Governing the Commonwealth

Governing the Commonwealth provides middle-school students with an introduction to Virginias government: its structure, processes, powers, and scope. The middle-school civics curriculum requires teachers to cover Virginias government, and there has not been a useful text to do this until now. Robert Dudley has written an accessible guide to Virginias government that not only covers the overall structure but also provides information about Virginias constitution and the history of the people and the land. Each chapter includes two highlighted sections""Why It Matters"" and ""How Its Done in the Other States""that allow students to deepen their understanding and make comparisons to other locations. Amy Smith, a veteran Fairfax County Public Schools teacher, assisted the author with this book to ensure that it would be understood by the students and that it covered current Virginia Standards of Learning requirements. In addition, Smith prepared a teachers guide to assist all teachersespecially new oneswith the process of implementing the text in the classroom. For each chapter, the teachers guide includes a general overview, chapter objectives, in-class activities, and much more. This book will be useful to all middle schools in Virginia, homeschoolers, and the general public, including aspiring citizens looking for a basic introduction to Virginias government, how it works, and its historical development. Distributed for George Mason University Press