From the Reading Room to the Classroom
Civics Education with Congressional Records
The future of the great experiment in government that is the United States of America relies on an informed and engaged electorate and inspired leadership from today's students. The Byrd Center is contributing to this future through the development of educational resources that enable students to understand the complexities of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and to inspire them to play their part in the "People's Branch." With the support of the National Archives and Records Administration's Center for Legislative Studies and a nationwide network of congressional repositories known as the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress, the Byrd Center is uniquely positioned to be a leader in the development and implementation of educational resources focusing on Congress, the Constitution, and civic engagement. In addition to creating lesson plans and classroom tools, the Byrd Center also offers training for these resources through its annual Teacher Institute which provides one-day workshops across the state of West Virginia.
Below are a sampling of teaching resources that have been developed from the Byrd Center's collections or through collaborations with partner organizations and archival repositories.
Below are a sampling of teaching resources that have been developed from the Byrd Center's collections or through collaborations with partner organizations and archival repositories.
Grant gives teachers money for classroom civics lessons
Five middle and high school teachers were awarded classroom grants after participating in a Benedum Foundation sponsored summer institute run by Shepherd University’s Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education and Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities.
The teachers were among 30 participants in a summer workshop in June 2023 called People Powered: Civic Action, Community Engagement, and American Representative Democracy. The goal was to encourage teachers to transform 10th-12th grade history, social studies, and civics classes, and AP American history classes, by utilizing the rich resources of the Byrd Archives.
Each teacher received a $1,000 stipend for attending the workshop to use for resources and materials. In April they made presentations showing how they utilized the money. The teacher making the most effective presentation was awarded a $5,000 prize for the school to enhance its social studies curriculum and/or to apply toward learning resources and educational initiatives. Judges were Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, retired director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities, and Dr. Jason Allen, assistant professor of education.
The $5,000 prize went to Harpers Ferry Middle School for eighth-grade West Virginia studies teacher Caitlin Barker’s project titled “Storer College: Researching Our Local History and the Byrd Archive.”
“Caitlin touched each of the evaluative points and gave her students an exceptional learning experience as well as utilizing the Byrd Center Archive first-hand,” wrote Shurbutt and Allen.
Runner-up prizes of $2,500 went to four other teachers.
Huntington High School 10th- and 11th-grade teacher Heather Fletcher developed a unit called “Our Roots Run Deep: A Small Town with a Big Story, Black Huntington.” Fletcher introduced the work of Black scholars Dr. Bill Turner and Dr. Cicero Fain to her students as they explored the enriching environment of Huntington for African Americans in the early 20th century.
Alicen Galanis, who teaches world history and geography at Spring Mills High School, developed an interdisciplinary teaching unit called “Discovering the Great Depression and Harlem Renaissance in Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God.’”
Ned MacFadden, a seventh-grade media teacher at Eastern Middle School’s Humanities and Communications Magnet Program in Montgomery County, Maryland, introduced his students to a lesson called “West Virginia and Maryland: Shared Problems, Shared Solutions.”
Ashley Malott, a ninth-grade advanced placement and honors world history teacher at Washington High School in Jefferson County, West Virginia, developed a lesson called “Data-Based Questions (DBQ) for AP History Students and the Robert Byrd Center.”
The People Powered project was made possible by a $136,250 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
The teachers were among 30 participants in a summer workshop in June 2023 called People Powered: Civic Action, Community Engagement, and American Representative Democracy. The goal was to encourage teachers to transform 10th-12th grade history, social studies, and civics classes, and AP American history classes, by utilizing the rich resources of the Byrd Archives.
Each teacher received a $1,000 stipend for attending the workshop to use for resources and materials. In April they made presentations showing how they utilized the money. The teacher making the most effective presentation was awarded a $5,000 prize for the school to enhance its social studies curriculum and/or to apply toward learning resources and educational initiatives. Judges were Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, retired director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities, and Dr. Jason Allen, assistant professor of education.
The $5,000 prize went to Harpers Ferry Middle School for eighth-grade West Virginia studies teacher Caitlin Barker’s project titled “Storer College: Researching Our Local History and the Byrd Archive.”
“Caitlin touched each of the evaluative points and gave her students an exceptional learning experience as well as utilizing the Byrd Center Archive first-hand,” wrote Shurbutt and Allen.
Runner-up prizes of $2,500 went to four other teachers.
Huntington High School 10th- and 11th-grade teacher Heather Fletcher developed a unit called “Our Roots Run Deep: A Small Town with a Big Story, Black Huntington.” Fletcher introduced the work of Black scholars Dr. Bill Turner and Dr. Cicero Fain to her students as they explored the enriching environment of Huntington for African Americans in the early 20th century.
Alicen Galanis, who teaches world history and geography at Spring Mills High School, developed an interdisciplinary teaching unit called “Discovering the Great Depression and Harlem Renaissance in Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God.’”
Ned MacFadden, a seventh-grade media teacher at Eastern Middle School’s Humanities and Communications Magnet Program in Montgomery County, Maryland, introduced his students to a lesson called “West Virginia and Maryland: Shared Problems, Shared Solutions.”
Ashley Malott, a ninth-grade advanced placement and honors world history teacher at Washington High School in Jefferson County, West Virginia, developed a lesson called “Data-Based Questions (DBQ) for AP History Students and the Robert Byrd Center.”
The People Powered project was made possible by a $136,250 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
Capstone presentations for Benedum Foundation Social Studies Project
People Powered: Civic Action, Community Engagement, and American Representative Democracy
The year-long Benedum Foundation Grant, sponsored by the Robert Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education (in partnership with the Stubblefield Institute and the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities at Shepherd University), will come to conclusion on Saturday, April 20, at 9:00 a.m. The project goal was to infuse Social Studies classrooms with experiential learning exploring the dynamics of democratic principles and the archival richness of the Robert Byrd Center.
Social Studies teachers across the state are competing in this capstone experience for Benedum "People Powered" prizes, ranging from $5000 to $2500, funds that will go directly to programs at their schools for enhancing the teaching of social studies.
The year-long Benedum Foundation Grant, sponsored by the Robert Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education (in partnership with the Stubblefield Institute and the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities at Shepherd University), will come to conclusion on Saturday, April 20, at 9:00 a.m. The project goal was to infuse Social Studies classrooms with experiential learning exploring the dynamics of democratic principles and the archival richness of the Robert Byrd Center.
Social Studies teachers across the state are competing in this capstone experience for Benedum "People Powered" prizes, ranging from $5000 to $2500, funds that will go directly to programs at their schools for enhancing the teaching of social studies.
West Virginia /Appalachia Lesson Plans
Redeveloping Appalachia: Legislating the Future of West VirginiaGrade Level(s): Middle and High School
Subjects: West Virginia History, Economics, Geography Synopsis: In 1965, Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act, investing federal money into infrastructure, education, and healthcare projects across the Appalachian states, including West Virginia. In over fifty years, the Appalachian Regional Commission (formed by the act) has invested billions of dollars in this vision of economic redevelopment for the chronically-depressed Appalachian states, with mixed degrees of success and failure. In this lesson, students can learn about the creation of the ARC through a virtual exhibit and how it has impacted the state. An experiential learning task gives students the opportunity to decide for themselves how they, as legislators, would act to lift the economy of West Virginia through a policy such as the ARC. |
The Floods of 1985: The Government Responds
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Congress / Federal Government Lesson Plans
Necessitous Men are Not Free Men: FDR, Congress, and Rights during the Great DepressionGrade Level(s): Middle and High School
Subjects: U.S. Government, U.S. History, Economics Synopsis: How did the New Deal change the federal government’s role in American society? This lesson plan uses primary sources including speeches from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and artwork from the Great Depression Era to explore how the federal response to this economic crisis changed the perceptions of balance of power and the role of the federal government. These resources can also inspire conversation on the different ways New Deal Era programs impacted minority communities in the United States. The artwork featured in this lesson plan provides an excellent opportunity for teaching visual literacy. View a video demonstration of this lesson plan from our 2020 Teacher Institute >> |
The Great Society Congress: Congress, the Great Society in the 1960s, and TodayGrade Level(s): High School
Subjects: U.S. Government, U.S. History, Economics, World History Synopsis: Between January 1965 and December 1966, the 89th United States Congress enacted the most extensive legislative program since the New Deal. The Voting Rights Act, Immigration and Nationality Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and Social Security Act are but a few of the many significant laws passed during the 89th Congress. This lesson studies legislation passed in response to President Lyndon Baines Johnson's call for America to become a "Great Society." Students will detail the President's vision, summarize its historic context, and explain the ways in which Congress responded. The main source for their research will be the online exhibit entitled The Great Society Congress created by the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress. |
Congress and International Affairs Lesson Plans
Grade Level(s): High School
Subjects: U.S. Government, Foreign Affairs, World History Synopsis: What insights about the Senate’s role in American foreign policy can students gain from studying the Panama Canal Treaty debates of the late 1970s? This lesson plan explores the deliberation over the Panama Canal Treaties in the U.S. Senate under the leadership of Senator Robert C. Byrd. Documents and political cartoons explore the United States' involvement with the building and control over the Panama Canal throughout the twentieth century and how our decision to hand over control to the Panamanian government was viewed by the American public during the Cold War Era. Click here to view a video demonstration of this lesson plan from our 2020 Teacher Institute >> |
Grade Level(s): High School
Subjects: U.S. Government, Foreign Affairs, World History Synopsis: The Constitution is equally specific and ambiguous in its definition of war powers. While Congress is given the authority to declare war and oversee the creation and maintenance of the armed forces, the President is given power as the “Commander in Chief” of those same armed forces. This ambiguity has created a fluid interpretation of war powers throughout American history which continues to define the political arena around our present War on Terror. In this lesson plan, past resolutions of war, speeches from members of Congress, and political cartoons are used to explore how we decide to make war against other nations. Click here to view a video demonstration of this lesson plan from our 2020 Teacher Institute >> |
Other Resources:
The National Archives and Records Administration's Center for Legislative Archives provides several dynamic teaching modules and lesson plans focusing on an array of topics from American history and delving into the U.S. Congress and Constitution.
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Our Mission: |
The Byrd Center advances representative democracy by promoting a better understanding of the United States Congress and the Constitution through programs and research that engage citizens.
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Copyright © Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education
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