Tips for making civics courses interesting include: (1) communicate course goals to students; (2) ensure that what you are teaching is worthwhile; (3) assess what students already know; (4) organize facts around a few big ideas; (5) vary learning activities; and (6) present a balanced view of government's activities. (RM)

There are many available resources, other than textbooks, for studying government. Simulation games are available, both commercial ones and those an imaginative teacher can develop. Newspapers, video tapes, educational films, and computer games are other resources which can be used in government courses. (CS)

Presents a two-day lesson which helps students understand the distinction between government and private action and, for more advanced students, to apply past court decisions to a hypothetical situation involving commerce and contract rights. Includes a checklist of 25 items which examines government involvement in students' everyday lives. (GEA)

Teaching responsible citizenship is a constant and on-going theme in the grade-level settings of the 1981 "History/Social Science Framework for California Public Schools." The topics of government courses at each grade level, 1-12, as proposed by the Framework are discussed. (RM)

American government should be taught using an experiential approach. Activities are suggested. For example, student representatives to school boards can be given responsibility for researching student attitudes and involving others in interaction with the board and administration. (RM)

Presents a lesson which calls upon students to compare Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS to James Madison's FEDERALIST #10 to see how the ancient concept of individual rights and liberties was used to describe both economic and governmental systems. Presents questions to provide the basis for comparison. (GEA)

Teachers ought to be doers as well as teachers. A government teacher discusses how participating in the political process helped his teaching. Learning activities are suggested. (RM)

Presents a teaching unit which will enable secondary students to differentiate between unitary, federal, and confederate forms of government; list factors leading to the formation of the U.S. federal system of government; and understand how different structures of government result in different degrees of freedom, responsibilities, and…

Presents a six-day lesson in which two different classes role play the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to simulate the bicameral nature of the U.S. government. Students use actual federal or state legislation or write their own bills, and then work through the process of passing them into law or rejecting them. (GEA)

High school students learn about city, county, and state government through field trips. Included are forms for debriefing and student and community agency staff evaluations, follow-up exercises, and lists of do's and don'ts for teacher planning. (SR)

Depicts the lackadaisical attitude of students in a high school government and history class. Cautions that without a sound knowledge of and appreciation for democratic rights and the political struggles from which they developed, future generations may lose the privileges that they currently enjoy. (DSK)

Siamese baseball is used to introduce secondary government students to a study of authority, justice, responsibility, and privacy. The thematic/conceptual approach to the course is outlined. (RM)

Supplements a previous article by the author on the National Teachers' Training Convention in the Philippines. Presents a lesson plan for comparing the voting forms and procedures of the Philippines with the United States. Includes a reproduction of a Philippine voter registration form for use with the lesson. (DSK)

Because of the unpopularity of the inquiry method, most new government texts are of the straight narrative type. Many educators believe that civics curriculum materials are subject to censorship by special interest groups. Regarding goal achievement, many believe civic education has not trained students to accept their civic responsibilities. (RM)

Describes a high school civics course constructed almost solely around a close reading of the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, and Gettysburg Address. Maintains that understanding these documents establishes the minimum essentials of civic literacy and frees classes from the burden of irrelevant and unreadable textbooks.…