The purpose of this nationwide writing project is to encourage the teaching of rights and responsibilities under the United States Constitution to elementary school students. The project also provides an opportunity to improve writing skills. The book includes 150 essays chosen from 1,350 finalists. Every school in the nation was invited to join…

This issue provides classroom activities, information on the U.S. Constitution and the Constitutional Convention, and a summary of materials available to teachers for instruction about the U.S. Constitution. Jean Fritz's book, "Shh! We're Writing the Constitution," is an example of the books on the annotated list of suggested readings.…

This project developed a conceptualization of higher order thinking, dimensions of classroom thoughtfulness, and an assessment exercise applicable to diverse topics taught in more than 70 classes in 11 high schools. Generic qualities of classroom thoughtfulness were not generally associated with the persuasiveness of student writing on a…