Checks and Balances
PRINT RESOURCES: NON-FICTION
WCLS Resources
Constitutional amendments, 1789 to the present / Kris E. Palmer, [editor] ; preface by R.B. Bernstein (2000).
This is the most current constitutional amendment encyclopedia in the WCLS library. Unfortunately, it is a Reference book, so may not be checked out (although an exception could possibly be made, because there are two copies. If interested, inquire at the Lynden Library). Alternately, it is available for sale at Amazon.com or could be borrowed through interlibrary loan.
Landmark Supreme Court cases : the most influential decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States / Gary Hartman, Roy M. Mersky, Cindy Tate Slavinski (2004).
From Facts on File library of American History series. Discusses important Supreme Court cases that influenced American law, offering information on the key issues, background, decisions, and significance of the case. Recommended for grade 9 and up.
Review Excerpt (School Library Journal, 2004): “An excellent source for beginning researchers. The 350 cases considered are grouped under broad subjects such as abortion, privacy, freedom of religion, civil rights, due process, and freedom of speech and assembly. Each unbiased entry runs about two pages in length and is organized by sections discussing the key issues of the case and its history and offering a summary of the arguments presented, an overview of the decision, the response to it, and a list of related cases. The discussion of the case's significance and its implications will be useful for students. The appendixes include an alphabetical list of entries, a glossary, and a list of sources for each case”
Illustrated great decisions of the Supreme Court / Tony Mauro (2006).
A comprehensive introduction to the Supreme Court and a description and discussion of landmark cases. Includes Miller v. California, Marbury v. Madison, Terry v. Ohio, United States v. Nixon, and 84 other cases. Recommended for both High School and College.
Review excerpt: "[...]The decision is summarized in a short paragraph followed by the background and facts of the case, the court's reasoning and vote, and excerpts from the decision. The impact of the decision is discussed, and decisions that have been modified or overturned are so noted...Illustrations include portraits of some justices and plaintiffs, political cartoons, and photographs related to specific cases...secondary-school and public libraries will find this title to be a useful quick-reference tool and a good starting point for student's research" (Booklist, 2004). Full review here
Landmark Supreme Court cases : a reference guide / Donald E. Lively (1999).
Surveys the Supreme Court cases that most affected developments in government power, economic regulation, equality, and individual rights, tracing changes in the Court's views and the context and results of each case. Includes a section on US v. Lopez. Recommended for High School.
Review (Booklist, 2000): "Designed for high-school students and general readers, this volume discusses 74 cases under four broad topics: the distribution of powers, the relationship between the nation and its states, concepts of equality, and individual rights. These are divided further into more specific topics. We found Lemon v. Kurzman in "The Fifteenth Amendment: Freedom of Religion" chapter in the section on individual rights. There is a three-and-a-half-page treatment of the case that includes a summary of key facts, analysis, and a brief bibliography. The thematic approach combined with fairly detailed discussion of individual cases works well."
Non-WCLS Resources
Supreme Court Milestones published by Marshall Cavendish
Well reviewed by School Library Journal. Written for grades 9 and up. Sounds particularly appealing as it places court cases in historical context-one assumes from that the reactions from other branches of government are included. Includes a discussion of The Pentagon Papers.
DVD/CD-ROM RESOURCES
The Standard Deviants combine solid instruction with just the right amount of humor to present American government in neatly produced lessons designed to meet state standards. Ten modules on ten DVDs feature content previews, reenactments, location shots, abundant use of historical footage, music, animation, and mid- and end-of-program reviews, plus those likable Deviants with their trademark antics. Each program also includes an accompanying CD-ROM containing a teacher's guide with lesson plans, pre- and postviewing questions, reproducible worksheets and quizzes, answer keys, and an extension activity. Grades 7–12. Color. Approximately 20 minutes each. Cerebellum. ©2008.
Who says Civics has to be as dry as the Congressional Record? Now you can explain the three branches of government, the Constitution, civil rights, and civil liberties in a way your students will enjoy and understand. American Government Module 6: Three Branches - Origins of the three branches, the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, Judicial system, checks & balances. Starring: Standard Deviants
4 disc set: One Nation Under Law; A New Kind of Justice; A Nation of Liberties; The Rehnquist Revolution. It is known as the court of last resort - the Supreme Court - where nine judges appointed for life make monumental decisions that govern our everyday lives. By fusing history with biography, The Supreme Court humanizes the enigmatic black-robed figures, and explores the dramatic stories of the people whose cases have come before the court.
This multi award winning PBS series has companion lesson plans geared toward national standards for grades 9-12 (see ONLINE RESOURCES below).
CURRICULUM RESOURCES
Has resources to support this topic in a variety of formats: DVD, ebooks, posters, powerpoints, print.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Bill of Rights Institute
"Our topical eLessons help teachers demonstrate the connection between America’s founding principles and students’ lives. Delivered directly to your inbox, each eLesson includes historical content, classroom activities, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading. Sign up for all three and receive up-to-date content and resources every week." Of particular interest to you is January 2007 - US v. Lopez (1995)
Oyez
http://www.oyez.org/
Includes primary resources
Contains clear, concise descriptions of supreme court cases, details of the outcome, and in many cases includes an mp3 of the actual audio recording of the case arguments. mp3 can be downloaded and recorded to CD. This site is an amazing example of how the Web can increase access to information.
Lesson Plans from PBS The Supreme Court series Web site (DVD available from WCLS; see citation above)
"Designed for immediate use in middle and high school classrooms, these lessons -- which adhere to national learning standards -- contain comprehensive instructions for classroom implementation, downloadable student handouts, links to relevant and dynamic online resources, and suggestions for cross-curricular extensions. Feel free to adapt the lesson plans to meet your students' needs and your own curricular goals."
The following lesson plans are available, and are based around the series videos. They are designed for grades 9-12:
Balancing Federal and State Authority
A Look at the Fourteenth Amendment
With Liberty and Justice for All
The Power and Importance of Precedent in Decisions of the Supreme Court
In addition to the lesson plans, the site itself has a lot to offer, including descriptions of landmark cases and Supreme Court games!
Premium Digital Resources (must have WCLS card to access)
elibrary (ProQuest)
eLibrary delivers full-text and multimedia reference essentials. The easy-to-use interface makes research easy. Students find the answers they need from more than 2,500 full-text magazines, newspapers, books, and transcripts--plus thousands of maps, pictures, educator-approved websites from Homework Central®, and top-quality multimedia (audio/video) files. Users can sort their results by relevance, date, file size, Lexile or reading level, publication, and source, while librarians and educators can find content that's directly linked to state and national teaching standards. The BookCart functionality allows librarians and educators to build persistent links to pre-selected content, creating reading lists, subject and topic pages, standards-linked lessons and activities, community interest pages, and even pre- or post-assessments. -from ProQuest
I got the following results by using the search terms:
"Guantanamo Bay" and "Hamdan v. Rumsfeld"
"gun free school zones" and "united states v lopez"
Pentagon Papers
History Resource Center (Gale)
A Database available through WCLS. Must have a library card to access, *Students need cards individually to access. Reference, Biographies, Periodicals, Primary Sources, News, and Maps/Multimedia all accessible through database along with source citations.
I got the following results by using the ADVANCED SEARCH with the search terms:
"Guantanamo Bay" and "Hamdan v. Rumsfeld"
gun free school zones AND united states v lopez
pentagon papers
ProQuest
A database available through WCLS that gives you access to thousands of articles on a variety of topics. Search Tips: To quickly find articles that discuss the topic you are interested in, it is useful to combine search terms to find articles that have the ideas you are looking for. In ProQuest, use the Advanced search tab to help you do this. By limiting my search to full text articles I got the following results by using the search terms:
(us v. lopez) AND (supreme court) AND (gun-free school zones);
(Hamdan v. Rumsfeld) AND (supreme court) AND (Guantanamo Bay)
(Pentagon Papers)
Also, ProQuest can help you organize the articles that you find. It will automatically sort them by the type of article (Scholarly, magazine, newspaper, etc.), it will suggest search topics that are similar to what you typed in to help you find more articles, and it will let you select articles and save them so you can look at them later. You can also print and email articles from ProQuest (Taken from Pierce College Libraries)
http://www.proquestk12.com/videotraining.shtml
This link will take you to training modules, sample searches, educator tools and lesson plans, and much more for elibrary, ProQuest, CultureGrams and others. WCLS does not subscribe to all these databases and some of the training modules are a bit lengthy, but there are some great resources here for effectively using our databases
Researched by Evie
Research Hours Used: 5 hrs. (We could have used more hours. The scope of the request, looking for resources in 3 areas and linking them to the role different branches of government played, really could have used additional time.)
They are interested in resources in 3 areas:
Publication of the Pentagon Papers
The Gun-Free School Zones Act & US v. Lopez (1990s)
Detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Hamdan v. Rusfeld)
They really want resources that show what role the different branches of government played.
Evie-this might be the sort of thing where we could also recommend a database they or we consider adding in addition to any individually great resources.
* Pro-Quest databases that might be worth looking at for this assignment:
SIRS Issues Researcher® is a general reference database containing thousands of full-text articles exploring social, scientific, health, historic, economic, political and global issues. Articles and graphics are carefully selected from 1,500 domestic and international publications according to strict criteria with regard to content and age appropriateness. Articles are indexed according to Library of Congress subject headings. Database features include World Almanac excerpts, Maps of the World and a Directory of Publications. Special online features include Today's News, Spotlight of the Month and more. Researcher is updated daily online, and is available on CD-ROM, which is updated three times a year.
SIRS Government Reporter® delivers thousands of full-text documents and graphics concerning a wide variety of topics: health, science, economics, environment, politics, foreign affairs, business and industry. Articles and graphics are carefully selected according to strict criteria with regard to content and age appropriateness. Additional content provides current and historic government documents; landmark and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions; information about U.S. Justices, U.S. Presidents, elected leaders, federal departments and agencies. National Archives Documents and Country Profiles are also included. Government Reporter is available online, which is updated daily, and on CD-ROM, which is updated twice a year.
SIRS Interactive Citizenship® is an online program that combines cutting-edge content with state-of-the-art technology, creating an educational resource that emphasizes reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Utilizing interactive books, which can stand-alone or supplement textbooks, it dynamically links to relevant Web sites, articles and documents on SIRS databases. This innovative product, which meets national and state standards, provides continuously updated content, an Educator's Guide, a User's Guide and more. The three interactive books, What Citizens Need to Know About Government, What Citizens Need to Know About World Affairs and What Citizens Need to Know About Economics are available in both printer-friendly (PDF) and Web-friendly (HTML) formats.
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