ProQuest Platinum
Platform Politics @ 2008 Presidential Conventions
It's time for your students to speak out on the issues that matter to them! Assign students to choose three issues from our provided list and compare and contrast the positions of Senator Obama (Democratic platform) and Senator McCain (Republican Platform) on each of these issues.

Students will also present their choice on the issue and the reasons for the choice. Students should complete a report of at least 150 words that cites at least four resources, or choose a PowerPoint report of at least two minutes and seven slides.

SIRS Spotlights + Challenge Quests
As a democracy, America relies on its citizens to be informed and to participate in government processes, such as voting. In recent elections, young people have been voting in record numbers.

What is the name of the elections by which a political party nominates candidates for the following general election?

Vote with your mouse by visiting our
SIRS Challenge Quests.

Constitution Week falls during the week of September 17, a very significant date in American history. On that day in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed by 39 delegates from 12 states.

Learn more about the U.S. Constitution, its history, and its impact on American life and government in this month's SIRS Spotlight.

CultureGrams
Opening: U.N. General Assembly
The U.N. General Assembly opens its annual three-month session on September 16. Assign each student (or have each student select) a country in the CultureGrams Kids Edition series.

They should prepare to act as their country's representative or leader in the U.N. General Assembly. Students should prepare a short (one minute) presentation highlighting the country. For example, each student could select five interesting facts about that country.


World Conflicts Today
Women's Rights @ Afghanistan
The study unit on Afghanistan in World Conflicts Today includes reference to the events of September 11, 2001. Included is this quote: "brought horror of a magnitude that, a day earlier, few Americans could have imagined."

Late in 2001, after a U.S.-led coalition toppled the Taliban, women saw a return to the kinds of rights they had not enjoyed since the Soviet occupation. Using our provided pair of images of Kabuli women--the first, just weeks after the Taliban captured Kabul in 1996, and the second, just days after the Taliban fled Kabul in 2001--design a poster that makes a statement about women's rights.

Explore additional history-related themes inside History Happenings, our hands-on social studies enewsletter.

Historical Newspapers
The Supreme Court
There are many recent examples of the Supreme Court rulings that involve the interpretation of the Bill of Rights: the rejection of the Washington, D.C. law that bans personal ownership and possession of guns; the looming possibility of the overturning of Roe v. Wade abortion rights; and supporting the FISA Act that provides for warrantless searches of personal electronic information under the Patriot Act.

Assign student to research one of the Supreme Court decisions of the past to understand how the political atmosphere of the era often influences the judgment of the Justices.

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