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Created with Fabric.js 1.4.5 Questions Powerful SOCIAL STUDIES ?¿?¿ Question #1 Question #2 Question #3 NCSS Content Topics: What Q #1 Means to Me: What Q #3 Means to Me: What Q #2 Means to Me: As a future educator, the question of "Whatare the costs of free speech?" is extremelymeaningful and important to me because,when you get in front of the classroom each day and present students with information, you are inherently exercising your right of free speech. We are given the right to freespeech through the First Amendment ofthe Constitution, and it is not a right that American citizens have always had. To me,this makes it all the more important to understand both the benefit (i.e. public education) as well as the costs of free speech (i.e. false information, defamation).Although it would be unreasonable to give up freedom of speech in the United States, the right for anyone to say whatever they feel like saying in a public forum cansometimes get messy. The question of "How is power gained, used,and justified?" is relevant and important tomy life because throughout history from largegovernmental offices to school council, thereis a process by which individuals gain, use andjustify power. These leaders then have the power to effect your life as well as the lives ofthose around you. In my life, I have lived through and dealt with the effects of just andcorrupt rulers on both a small and large scale.I feel that it is important to understand the way in which power is gained and used in order to be able to speak up and take it awayfrom those who are abusing it. NCSS Content Topics: NCSS Content Topics: How Do These Questions Represent Worthwhile Learning in Social Studies?? #1 #2 In my future social studies classroom, questioningthe costs and benefits of free speech is going to be vitally important. I believe in order to have a successful learning environment, students need tofeel comfortable voicing their opinions, asking questions and excessing their freedom of speech.Therefore, it becomes important for me to teach the the First Amendment, the repercussions thatcome with freedom of speech, and how things are exist in areas of the world who do not have that right. I feel that teaching a lesson based on thequestion "What are the costs of free speech?" is worthwhile because it enables students to not only learn their rights, but also see the limits to which they could push them, and what may occur if they do. Web Resources Site 1: Site 3: Site 2: The Supreme Court and The Freedom of Speech Majority Rule versus Minority Rights Encyclopedia Smithsonian What are the costs of free speech? How is power gained, used, justified? Should the majority always rule? - Power, Authority, and Governance - Time, Continuity and Change- Individuals, Groups, and Institutions - Individuals, Groups, and Institutions- Power, Authority, and Governance- Civic Ideals and Practices- Individual Development and Identity - Power, Authority, and Governance - Individuals, Groups, and Institutions- Civic Ideals and Practices As a participating member of society, I amoften dictated by the rules and decisions made by the majority. The question of"Should the majority always rule?" is onewhich I, myself haven't come up with a concrete answer for yet. On one end, the point of having a body of government or a group of people that are in charge is so that we can entrust them to make decisions thatwill be best for the public as a whole. However, sometimes these ruling groups make majority decisions that don't reflect the people's best interest. This is why I feel that the question of should the majority always rule is one that is important to ask.It keeps you questioning what has been accepted as the truth and makes you a moreactive thoughtful member of your society. Of my three questions, question number 3 is my favorite. "Should the majority always rule?" is a simplequestion, however, it tasks students to think critically, which I believe is one of the most important things to encourage and teach kids to do as a social studies educator. This question would it well in a government class when looking at court cases, elections, and decisionsmade by government in general. Students in the US live under a democratic system where the majority, regardless of the information the possess, makes the decisions. Although questioning our American way of lifeis generally frowned upon in education, I think that it would be worthwhile to have students examine the forms of government that exist and decide if the majorityshould rule in every situation and decide which system would best serve the United States. American Government American History Modern World History 2. Political parties, interest groups and the media provide opportunities for civic involvement through various means. 3. Issues can be analyzed through the critical use of information from public records, surveys, researchdata and policy positions of advocacy groups. 31. Political debates focused on the extent of the role of government in the economy, environmental protection, social welfare and national security. Modern World History 7. Enlightenment ideas challenged practices relatedto religious authority, absolute rule and mercantilism. 25. Political and cultural groups have struggled to achieve self-governance and self-determination. American Government 5. As the supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution incorporates basic principlesthat help define the government of the UnitedStates as a federal republic including its structure, powers and relationship with the governed. 16. In the United States, people have rights that protect them from undue governmental interference. Rights carry responsibilities that help define how people use their rights and that require respect for the rights of others. American Government 17. Historically, the United States has struggled with majority rule and the extension of minority rights. As a result of this struggle, the government has increasingly extended civil rights to marginalized groups and broadened opportunities for participation. :PBS http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/courtcases.html http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia/Search/History%20and%20Culture :Americapedia http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educatorresources/americapedia/americapedia-constitution/majority-rule-minority-rights/ Teacher Use: I like this site because it lists in summary fashion all of the most significant court cases that have challenged the each of the amendments to the Constitution. When teaching the potential costs of free speech, this site would make it easy for me to look at the cases as categorized by amendment and chose which ones I would like students to look into in more depth in class and potentially make into some DBQ's. Teacher Use: For my use as a teacher, I like this site because it presents the information by comparison, majority rule vs. minority right. I feel that by presenting both sides of a topic, it is easier to teach and lead students to forming an opinion. I would use this site mainly as an aid to compile arguments for both sideswhen teaching to the question of "Should the majority always rule?" Student Use: I like this site for students because it has so many offshoots to aid student understanding. Although the articles are not long, they contain numeroushyperlinks that will take students to new articles. This is helpful because for example, if a student is reading this article on majority rule vs. minority right and came across the sentence "...but also understood that, as James Madison stated at the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1829," but could not remember who James Madison was, the article provides a link that goes to another article that provides background information on James Madison and the Constitutional Convention. I like this set up for student understanding because it ensures that they are fully understanding what they are reading and making connections to things they may have already learned. Student Use: I love this site for students! The Smitsonian Encyclopedia presents history from so many different disciplines, art, music, etc. making it fun andinteresting for students to use. Although some of the games on the site may be a little juvenile or high school students, there are a few such as "The GreatHistory Mystery" that are perfect for giving high school students a quick and easy way to review information from many different areas of history. I feel that if I pulled some of the art and music pieces up in class, it would add a visual component to the class and potentially aid in student engagement. Student Use: For student use, I feel like this site can be incredibly helpful, given the length and the vocabulary used in most court cases. Students can use this site to get general outline of what issue a case looked at, the opinions of each side, and the ultimate ruling. However, this may be detrimental to student learning because of its convenience. If you want to the students to read in depth on a case, this gives them an easy way to avoid doing the reading. The question of "How is power gained, justified and used?" is one that could be used as a powerful question to guide discussion at the forefront of many lessons in world or Americanhistory. In these subject areas, presidencies and international regimes are often discussed in detail. This question is worthwhile because it canhelp students to look at a leader outside of the box of "this is what happened" "this is when ithappened" "this is what happened because of it."and allows them to get into questions of legitimacy,and abuse of power, and attempt to look at the deeper reasoning as to why certain leaders, both global and national were allowed to remain inpower for as long as they did. #3 Teacher Use: For teachers, this site is extremely useful for finding new, exciting ways to present and test information on a variety of topics. Just like the actual Smitsonian Museum, almost any historical era/topic is covered within the website and is easy to access. You can sort articles, games, online art by topic, making it easy to find and look at in class.
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