about planning for the Civil Rights Summer Institute was the incredible amount of resources out there. When we were choosing books, videos, websites, and even presenters, we had a wide enough selection that we were really able to tailor our choices to what we thought was best suited to the week. We had the amazing luck to find teachers, community members and members of our own team who could contribute fantastic information, background and personal perspective to the week.

The AHTC is fortunate enough to have such a large group of smart, willing teachers to draw from when we're looking for presenters, as evidenced by the lesson plans page of our website (www.americanhistoryteachers.org,) and during the Summer Institute four of them joined us to present. On Wednesday, Izona Burgess led a session about the milestones of the Civil Rights movement and its legacy, using the lens of her own childhood experiences. Renayee Westfield presented her lesson "An Introduction to African American Efforts in World War II" which unpacks the significance of African American war efforts and explores the racism they faced at home and overseas. On Friday, Amos Lee presented his lesson "Race Riots and Reality." Amos's lesson looks at Jim Crow laws and race riots in Illinois, and then involves the students in primary source analysis, using interviews taken by the State Commission to Investigate Living Conditions of the Urban Colored Population, which looked into the economic, cultural, health and living conditions of the "urban colored" population in Illinois in the early 1940s.


In addition, Friday saw Mary Anne Jusko presenting her lesson "From Barbershops in Champaign, IL to Bus Boycotts in Montgomery, AL: All's Not Fair in 1954-1955 America." Mary Anne's lesson focused on bringing the general term Civil Rights home to her students by focusing on events here in Champaign Urbana.Using an amazing set of primary sources, Mary Anne's lesson looks at the local efforts to de-segregate campus barbershops.


On Wednesday, we were also joined by Terry Townsend, a community member who spoke about his experiences with the Civil Rights movement. His session " An Overview of the Civil Rights and Opportunity Movement and its Relationship to the National Movement" drew from his decades of experience working locally to improve race relations. He brought the Community Reinvestment Act to the attention of community leaders, which resulted in banks increasing their efforts to make loans to African Americans. He also served as a Housing Commissioner for 10 years.

The week was further enhanced by sessions led by Superintendent of the Urbana School District Dr. Preston Williams Jr, Ed.D and AHTC Activities Coordinator Jennifer Bredemeier. Dr. Williams presented on the process of desegregation in Urbana schools and its legacy for the district today.

Jennifer Bredemeier drew upon her masters degree in Human Resources for her Friday session "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Discrimination in Employment." Title VII outlaws discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and her presentation discussed law cases that were key in interpreting that law and determining the different types of employment discrimination covered under that section.


Our last presenter of the week was Urbana Free Library Librarian Carol Inskeep. Carol is a frequent AHTC presenter and a crowd favorite. Her book lists cover a large range of ages and are an amazing resource for teachers as they are lesson planning. Carol presented both on Wednesday and Friday, providing the group with a very extensive list of children's books, graphic novels, young adult books and documentaries that covered the Civil Rights movement. As always, the teachers were captivated by the sections of the books that Carol read out-loud.


Thanks to all of you for presenting! You were a huge part of what made this week a success.

2010 Civil Rights Summer Institute Overview

Last week the AHTC Summer Institute on the Civil Rights movement brought together ninety teachers and twenty members of the community with professors, speakers, local presenters to remember, analyze, and discuss the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and its legacy.The AHTC was very honored to be joined by members of the community, including members of the local NAACP, president of local NAACP, Rev. Jerome Chambers, president of the Ministerial Alliance of Champaign-Urbana & Vicinity, Reverend Doctor Evelyn Underwood and former Dean of Minority Student Affairs, Michael Jeffries. In addition, several members of the Urbana School District administration, Superintendent Preston Williams, Assistant Superintendent Don Owen, Assistant Superintendent Gayle Jeffries and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jean Korder, attended many of the days of the institute.

Starting off the week, eminent scholar, Patricia Sullivan gave a keynote speech on the history of the NAACP. She was followed by Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, Barry Bradford, a Chicago high school teacher who helped to reopen and successfully prosecute the forty-year old murder of three civil rights workers, Bobby Seale and Julian Bond. This amazing roster was supplemented by a presentation by Dr. Preston Williams, teacher presentations, presentations by local activists and a resource presentation by local librarian Carol Inskeep. Three movies and two documentaries were screened for the teaches and they were given over 20 books and magazines for their collections of Civil Rights resources. Overall, it was an amazing week, and we thank all of your for your participation and support.


Patricia Sullivan lectures in UMS 1520.



Ilyasah Shabazz with Jamila Appleby.



Teachers enjoy the displays provided by community organizations.




Barry Bradford addresses the crowd.




Bobby Seale signs a copy of his book for Priscilla Kron.



Bobby Seale warns elementary teacher Laura Martin that his book contains cursing and is not suitable for her classroom.



Julian Bond and Greg Chew discuss the 1968 Democratic Convention.

Stay tuned for more posts describing the Summer Institute and the wonderful presentations that rounded out our week.

And I Remember....

Karen Vaccaro transforms herself into three radically different real women—a poet, a pianist and an actress—in this hilarious and poignant one-woman play about the lives of artists and the art of living as a woman in America. The project was developed with funding from the Urbana Public Arts Commission and mixes verbatim oral histories from Urbana senior citizens with lively big band music of the 40s and 50s to weave a delightful and entertaining life tapestry. Directed by Robert Quinlan.

New York filmmaker Mark P. Ring (formerly of the Sundance Channel) will be present to document all Urbana performances as part of a film he is creating about “And I Remember” and the women it immortalizes.

Performances will take place at the Independent Media Center, 202 South Broadway in Urbana on Friday August 6 (8PM), Saturday August 7 (8PM), and Sunday August 8 (7PM). Tickets are $10 (Cash only). Advanced tickets can be purchased at Heartland Gallery, 112 West Main Street in Downtown Urbana between 10AM and 5PM Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, please call (217) 954-0231.

The AHTC Goes to Memphis! Part II

Wednesday, June 23^rd was a very full day for AHTC teachers in Memphis. The morning started with a self-guided audio tour of the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum begins with a timeline that started in 1619 and continues to present day. Teachers could board a bus and sit next to a replica of Rosa Parks, experiencing firsthand what it might feel like to be yelled at by the driver to move back. The tour also included walking through the room of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spent his last day, as well as a trip through the boarding house where James Earl Ray stayed during his time in Memphis. The National Civil Rights Museum was an especially powerful part of our time in Memphis. During the long lunch break at the Arcade Restaurant, many teachers opted to return to the museum for further discovery.

Following lunch, the group boarded the motor coach and headed to the corner of McLemore and College – the home of Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The museum represents the Memphis sound in the 1960s when rock and roll was starting. Stax Records launched the careers of dozens of famous soul and rock artists, notably Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG’s, and Sam & Dave, among others. Teachers were able to watch videos of performances and interviews by the Stax artists and see everything from Tina Turner’s gold sequined stage costume to Isaac Hayes’ peacock-blue 1972 Superfly Cadillac El Dorado.

About 2 miles away from Stax is the recording home of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and, of course, Elvis Presley: Sun Studios. The room above the gift shop shares a visual history of the most active years at Sun Studios. Our tour guide, Cora, gave a great overview of the history of Sun Studios and the Memphis Recording Service, sharing stories of Elvis lying to get his first record made and the night the “Million Dollar Quartet” jammed in the studio. Down in the still-active recording studio, we were surrounded by instruments and pictures of artists who have recorded in Sun Studios over the years. Not only were photographs of the studio allowed, they were encouraged by our tour guide. Our teachers got to ham it up for the cameras, and AHTC Travel Coordinator Cynthia Logsdon even got in on the action!

Wednesday was an exhausting day, but many of us still took the time to watch the afternoon Peabody Hotel Duck March.

After spending most of Tuesday and Wednesday on a motor coach or in air-conditioned museums, Thursday was the first time we felt like true Memphians – hot and sweaty. According to the National Weather Service, our tough teachers endured a morning of weather that was sunny, 97 degrees, and 79% humid. We began the morning with a tour of the historic Peabody Hotel, led by Peabody Duckmaster Jason Sensat. He showed us the Memorabilia Room, the Francis Scott Key Piano, and of course, the Duck Palace.

Our trip to Mud Island River Park and Mississippi River Museum included a trip on the monorail made famous by Tom Cruise in the movie The Firm and a guided tour of key places along the lower portion of the river during the Civil War, as well as trip through the Mississippi River Museum. A welcome activity for many of our teachers was the opportunity to splash around in the replica of the Gulf of Mexico at the end of the tour.

Thursday afternoon, teachers were given the chance to explore Memphis on their own. Teachers visited places like the Memphis Zoo, the Gibson Guitar Factory, the Memphis Rock n Soul Museum. After the various adventures around the city, we all sat down to one last meal together at Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous where teachers enjoyed chicken or Memphis-style ribs.

The AHTC would like to thank our wonderful teachers who made the trip such a fun and educational event. Thank you especially to AHTC Travel Coordinator Cynthia Logsdon for planning such an incredible trip for everyone!

The AHTC Goes to Memphis! Part I

From June 21^st through June 25^th, sixteen teachers had the chance to explore Memphis during an AHTC Experiential Learning Trip. To prepare for the trip, teachers read books on Memphis and provided detailed descriptions of the books. They also attended a morning workshop featuring Jimmy “Mr. Memphis” Ogle. Mr. Ogle is a lifelong Memphian who has read over 300 books about the city he calls home!

Monday, June 21^st was a travel day for the teachers, and no group activities were planned. Many teachers chose to arrive at our hotel, The Peabody, early in the day in order to explore the city and its nightlife.

Tuesday began with a motor coach tour around Memphis as Jimmy Ogle shared more the city’s rich history. Teachers were able to see the places the group would soon visit, as well as the parks and neighborhoods of Memphis.

Following the motor coach tour, AHTC teachers received a brief lecture from Director of Operations, Carol Perel, at The Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange. Teachers then explored the museum, including a life-size replica of the trading board with actual figures from December 1939

as well as a historical timeline of cotton, and a hands-on exhibit where teachers could find out first-hand what it would feel like to drag a bag of cotton through the fields.

We had lunch at the Kooky Canuck on Tuesday before heading to the home of The King: Graceland. Teachers took a self-guided audio tour of the home of Elvis in small groups, including Graceland Mansion and grounds, Lisa Marie (the airplane), the Automobile Museum, and Elvis Presley: Fashion King. Included in the Graceland Mansion tour are the infamous Jungle Room, and the grave of Elvis and his parents. Following the tour of Graceland, teachers were given the night to discover Memphis’ dinner fare and nightlife.