Teaching impeachment

I was driving up to the lake a couple days ago. It was a miserable, single-digit, blustery day. As I crossed under an interstate overpass, I saw a couple of guys waving large American flags to draw attention to a couple of Trump banners hung from the overpass railing. I could not disagree more with these guys political focus, but I did admire their commitment. I just don’t understand exactly what it is they are committed to.

This image came to mind when I encountered an NPR story on how classroom educators are trying to engage students over the topic of impeachment. Whether kids watch the evening news or ride in a car on the interstate, they are certainly aware of the situation. My oldest grandkids are in middle school and I know they are aware and they seem to mirror the opinions of their parents. Kids are going be in your classrooms with an awareness and opinions. Are there ways to use this situation as a learning opportunity as presented in the NPR review of teacher opinions. It certainly is an important time for thinking seriously about how our country is governed.

In an effort to offer some suggestions, I tried to find some suggestions from sources focused on integrating the situation into the curriculum.

Here is a resource from the NYTimes Learning Network. These resources both discuss the issue of whether educators should become involved with their students in discussing political issues and offers some suggested classroom tactics should teachers take on the topic.

Here are some lesson ideas for high school classes from Justice in the Classroom developed in 2015, but updated to offer pro and con positions on the Trump impeachment. The suggestions are linked to specific Virginia standards.