Spring Into Civics!

April 2016

Dear New Hampshire Civics Educators,With a new season comes two new free New Hampshire Institute of Civics Educationtrainings and a third one in the works! We are thankful to the Treat Foundation, WilliamUpton, and the NH Bar Foundation for making these amazing days of learning possible. NHICE will host its first training specifically for middle school teachers: EmpoweringConnected Citizenship: Making Civics Count in Middle School. Valerie McVey willtrain teachers in game­based learning in general and iCivics in particular, while artistand musician Marek Bennett will provide tools to teach civics through cartooning andmusic. Click here for more information. This June 23rd ­ 24th workshop at the NewHampshire Institute of Politics and Saint Anselm requires curriculum development andwill provide a $100 stipend and professional development hours. The workshop will becapped at 50 educators. Elementary school civics will be the focus at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshirein Dover, NH on June 27th! NHICE presents: Empowering Our Youngest Citizens:Civic Engagement in Elementary School featuring keynote Judge Marjorie Rendelland master teacher Rebecca Valbuena, among others. Click here for moreinformation. The workshop will be capped at 50 educators. It will include a curriculumdevelopment component and will provide a $75 stipend and professional developmenthours. High school teachers, we are searching for the most useful and desirable trainingtopics for you in the future. We have some ideas (democratic student government, thepolitical classroom, inquiry­based civics curricula incorporating the C3 and CommonCore Standards,) but we need to hear from you! Chris Herr (of Concord High) andDennis Perreault (of Campbell High) have created the following survey (which shouldonly take 5 minutes of your time.) Please let us know what you think!

Dan Kittay has spoken with teachers throughout the state (Jane Slayton, Megg Lynch,Sarah Edmunds, Nathan Cooper) about how the negative tone of the national politicaldiscourse has affected discussion and debate in classrooms. As always, this newsletterincludes civics­related events and trainings, curricular resources, and articles for civicsnerds.Please send me photos and/or descriptions of how you celebrated Law Day andLawyer and Judge in Every School week in May!

For more information on Law Day, click here.

Thank you for all the work you do to breathe life into our democracy. Your colleague,

Martha Madsen, Ed.M.Director, Educational Outreach and CurriculumConstitutionally Speakingmartha@constitutionallyspeakingnh.org

US. Rep Annie Kuster and NH State Rep. George Saunderson were

among the visitors to Canterbury Elementary School onPublic Officials Day.

Primarily Uncivil: New HampshireTeachers Struggle to Teach CivilDiscourse in Face of DisrespectfulPolitical ClimateEven with the New Hampshire primaries come and gone, there is no shortage of interestin the presidential races here in the state. In classrooms statewide, teachers explain

how the system works, how issues are debated, and hope their students become moreengaged in studying and participating in the process. That mission has become more complicated this year due to the blunt and uncivil natureof some of the discourse, some educators say. “Much of the campaign banter has not been respectful and has, unfortunately, becometeachable moments in many classrooms on a too­often basis this school year,” saysJane Slayton, Principal of Andover Elementary Middle School.

While there have been incidents of disrespectfulbehavior on both sides of the political spectrum, thecampaign of Donald Trump has received the mostmedia attention, and is therefore the focus of many ofthe discussions that come up in classrooms, teacherssay.“Inevitably, Donald Trump is brought up by thestudents. I try to turn the conversation away from thespecific candidates and focus on what we can do tomake the world a better and kinder place,” saysSarah Edmunds, a literacy teacher at Andover.

Edmunds’ classes spend time talking about intolerance and racism, and “how we canstop inhumanity… In addition, we talk about how some people can incite violence inothers, and how those people can be outed for what they are and stopped.” Very opinionatedConducting a mock election leading up to the New Hampshire primary revealed some“interesting and disturbing” behaviors from some of her students, says Megg Lynch, ahistory teacher at Belmont High School. “This particular round has caused the kids to bevery opinionated about the candidates,” Lynch says. Lynch believes the students have been very strongly influenced by what they see andhear about the campaign through the media. When her students were researching thecandidates, “some of them didn’t want to look up information. They just wanted to writedown what they heard from the media as if it were facts. When I told them they had tolook up the information from reputable sources, they found information that they weren’texpecting. Some of the students seemed to be trying to deny some of the facts.” When the class began focusing on the primary, Lynch invited State Senator AndrewHosmer to give an introduction. He asked the students such questions as “What wouldhappen if the government told you and your family that you weren’t allowed in,” or if thegovernment wanted to put student’s families into internment camps.

Read the rest of the article on the CS website

HYPE Day a Success at UNH

The 10th Annual HYPE Day at UNH in March gathered 1,200 high school students forphilosophical discussions on freedom of expression. They began the day with a paneldiscussion with Pulitzer Prize­winning cartoonists Signe Wilkinson and Joel Pett, andauthors Victor Navasky and Jytte Klausen. We were thrilled to sponsor this wonderfulevent, and kudos to the students who did the planning and coordination under theguidance of HYPE creator Chris Brooks of Souhegan High School. Coming soon ­ adocumentary on this remarkable project.Read an article about the event at pulitzer.org

Events and Trainings

NH Institute of Civics Education presentsEmpowering Connected Citizenship:Making Civics Count in Middle School.June 23­24, 2016Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of PoliticsManchester, NH

Click here for more information.

Empowering Our Youngest Citizens:

Empowering Our Youngest Citizens:Civic Engagement in Elementary SchoolJune 27, 2016The Children’s Museum of New HampshireDover, NH

Click here for more information.

The NH Humanities presents:Moved and Seconded: Town Meeting inNew HampshireApril 23 ­ Center Harbor Schoolhouse Museum, Center Harbor, NHMay 3 ­ Exeter Town Hall, Exeter, NHMay 25 ­ Weeks Public Library, Greenland, NHJuly 7 ­ Springfield Town Meetinghouse, Springfield, NHAugust 18 ­ Madison Historical Society, Madison, NHAugust 28 ­ Stone School Museum, Newmarket, NH Drawing on research from her book, Moved and Seconded: Town Meeting in NewHampshire, the Present, the Past, and the Future, Rebecca Rule regales audiences withstories of the rituals, traditions and history of town meeting, including the perennialcharacters, the literature, the humor, and the wisdom of this uniquely New Englandinstitution.

Historical Society of Cheshire County presents The Civil War: a Teacher WorkshopJune 22, 2016, 9 a.m. ­ 4 p.m.

Historical Society of Cheshire County246 Main Street, Keene, NH

Civil War re­enactors portraying the 6th NH Regiment

$50 registration fee

The Civil War teacher workshop is designed for educators who wish to expand theirunderstanding of how people from the Monadnock region lived and responded to adivided nation, war, and reconstruction from 1860 through 1877.

To help teach this important period in U.S. history, the workshop sessions will include anoverview of the history on both a local and national scale, presentations of Civil War­related lessons that can be applied to individual classrooms, a Civil War encampment,an introduction to primary documents available to educators at the Historical Society, aswell as role­play and music activities.

Participants will receive numerous handouts, a packet of primary documents, and timeto interact with each presenter to explore how to use these new tools, skills, andknowledge in the classroom.For more information and registration, visit this website.

Short­Term Fulbright Scholarships forTeachers, K­12!Are you interested in sharing your professional expertise while traveling to Mexico,Botswana, India, or Vietnam?

Download a pdf with more information:Visit this website:

The Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences atDartmouth presentsThe William H. Timbers ’37 Lecture:“Meritocracy and its Discontents”Thursday, April 21, 2016Daniel Markovits, Guido Calabresi Professor of Law, Yale LawSchoolPublic lecture: 4:30­6:00 pm, Rockefeller 003Co­sponsored with Dartmouth Lawyers Association and Dartmouth Legal StudiesFaculty Group

Law Day Celebration Events“Rigged: When Race and Poverty DetermineOutcomes in the Criminal Courts"May 5, 2016 4:30pm­6:00pmLecture by Stephen Bright, President & Senior Counsel, Southern Center for HumanRights; Lecturer, Yale Law School

Arguments For and Against Capital Punishment­­ a Panel DiscussionMay 6, 20163 ­ 4:30 p.m.Panelists: Stephen Bright, Christopher Keating ’86, David Ruhnke ’65, AlexanderRundlet ’92 Moderator: Samuel M. Braverman ’88Above events are free and open to the public. Email Joanne Needham for moreinformation about the Rockefeller events.

The Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement presentsThe Constitutional Scholars Institute:The American PresidencyJuly 17­22The National Constitution CenterPhiladelphia, PAThis summer is the perfect time to explore the impact of the 2016 Presidential Electionand what lies ahead for the American presidency. This institute will examine theAmerican system of government and its constitutional separation of powers, and willanalyze its ability to function in the current political environment. As Philadelphiaprepares for the Democratic National Convention, participants will delve into the natureof presidential power, the road to the White House, and presidential leadership.Scholarships are available. For more information and to register visit this website orcontact Beth Specker at 215­746­6336 or bspecker@rendellcenter.org

The James Madison Legacy Project presents We the People: The Citizen and theConstitutionFor middle and high school teachersAug. 1­6, 2016Suffolk UniversityBoston, MAStipend and all expenses paidThe James Madison Legacy Project Grant professional development opportunities,which is federally funded, will provide for 30 teachers each year for 3 years from theNew England states to participate in a high level civic education professionaldevelopment. We are now recruiting New Hampshire teachers to participate in the grant.Applicants may be either high or middle school teachers (grades 7 to 12).For more information and for registration, visit this website. Or contact Robin Knippers,NH Bar Association, at 603­715­3259.

The American Board of Trial Advocates presentsNational Teachers Law SchoolSeptember 29 ­ October 1, 2016National Constitution CenterPhiladelphia, PARegistration deadline: April 22, 2016 Featured sessions will include Fostering Civic Participation in the Wake of Tragedy, the7th Amendment: Guardian of the Bill of Rights, The Bill of Rights in Action and CivilDialogue in the Classroom, Do We Check the Constitution at the Classroom Door?,Separation of Powers: Why Being Divided Actually Unites Us.

The ABOTA will select 45 full scholarship recipients! To apply visit this website. or contact Tamara Sivachelvan, Civics Education Director, at 214­871­7523 orTamaraS@abota.org

Gloria Gavris, author of “E is for Election Day” poses with a class ofNew Hampshire 5th graders.

ResourcesElementary School

Amending America: How Do We Amend? By US National Archiveshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_wbxHmSQKc

Vote First or Die: A Short History of the New Hampshire Primary ­­ cartoon/graphic non­fiction story by Vermont’s Eleri Mai Harrishttps://elerimai.com/2013/07/15/vote­first­or­die­a­short­history­of­the­new­hampshire­primary/

Why Vote? 5th Graders Take Informed Actionhttp://www.socialstudies.org/c3/resources/5thgraderstakeinformedaction

How We Elect the President Poster from Gallopadehttp://www.gallopade.com/How­We­Elect­the­President­Poster­P9689.aspx

Political Parties For Kids from Gallopadehttp://www.gallopade.com/client/electionsForKids/PoliticalParties.html

Kids Discover Infographic on US Presidents http://www.kidsdiscover.com/infographics/infographic­u­s­presidents/

Presidential Facts Treasure Hunt from We Are Teachershttp://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2016/02/11/online­activity­presidential­facts­scavenger­hunt Resources for teaching about Abraham Lincoln using primary sources­ from AbrahamLincoln Presidential Library Foundationhttp://www.underhishat.org/intheclassroom.html

"Abraham Lincoln" recently visited with students and read thema story of his life. He also read an article about his presidency in

the Concord Monitor.

Middle School

Kids Discover units on President Lincoln and the Constitution:https://online.kidsdiscover.com/unit/lincoln http://www.kidsdiscover.com/shop/issues/constitution­for­kids/ Students learn about the three branches of government via gaming!“Win the White House” game by iCivicshttp://icivics.org/games/win­white­house “Represent Me” game by iCivics. Work as a legislator trying to meet the needs of yourconstituents.https://www.icivics.org/games/represent­me The Judicial Branch by iCivicshttps://www.icivics.org/curriculum/judicial­branch Great Free Resources for Teaching Election 2016 by the New York Times LearningNetworkhttp://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/great­free­resources­for­teaching­election­2016/?_r=0

The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby: A NH Teacher Goes to War by New Hampshire’sown MarekBennetthttp://livefreeanddraw.com/start/freemancolby/

Resources for teaching about Abraham Lincoln using primary sources­ from AbrahamLincoln Presidential Library Foundationhttp://www.underhishat.org/intheclassroom.html Teacher Resource Guide: George Washington, a National Treasure ­ from SmithsonianInstitutionhttp://www.georgewashington.si.edu/kids/teacherguide.pdf Amending America: How Do We Amend? By US National Archiveshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_wbxHmSQKc Election Central: A Learning Guide to the US Elections by PBS Learning Mediahttp://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/election­central­2016/?topic_id=2409 How We Elect the President: The Electoral College­ The Gilder Lehrman Institute ofAmerican Historyhttp://www.gilderlehrman.org/history­by­era/government­and­civics/resources/how­we­elect­president­electoral­college­grades­4%E2%80%936

How The Iowa Democratic Caucus Works, Featuring Legos by Vermont Public Radiohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJqv­­jyXPg Vote First or Die: A Short History of the New Hampshire Primary ­­ cartoon/graphic non­fiction story by Vermont’s Eleri Mai Harris.https://elerimai.com/2013/07/15/vote­first­or­die­a­short­history­of­the­new­hampshire­primary/

Participants at HYPE Day at UNH in March

High School

Resources to assist in utilizing ‘Hamilton’ the Musical in the classroom: Alexander Hamilton Resources, Gilder Lehman website:http://www.gilderlehrman.org/programs­exhibitions/alexander­hamilton­resources­gilder­lehrman­website Hamilton the Musical soundtrack:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp9HUc9HraQ&list=PLUSRfoOcUe4avCXPg6tPgdZzu­­hBXUYx&spfreload=10 ‘Hamilton,’ the Biggest Thing on Broadway, is Being Taught in Classrooms All OverBy Zach Schonfeldhttp://www.newsweek.com/hamilton­biggest­thing­broadway­being­taught­classrooms­all­over­424212 How Teachers Are Using ‘Hamilton’ the Musical in the Classroom by Linda Flanagan,KQED/MindShift

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/14/how­teachers­are­using­hamilton­the­musical­in­the­classroom/ Teach the Vote: a Unit Plan for Teachers by Close Up Washington DChttps://www.closeup.org/lib/CurrentIssuesChapters/LessonPlan­Teach%20the%20Vote.pdf Lesson on the Voting Rights Act by Close Up Washington DChttps://www.closeup.org/lib/CurrentIssuesChapters/CI%20Update­The%20Voting%20Rights%20Act.pdf Women’s Rights: From Seneca Falls to Modern America by Close Up Washington DChttps://www.closeup.org/lib/CurrentIssuesChapters/LessonPlan_Women's%20Rights.pdf Youth Voting: A Unit Plan for Teachers by Close Up Washington DChttps://www.closeup.org/lib/CurrentIssuesChapters/LessonPlan_YouthVoting.pdf Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s PartyFrom Library of Congresshttps://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/women­protest/ League of Women Voters high school voter registration training manual:http://lwv.org/content/high­school­voter­registration­training­manual­3rd­edition Election and Voting Guide by Your America:http://www.youramerica.com/ How We Elect the President: The Electoral College­ The Gilder Lehrman Institute ofAmerican Historyhttps://www.gilderlehrman.org/history­by­era/government­and­civics/resources/how­we­elect­president­electoral­college­grades­10%E2%80%9312 Vote First or Die: A Short History of the New Hampshire Primary ­­ cartoon/graphic non­fiction story by Vermont’s Eleri Mai Harris.https://elerimai.com/2013/07/15/vote­first­or­die­a­short­history­of­the­new­hampshire­primary/ Good sources of “explainers:”Vox Card Stacks: http://www.vox.com/cardsBloomberg QuickTake: http://www.bloombergview.com/quicktakeCrash Course YouTube video series: https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse/videos

Resources for Civics Nerds:

Lobbying Interests for Every State House, Center for Public Integrityhttp://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/11/19283/here­are­interests­lobbying­every­statehouse Getting Millennials Engaged in Civic Life By Jean MacCormack, Education Weekhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/03/18/getting­millennials­engaged­in­civic­life.html?cmp=SOC­SHR­TW Citizens in the Making: Inspiring Students to Engage in Transformative Civic Learning,Connected Learninghttp://connectedlearning.tv/citizens­making­inspiring­students­engage­transformative­civic­learning Youth­Led Inquiry, Connection and Action: Redesigning Civic Education for the DigitalAge with Educating for Participatory Politics, Council of Youth Research, ConnectedLearninghttp://connectedlearning.tv/youth­led­inquiry­connection­and­action­redesigning­civic­education­digital­age Youth Voting: State and city approaches to early civic engagement, Stephanie Aragon,Education Commission of the Stateshttp://www.ecs.org/ec­content/uploads/Youth­Voting2.pdf Begin Within: Prepare yourself to discuss race, racism and other difficult topics withstudents, Teaching Tolerancehttp://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number­52­spring­2016/feature/begin­within Action Civics: Civic learning belongs at the forefront of preparing students for college,career, and civic lifehttp://www.comstocksmag.com/article/action­civics Imagining Non­Partisan News by Susan Haig, Civic Storyhttp://www.civicstory.org/civics­blog­1/2016/2/23/imagining­non­partisan­news Do We Actually Want Higher Youth Voter Turnout?http://ssir.org/articles/entry/do_we_actually_want_higher_youth_voter_turnout Youth In Politics: On the Ground in the Granite State, CIRCLE, Tufts Universityhttp://civicyouth.org/youth­in­politics­on­the­ground­in­the­granite­state/

"We have a complex system of government. Youhave to teach it to every generation." – Sandra DayO’Connor

Constitutionally Speaking is a collaboration of New Hampshire Humanities, The New Hampshire

Institute for Civic Education, The New Hampshire Supreme Court Society, University of New

Hampshire School of Law, Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth College, and New

Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.