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The State Bar of Texas-Law-Related Education Department in conjunction with our non profit Law Focused Education, Inc. have teamed up with the Texas Municipal Court Education Center to create teaching units which infuse the study of traffic safety issues, traffic safety laws and how these real life issues are adopted via the legislative process into social studies classes at grades 4, 7, and high school government. Lessons incorporate the latest Law-Related Education instructional strategies as well as the opportunity to utilize judges and court support personnel as resource persons in classrooms. Funding is provided by TxDot.
Participants will receive differentiated units which include hands-on interactive lessons that promote critical and creative thinking skills, appropriate activity sheets, class sets of manipulatives for small and large group instruction, and on-line computer games. In addition, units provide opportunities for conducting research and/or independent study, participation in simulations, and gifted/talented extension activities.
Teachers from across Texas will be invited to attend a one-day (6 hour) workshop on the program during the Summer of 2008, offered in cooperation with the twenty Regional Education Service Centers. Texas Department of Transportation officials, district traffic safety specialists and judicial leaders will also be invited to attend the workshop.
Our hope is that social studies teachers will then be prepared to offer the traffic safety program in the regular classroom or gifted classroom, using municipal judges and court support personnel as resource persons. Classroom instruction throughout the year will be supported by the TMCEC journal, a list serve and a webinar series that offer additional information about traffic safety and will allow for problem solving and idea sharing as to how to teach traffic safety issues and procedures to young people.
The workshop is free of charge and lunch will be provided.
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