If you've ever wished I would just stop talking about the Constitution so often in class, here's my explanation for taking so much of your time on this subject:
"Fewer than half of American eighth graders knew the purpose of the Bill of Rights on the most recent national civics examination, and only one in 10 demonstrated acceptable knowledge of the checks and balances among the legislative, executive and judicial branches, according to test results released on Wednesday." [Source: NYTimes, 5 May 2011]
It is clear that there is decreasing attention paid to the Constitution in American elementary and secondary education. And, if we don't know how the government is supposed to work, how can we hold our government accountable when it fails to live up to its goals? How will we know if rights are being denied?
This is serious stuff.
And so I'll go on lecturing on the Constitution and making students actually read the darned thing.
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