| The LRE Fair offered mini-sessions in a more intimate, less formal
setting. These forty-five minute sessions provided the attendee
the chance to dialogue with the presenter, and learn strategies
and techniques on a variety of topics. Attendees had an opportunity
to choose from the following mini-sessions:
1. Implementing Project Citizen in a Community Setting
Patricia Quann (The Delaware LRE Center)
This session will discuss a pilot project developed in Wilmington, Delaware for
young people who live in the Riverside Housing Project. Youth advocacy and
technology skills are being taught, using the Project Citizen curriculum designed
by the Center for Civic Education. Computers have been placed in the homes of
the participants, who are working with a variety of officials in Delaware to revise
the state law concerning drug paraphernalia. Several organizations joined together
to work on this pilot, including: Girls, Inc. Youth Development Center, the WHYY
(Channel 12 PBS) Education Connection, The Delaware Department of Education,
Delaware Valley/DCA Net, Kingswood Community Center and the Delaware
Law-Related Education Center, Inc.
 2. The Challenge of Governance
Marshall Croddy (Constitutional Rights Foundation)
Discover a new resource for U.S. Government teachers that helps them address
the national civics standards in the classroom. This 72-page supplementary
text provides a quantitative and interactive review of all the standards plus
the development of intellectual skills linked to standard government texts.
Marshall Croddy will provide an overview and rationale and demonstrate an
interactive lesson drawn from the resource.
3. LawForKids.org: Engaging Kids, Parents, Teachers and the Community
in LRE via the Internet
Jeffrey Schrade (Arizona Bar Foundation)
LawForKids.org is a nationally acclaimed website created by the Arizona Bar
Foundation to bring law-related information to Arizona kids via the Internet.
In the last year, the site received more than 3.5 million hits from over 189,000
visitors, most of whom echo the comment submitted by 15 year old Matthew:
"I love this page it's awesome!" The site design supports state educational
standards and includes online lesson plans and resources. The session will
contain tips and information for design, funding and management of the project.
4. Gun Control & The Second Amendment: Developing Civic Competency
Through Public Policy Issues
G. Dale Greenawald (Newsweek Magazine)
This session demonstrates how to link historical themes to contemporary
public policy issues by using the Second Amendment as an exemplar. It models
strategies for involving all students in mastering history and civics standards
and the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for successful participation
in a democratic, multicultural, and globally connected society. Materials will
be provided.
5. Literature-Based Mock Trials
Steve Brown (KidLaw, Inc.)
Learn how using novels, plays and short stories as the basis for classroom mock
trials enhances teaching law and civic education. Discover how literature-based
mock trials can be integrated into standards-based learning environments.
See how you can actively involve every student in both the planning for and
performance in mock trials. Warning: This session is interactive.
6. ABA Textbook Analysis Project
Nancy Brown (Education Consultant)
The American Bar Association is currently conducting a law-related content analysis
of leading civics, government and history secondary-school textbooks. The analysis
will include an inventory of such primary law-related categories as legal cases, trials,
statutes, documents, key terms, images & graphics, people, stories, and themes,
and will qualitatively evaluate treatment of content and depth of coverage. Research
findings are designed to promote inclusion of instructionally sound law-related content
in future textbook editions and provide law-related civic educators, bar associations
and others with vitally needed data to guide future program efforts. Come to this
session to learn more about this important ABA research project.
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