Single tables or cabinets provide a

Single tables or cabinets provide a space
for interactive displays that focus on
current events or cross-curricular connections. Elections take place at least
every other November, with members
of the public visiting their local element tary schools to vote, yet this activity is
frequently ignored as an opportunity
for civic education in the classroom.
Rather than avoiding the voting spaces,
how much more educational it would be
to arrange a visit with election officials
while they are in the building, then have
a space in the classroom dedicated to the
election process, with photographs of
people around the world voting, local
political campaign materials (from two or more parties), reprinted ballots to be
marked or punched, and a ballot box.
Such a display can expand on conversations with guest speakers visiting the class
from the League of Women Voters and
the city clerk or municipal staff charged
with running elections in the local area.
Weather can bring recess indoors.
When teachers have building materials
in their rooms for students to use, they
can encourage students to think beyond
their immediate, walled environment
by planning and constructing model cities. (Lego bricks last forever, but empty
packaging materials such as soap or butter boxes are also small enough to keep
in a closet).
Displaying images of famous international monuments such as the Taj Mahal,
pyramids, and Colosseum, or national
landmarks such as the White House and
Empire State Building, provides design
ideas for student construction projects.
Such images also help to scaffold learning about the world beyond the classroom and local community.