The Significance of Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)
2:08
Grades: 6 - 12
Video Description: Jessie Steffan, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Missouri, discusses the important Supreme Court case, Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990), dealing with freedom of religion and schools.
Type of Video: Segment*
Unique Video ID: First Amendment-68**
Quick Ideas for Using the Video:
- Use the video with other Educate.Today videos dealing with freedom of religion and/or the First Amendment in a jigsaw activity. Have different students/student groups view different videos and report their learning to the class.
- Use the video in conjunction with an activity that has students research the case sited in the video. Pair students off on different sides of the case and debate the issues involved. Do they agree or disagree with the decision reached?
- After viewing this segment, have learners write an explanation of the free exercise clause. Did they understand it clearly? If not have them research what the free exercise clause means.
*Segment videos are short excerpts edited from interviews or interactive programs that offer flexible and differentiated ways to use the rich content included in the full-length conversation.
**The unique Video ID can be used to quickly locate a single video in the ET collection. This search function is designed to let teachers assign students to watch a specific video and have only that video appear as a search result. Just click on Search and choose “By Video ID.” Then type in the Video ID as it appears above. Be sure to include the dash.
