Information for Bar Association Newsletter
In-depth Knowledge of Constitution Makes Lawyers Ideal Teachers
on the Subject
Lawyers live the Constitution everyday. Because their work is so
closely tied to working the system of laws outlined by the Framers, lawyers
can be the ideal people to introduce the Constitution and the Rule of Law
to high school students.
The __________ Bar Association invites you to bring
immediacy to discussions of the Constitution and Rule of Law with
students in your community. Through your personal experiences and anecdotes,
you can help these subjects come alive when your school district offers
lessons on the Constitution and government during the academic year.
ABA
staff members at the Division for Public Education have prepared
teaching materials you can use to present lessons on the Constitution and
the Rule of Law to high school students in your community.
Included
below are brief descriptions of four lessons with the address of
the page that contains links to the plan for each:
Separation of Powers
Students in grade 4 to 6 learn the concept of separation of powers
as well as the provisions and rationale for separation of powers.
Student
Privacy Rights
High school students learn about 4th Amendment concepts by analyzing
Katz v. United States (1967) and about student privacy rights in
schools through excerpts from Independent School District of Pottawatomie
County v. Earls (2002).
Teaching about Guns and Gun Control
High School students learn to identify and articulate the main arguments
for and against gun control by making a commercial.
Lesson on the
Preamble
In this lesson, students in grades 9 to12 are invited to examine
and analyze the preambles of state constitutions in order to identify
their underlying values. Students will then compare the state preambles
to that of the U.S. Constitution. Finally, students will draft
a new preamble for the U.S. Constitution, identifying rationales for the
ideas, rights and values it espouses.
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/conversations/constitution/lessons.shtml
If
you are willing to speak to students in grades 9 to 12 in your community,
please contact _________________ at XXX-XXX-XXXX. We will make the
arrangements with your local school on your behalf.
Sample Letter to Local High Schools
Here is a sample letter from
the ___________ Bar Association to your local high school offering
the expertise of your members to teach one or both of these lessons.
*********
Date
Principal
Local High School
Street Address
City, State ZIP
Dear __________________________,
As lawyers, the members of the ___________
Bar Association live the Constitution every day. Doing so gives us
a unique and personal perspective on the importance of the Constitution
in our daily lives.
The American Bar Association has prepared lesson plans
developed to help teach students in grades 9 to 12 about the Constitution
and the Rule of Law, both concepts that are at the foundation of our
system of government. We are writing to offer one or more local lawyers
who can serve as guest teachers on these subjects when the topics come
up in your curricula during the school year.
The lesson on the Constitution
involves helping students research preambles to state constitutions
and then developing their own version for the U.S. Constitution. The lesson
on the Rule of Law looks at four landmark cases on the Bill of Rights
and asks students their opinions on these decisions.
If you are interested,
please let me know, and I will connect you with one or more volunteer
lawyers so that you can make arrangements.
Please know that members
of the ___________ Bar Association are practicing lawyers who are in
good standing and are licensed by the state.
If you have questions or would
like more information, please feel free to contact me.
Very truly yours,
President or Executive Director
___________ Bar Association
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