Madison Memo For all those teaching the Constitution in America's classrooms

Issue: # 11

December, 2013

In This Issue

Bill of Rights Day Resources

Teaching American History

The Bill of Rights Institute

National Archives

Edsitement

Library of Congress

Con Source

James Madison's Montpelier

James Madison Fellows

Speak About the Fellowship Program

Share With Your Friends

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From the President, Lewis Larsen

As always, Madison Fellows had a significant impact at the Annual Meeting of the National Council for Social Studies, held in late November in St. Louis. One Fellow ran for national office, other Fellows were elected to the House of Delegates, two Fellows received national awards, twenty Fellows attended the Foundation's breakfast, eight additional Fellows stopped by our booth in the Exhibit Hall, and twelve Fellows presented at the Conference. We are grateful for all the Fellows who helped out at the booth, and we are grateful for the continuing professional contributions made by Fellows from around the nation.

The Foundation is committed to fostering and exploring relationships with organizations that promote civic and constitutional education. Many of our (informal) partners are listed here, and we will continue to publicize programs, projects, and opportunities to help you be even more effective in your role as constitutional educators.

Don't forget that the deadline for applications is March 1, 2014. We appreciate all your efforts to increase the number of qualified applicants for the fellowship.

Focus on the Fellows

Edward Denny, '04 (AZ)

I have always been grateful to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation for better preparing me to be a teacher of American government, history, and literature. At my former school, I was the Chair of the Humanities Department and developed curricular materials based on primary source documents centered on Constitutional theory and history. Later, I became the headmaster of a Great Books charter school here in Arizona. I've spoken about the Battle of Yorktown at the State Convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

But, little did I know how my experiences as a Madison Fellow would serve me in understanding our global community. I spent last year teaching in a remote region of Kazakhstan, where their constitution resides in the President's Museum in the capital, Astana. Kazakhstan is often regarded as the most stable of the former Soviet republics, thus making its constitution a fascinating object of study. I was the only constitutional admirer that day, but in another 200 years I suspect that the constitution of this blossoming republic will receive increased scrutiny and attention. My students in the small city of Ust Kamenogorsk showed tremendous interest in discussing the politics, history, culture, law, and economics of their young nation. While in Kazakhstan, I also had the opportunity several times to speak at the Pushkin Library about American history and culture. I was intrigued by the similarities and differences between our two constitutions. We had many lively constitutional conversations which weren't all that different from the discussions of Fellows during the Summer Institute.

Let us hear what you have been up to since receiving your Fellowship. Submit a brief article (150-200 words) along with a high-resolution photo to cgriffin@jamesmadison.com for possible inclusion in future newsletters.

C constitution onstitution Corner

The Constitution Corner is on Christmas hiatus, but will return for the March, 2014 edition of the Madison Memo. If you would like a Constitutional refresher in the meantime, please check out these two outstanding resources.

The Constitutional Convention

The Founders on the Founders

Teaching Tips

Drew (James) Wendt, '10 (WV)

President Woodrow Wilson, when describing social studies instruction in his book, Princeton in the Nation's Service, gave us all the charge, "Your real and proper object, after all, is not to expound, but to realize it, consort with it, and make your spirit kin with it, so that you may never shake the sense of obligation off." By selecting some of the choicest conflicts found in contradictory primary sources, scaffolding student reading, and guiding our students with discussion, we can reveal the principles and practices of American Government.

Recently, when considering the role of an elected representative in our American Republic, I wanted students to consider whether a representative's constituency or their conscience should be paramount when making decisions. Inspired by a course I took on ratification, I use selections from Burke and Brutus to consider that very question. In order to bring the content home and enable my students to consort and become kin with the sources, I guide their reading with a few pointed questions (click here for Drew's handout), encourage them to note each time the author talked about our overarching question, and require them to find one sentence that best represents the author's viewpoint. We discuss, and from that discussion I refine my questions for content and clarity. One should not be afraid to descend into the arena with students, highlighting the sources with the class and discussing insights while simultaneously encouraging them to share theirs. I usually close with the question, "Who makes the most convincing argument and why are you convinced?"

I have had Locke and Machiavelli vie for victory on their views of man, Lincoln face Douglass again on popular sovereignty, and Madison, Hamilton, and Jay have their moments against the chorus of doubters and dissenters in the Antifederalist Papers. Another "debating duo" is Amos Singletary and Jonathan Smith who, despite humble backgrounds, took a stand in the Massachusetts Ratification Debates on January 25^th, 1788.

Do you have a favorite pedagogical approach for teaching about the Constitution? Submit a brief article (150-200 words) to cgriffin@jamesmadison.com for possible inclusion in future newsletters.

Opportunities

Laura Wakefield, '00 (FL) invites Fellows to attend the annual conference of the NCHE

held March 20-22, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM.

Click here for more information.

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers a wide variety of summer programs. Application deadlines are generally in early March.

Applications for Street Law's Annual Supreme Court Summer Institute are available here.

Let us know about professional opportunities that would be of interest to Fellows. We plan to include 3-4 timely notifications in each edition of the newsletter. Information can be sent to cgriffin@jamesmadison.com

From the Foundation

Payments: Payment requests received December 15-30 will be held for processing until January 6 due to 1099 tax reporting requirements.

1099's: The Foundation is required by the IRS to report payments made to Fellows on IRS Form 1099-Misc. This form will be mailed directly from the General Services Administration (GSA) to Fellows in late January. Additional information can be found on pgs. 5-6 of the "Payment and Financial Obligations" section of the Fellows' Handbook.

Congressional Fellow: An application for the 2014 Congressional

Fellowship is available here and is due January 10. Only Fellows who have completed both their degree and their teaching requirement are eligible for the fellowship.

Teaching Obligation: If you are in the teaching obligation phase of your fellowship (i.e., you have received your degree) and are not teaching, you must submit to the Foundation (by July 15) documented evidence of your efforts to secure a social studies position. Please contact Sheila Osbourne (sosbourne@jamesmadison.gov) if you need additional information about this requirement.

Outreach Initiatives: Colin (cbornmann@jamesmadison.gov) is still looking for Madison Ambassadors and Claire (cgriffin@jamesmadison.gov) is still looking for participants in the E Pluribus Unum program. Please contact them if you would like to participate in these on-going initiatives.