The Press Series of the Robert H. Michel Papers consists largely of documents which contain legislative issue information given by Michel's office to the public or other congressional offices. 30 linear feet accumulates clippings, memoranda, newsletters, constituent questionnaires, remarks and releases, files of the Republican Press Secretary, and an extensive subject file. The bulk of the materials date from 1965 to 1994.

The Dirksen Center cropped these documents to allow search capabilities for each individual box number.  This will allow users to go directly to the correct box number using their search query rather than scrolling through the entire 71 pages.  All you have to do is enter a keyword in the search box found at http://www.dirksencenter.org/findingaids/index.htm.  For example, entering “organization” in the search box will pull up a list of documents in the Robert H. Michel Collection that include this word.  To find this word in the Press Series collection, the search results would appear like this: Robert H. Michel Collection: Press Series, 1965-94: Box 12

Find the complete index page for the Robert H. Michel Collection: Press Series, 1965-94, including all box numbers and a brief listing of the contents for each at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/findingaids/rhm_pressseries.htm

Cindy Koeppel
The Dirksen Congressional Center

Many list members are probably also members of one or more Ning communities. The
presence of educators there is pretty noticeable. For that reason, i've set up a
Ning devoted to
dialog about WebQuests. If we get a critical mass there, we might actually get a
conversation
going.

To join, come on over to http://webquest.ning.com.

Last night on Tapped In I rolled out some preliminary thoughts about a
new taxonomy of constructivist tasks. When it's finished, it will be
baked into a set of pages and guides to help novice teachers break out
of the read-this-and-make-a-powerpoint-about-it mode of WebQuest
design. Comments are very welcome.

You'll find it at http://www.webquest.org/act/tappedin.htm


::: Bernie :::
--
Bernie Dodge, PhD - Professor of Educational Technology
San Diego State University. 619.594.7401
Blog - http://webquest.org/bdodge/
The WebQuest Page - http://webquest.org

** CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM 2008 **

Deadline: April 15, 2008

Congress in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education program now in
its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the
workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about
Congress. The Center will join with the new Institute for Principled Leadership
in Public Service in conducting the workshop.

Congress in the Classroom is designed for high school or middle school teachers
who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or social
studies. Forty teachers will be selected in 2008 to take part in the program. 
Selection will be determined by The Center.  All online applications must be
received by no later than April 15, 2008.  Individuals will be notified of their
acceptance status by April 30, 2008.

In addition to sessions dealing with Congress, the 2008 program will pay special
attention to the upcoming congressional and presidential elections.  The
workshop consists of two types of sessions: those that focus on recent research
and scholarship about Congress or elections (and don't always have an immediate
application in the classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach
students about Congress or elections.

The workshop will be held Monday, July 21 - Thursday, July 24, at the Hotel Pere
Marquette -- http://www.hotelperemarquette.com/ -- Peoria, Illinois.

The program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education for up to 22
Continuing Education Units. The program also is endorsed by the National Council
for the Social Studies.

Participants are responsible for (1) a non-refundable $135 registration fee
(required to confirm acceptance after notice of selection) and (2)
transportation to and from Peoria, Illinois. Many school districts will pay all
or a portion of these costs.

The Center pays for three nights lodging at the headquarters hotel (providing a
single room for each participant), workshop materials, local transportation, all
but three meals, and presenter honoraria and expenses. The Center spends between
$25,000 and $30,000 to host the program each year.

Tentative session titles are listed below. (NOTE: Additional sessions will be
listed as presenters are confirmed. More information about the content of each
session will be posted as it becomes available.)

> Opening Remarks: A View from Capitol Hill
The Honorable Ray LaHood, (R-IL, 18th District, U.S. House of Representatives)
CONFIRMED

Congressman LaHood will retire from the House in January 2009, having decided in
2007 not to stand for re-election in 2008.  He has served seven terms.  The
Congressman will discuss the current agenda in Congress, offer observations
about the upcoming election, and respond to your questions.

> Congressional Insight: An Interactive Simulation of a Member's First Term in
the House of Representatives
Tara Smith, National Association of Manufacturers CONFIRMED

With Congressional Insight, you experience the high-pressured, uncompromising
environment in which legislators must operate.  With increasingly tight
deadlines imposed by the simulation, you are part of a team that must decide
which bills to support, which committee posts to seek, how much time to devote
to fund-raising, and what tradeoffs to make amidst constituent, party,
special-interest, and media pressures.  The quality of your choices will be
tested in a re-election campaign.

> Sound Bite: Introduction to The Dirksen Center's Web Suite
Cindy Koeppel, The Dirksen Center CONFIRMED

Sound Bites are 30-minute sessions devoted to a single topic. In this one,
Koeppel, the designer of The Center's Web suite, will introduce the six sites
within the suite and illustrate how teachers can use them in their classrooms.
Almost 1.5 million "unique visitors" generated about 70 million "hits" on the
suite in 2007.

> Running for Congress: A Consultant's Perspective
Matt Bisbee, Illinois Executive Director, Victory Enterprises  CONFIRMED

Founded in 1993, Victory Enterprises is a comprehensive political consulting and
communications firm.   The firm offers a full array of campaign services
including survey research, media production and placement, direct mail design,
grassroots messaging, web strategy and design as well as one-on-one campaign
consulting.  Since our inception, we have been involved in over 1,500 campaigns.
The presenter will talk about how congressional candidates are recruited and how
they develop a strategy for election.

> On the Road with Presidential Candidates
Jodi Enda, Journalist

This presenter has covered the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns for
the Philadelphia Inquirer and Knight Ridder Newspapers.  Since then she has done
considerable freelance writing for various magazines.  Enda will talk about the
challenges of reporting on this beat, suggest story lines to look out for in
2008, and evaluate the state of presidential campaign reporting this year.

> Reception at Bradley University
Workshop teachers

Enjoy refreshments on the campus of Bradley University and learn more about the
University and the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service.

> Running for Congress: A Candidate's Perspective
Jim McConoughey, candidate in the Republican primary, 18th congressional
district, and CEO of the Heartland Partnership.  CONFIRMED

In his first run for public office, the presenter finished second in the primary
to replace Congressman Ray LaHood.  McConoughey will talk about his decision to
run, the development of a campaign strategy, and the unfolding of the race.

> Where We Stand in the Presidential Race and What to Look For
Tim Teehan, National Sales Director, Campaigns and Elections.  CONFIRMED

Campaigns & Elections magazine is a nonpartisan publication with more than
84,000 readers involved in the political process.  Lieberman has a unique
vantage point from which to observe the unfolding presidential campaigns.  Prior
to serving as publisher, Lieberman consulted on many campaigns and advocacy
programs in the United States and abroad.

> "I’m No Lady, I’m a Member of Congress": Women in Congress, 1917-2006
Kathleen Johnson, Historical Publications Specialist, Office of History and
Preservation, House of Representatives CONFIRMED

As one of the authors of Women in Congress-a book chronicling the history of the
more than 200 women who have served in the House and the Senate-Johnson will
provide background on the publication and its corresponding web component which
contains educational materials designed for use in the classroom. She also will
discuss the forthcoming publication of Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007,
and the many web resources created by the Office of History and Preservation
that document the history of the House of Representatives.

> Sound Bite: Yes, It is Possible to Find Humor in Congress
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED

Relying on gems located in the archives of Members of Congress, Mackaman
provides examples of what constituents expect of their representatives.  
Consider this request of former Congressman Jon Dent:  "I am a future inventor. 
Tell me some of the inventions of the future so I can start on them now."

> Teaching with Primary Sources
Cindy Rich, Project Director, Teaching with Primary Sources, Eastern Illinois
University CONFIRMED

The Library of Congress's Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program works with
an educational consortium of schools, universities, libraries, and foundations
to help teachers use the Library’s vast collection of digitized primary sources
to enrich their classroom instruction.  Schools that have participated in the
program know that it encourages educators to embed primary sources into
curriculum through all disciplines and grade levels to build a foundation of
knowledge, enhance understanding, increase comprehension, and develop
multimedia/information literacy skills.

> From the Campaign Trail: Observations from a Reporter
Tanya Koonce, political reporter, WCBU Radio CONFIRMED

How do reporters decide what to cover in a congressional election? What factors
affect their relationships with the candidates? How do they know when they've
been "spun"? What qualities or skills are required of political reporters?
Koonce, who currently covers the 18th congressional district race to replace
retiring Congressman Ray LaHood, will address these questions and more.

> Predicting the Outcome of the Presidential Election
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED

Historians, political scientists, economists, and hobbyists all have devised
various models, some sensible, some strange, to predict the outcome of
presidential elections.  Mackaman will introduce you to several of them before
focusing on the one that has proven the most prescient.

> How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members
Stephanie Vance, Advocacy Associates, Washington DC CONFIRMED

How do you break through the "noise" to communicate with a member of Congress?
Vance has the answers.  She advises clients on how to reach Congress people
effectively by understanding how congressional offices function and process
information.  She will introduce her online advocacy course - something you can
use even after the workshop ends.

Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site -
http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm -- to see what
participants say about the program.

* Registration *

If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2008
workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at:
http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm

I don't know of a site where teachers can upload
Powerpowerpoint presentations, but Pete's PowerPoint
Station is a site that has a good collection of
free K-12th grade Powerpoints that you can download:

Pete's Power Point Station...for K-12 Teachers and Students
http://www.pppst.com/

-Patricia
elementary-lesson-share Yahoo group
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/elementary-lesson-share



--- In webquest@yahoogroups.com, "Anita Baumgartner"
<anita.baumgartner@...> wrote:
>
> Hello everybody,
>
> http://www.slideshare.net/ is a site where everybody can download/upload
> Powerpointpresentations.
> Is there something like that in a "teacher"-version like
> http://www.teachertube.com/?
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> anita
>

Hello everybody,

http://www.slideshare.net/ is a site where everybody can download/upload
Powerpointpresentations.
Is there something like that in a "teacher"-version like
http://www.teachertube.com/?

Thanks for your help,

anita

* NEW LESSON PLAN *

CREATING A TELEVISION AD FOR AN INTEREST GROUP

During our annual Congress in the Classroom® workshop --
http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm --
participants are asked to introduce the lesson plans, resources, and techniques
that have proven successful in teaching about Congress in their classrooms. A
2007 participant, Gregory Stewart, Whitewater High School, Whitewater, WI,
presented his lesson entitled, "Creating a Television Ad for an Interest Group."

Background information for this lesson follows:

It is important for students to understand what they, as citizens, can do to
become involved in the political process. In addition, students need to
understand the way in which bias and stereotyping are used by various media and
interest groups to influence popular opinion.

In this lesson, students examine propaganda and media bias and explore the ways
interest groups get their message across through the use of media campaigns.
Following the development of their own interest group, students develop an
advertising campaign which includes the development of a radio and television
commercial. Find "Creating a Television Ad for an Interest Group" at:
http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_creatingad.htm

What's up with the members of this group? There has been
no postings in quite some time...

The Dirksen Congressional Center is pleased to announce the completion of their
Editorial Cartoon Collection project:
http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm

The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans from The Dirksen Center will
teach students to identify issues, analyze symbols, acknowledge the need for
background knowledge, recognize stereotypes and caricatures, think critically,
and appreciate the role of irony and humor.

- About the Collection -

Editorial cartoonists loved Everett Dirksen (1896-1969)-his position of
influence as Minority Leader in the Senate (1959-69), his way with words, and,
of course, his distinctive appearance. Over the years, Senator Dirksen's staff
compiled a scrapbook containing more than 300 editorial cartoons. Topics covered
include Vietnam, civil rights, Republican Party politics, the Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty, reapportionment, Taft-Hartley 14(b), school prayer, Dirksen's recording
career, Senate procedures, congressional pay, presidential appointments, and
Dirksen's legacy. Naturally, cartoonists also used these topics to depict
Dirksen's relationship with President Lyndon Johnson, with his Democratic
colleagues in the Senate, and with the Supreme Court. In addition, cartoonists
sent Dirksen between 50 and 60 original sketches on equally diverse topics.

Among the scores of cartoonists represented in the collection are Herblock, Gib
Crockett, Hugo, Bill Mauldin, Gene Basset, Pat Oliphant, Al Capp, Wayne
Stayskal, Jim Berry, Guernsey LePelley, Tom Engelhardt, Paul Conrad, and Jim
Berryman.

There are only six of the original three hundred plus cartoons posted at this
time.  Not all will lend themselves to lesson plans, though we will add to the
list as time permits -- we're working on 14 additional lesson plans at the
moment.  We do plan to post all of the cartoons on the Web site.  As you can
imagine, it takes time and we wanted to start small and adjust as necessary.

We welcome you to take a look and let us know what you think!

Cindy Koeppel
The Dirksen Congressional Center
2815 Broadway
Pekin, IL 61554
Phone: 309.347.7113
Fax: 309.347.6432
E-mail: ckoeppel@...
http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org

The sites at http://webquest.org and http://webquest.sdsu.edu have
been looking a little long in the tooth lately. And with resources
scattered between the two sites, it's not as easy as it should be to
find useful information about WebQuests.

All that will change this weekend. A new unified look will bring the
two sites together. Old things will be more findable and new things
will become available.

Stop by and visit http://webquest.org after Saturday and tell us what
you think!

Thanks Suzanne. Having a direct link to the map would
work.  I will try it out.
Sabrina
--- Suzanne Tate <suz00@...> wrote:

> I don't think there is any way to block access to
> the other pages, but once
> you have created your own map, you will have a url
> to direct the students
> to, so they don't need to go to the rest of the site
> at all.  Then, just
> like the rest of the internet, it will be there, but
> at least you are not
> directing them to it, and if they are engaged and on
> task, hopefully they
> wont wander elsewhere.
>
>

A really nice way to combine google maps with something like this would be to use the wayfarer site.  It allows you to create a map, add waypoints with virtual stick pins which can then have text, links, photos etc attached.  I have thought of utilising it with various subjects – tracking the voyage that occurs in a story, for example, or a group of science students at the moment are using it to document the locations where they are undertaking water quality testing on a local river.  Lots of possibilities.

http://www.wayfaring.com/explore/live

Suzanne

---

From: webquest@yahoogroups.com [mailto:webquest@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bart Bonamie
Sent: Saturday, 2 June 2007 5:32 PM
To: webquest@yahoogroups.com

Suzanne, I love your art webquests. Bart I look
forward to checking out your webquest as well.  I am
very busy getting ready for Summer Institute with our
EDGE teachers.  These are teachers in our one to one
computer iniative.  I hope to have some time to go
through the quests posted here.  I am also going to
jump on the bandwagon and share a webquest like lesson
I developed with my team.  I would appreciate input.
I created this lesson with my team of Instructional
Technology Specialists. I am very proud of this lesson
and feel it provides students the opportunity to
develop a sense of awareness regarding their
environment. Students are given an opportunity in this
webquest like activity to answer a variety of
essential questions.

http://www.schools.manatee.k12.fl.us/webdisk/3160TFCC/WebPages/ITSyour/environme\
nt3/index.html

It's still open for exchanges between teachers, but no one has posted messages
in a long
time.  There were a few people who didn't join the group for legitimate reasons
who tried to
post spam, but those messages were NOT approved and those members were removed
from
the group roster.  Feel free to start a discussion thread, or upload a relevant
link or file.
Sometimes all it takes to jumpstart a group like this is to do something like
that.

I'm guessing that Bernie Dodge is enjoying some well-deserved rest and
recreation at this
point.  I volunteer to help monitor messages for this group, but, because I'm a
classroom
teacher in NYS, I still have 3 weeks of school left and a bunch of paperwork to
do in the
meantime.

-Patricia

--- In webquest@yahoogroups.com, "k2multiager" <k2multiager@...> wrote:
>
> Just wondering if this group is still active?
>

Just wondering if this group is still active?

I get this information in an email and am not aware of
the home page you are referring to.  Could you send a
link to it?  Thanks
Sabrina

--- ellew_ldblu <ellew_ldblu@...> wrote:

> On this home page, where you read the messages....
> to the left
> it says>>>
> Home
> Messages
> Post
> Files
> Photos
> Links
> Database
> Polls
> Members
> Calendar
> When you click on files...you can follow the
> instructions and add
> something under files
> if you click on links you can follow the
> instructions to add links
> same with the database...
> it is all right here at the web quest group home
> page. it would be
> great to see some of these files grow!!!
> Thank you,
> elle

On this home page, where you read the messages.... to the left
it says>>>
Home
Messages
Post
Files
Photos
Links
Database
Polls
Members
Calendar
When you click on files...you can follow the instructions and add
something under files
if you click on links you can follow the instructions to add links
same with the database...
it is all right here at the web quest group home page. it would be
great to see some of these files grow!!!
Thank you,
elle
--- In webquest@yahoogroups.com, Sabrina Boehm <brina1300@...> wrote:
>
> I guess I missed it too and am wondering about the
> database some asked to have populated.  Where is this?
> Sabrina
>
>
> --- sleepwhenican@... wrote:
>
> > I must have missed the first post. What is it that
> > you are looking for?
> >
> > Marie
> >
>