The Bill of Rights Institute
Arlington, VA (http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/)
In 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute website was launched. Its mission is to provide teachers with materials to teach students about the importance of the Bill of Rights and their responsibilities as citizens. Teachers can sign up for free lesson plans to be sent to them via email. Each lesson, includes "historical content, classroom activities, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading." Many plans utilize primary source documents.
The Institute also offers educational resources available for purchase. Professional development opportunities include seminars, a summer institute, and online forums.
Professional development offerings
The Bill of Rights Institute ensures that teachers have the tools to prepare their students for citizenship. The seminars focus on the Founders, the Founding Documents, civics, character education and constitutional issues.
- Workshops typically serve between 40 and 60 educators per session.
- Content is aligned with North Carolina standards for professional development and is tailored to the needs of the requesting school system. Offerings are based on theory, classroom strategies and subject matter content.
- Sessions offered are a combination of lecture and processing activities with time to process the learning with other participants.
- Follow-up activities include a required evaluation of the professional development session as well as electronic follow-up via email or the Internet.
- Materials are included in the cost of the workshops.
