712 government-civics-us results | sort by:

Coal Cares - Coal Cares
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Consider using this site to teach students to read carefully and evaluate the claims made on websites. You might divide the class into teams and have each group examine one of the page links from the site. One link provides paper and pencil games for kids. What can they find in these games that is ironic or reveals that the site is a spoof? (Hint: look for words in the word search that are not listed in the word bank!). Another link offers free inhalers for kids. Where do the links lead? Do students find anything strange about "baby's first inhaler"?After students have dissected the site and discovered all the misleading statements and "propaganda," encourage them to read the blog post at Coal Cares Site a Brilliant Hoax, reviewed here, for more information about the hoax, and how it was devised. Then, discuss the implications of this example. How can it make them better internet consumers? Challenge groups to create multimedia projects sharing their finding. Have students use one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here.
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Lesson Plans and Activities for Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer - Penguin Group
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this unit as a whole, or pick and choose the activities you think your students will be most interested in. Collaborate with your social studies teacher to teach about the judicial system as you read this book. If you have students who have previously read "Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer," they can still read along and will learn so much more from the activities. Or those who have read this book may want to read another book in the series but can still follow the activities from this guide.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Constitute - Comparative Constitutions Project - Univ of Texas at Austin
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Share Constitute on an interactive whiteboard or projector as part of any lessons studying nations around the world. Compare constitutions when discussing current events and cultural differences. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to demonstrate differences and similarities. Flip learning by sharing a comparison you create, then have students study comparisons before class discussions of materials.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mapping the Nation - Susan Schulten
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to use in a variety of ways. Share maps with students that show information for different periods of time during the 19th Century. Because this site includes various types of maps, use these resources to provide a wider context of the time period. For example, choose the time from 1860-1870 to take a look at the Civil War era. Have students use the information found in the maps to research and understand population patterns in the United States, explore the slave population's distribution, and understand the geographic locations of the south's cotton regions. Help students understand the different content using Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share information. Create columns within the Padlet to share maps, articles, and primary sources separated by content such as geography, weather, political information, or other important categories. Ask students to share their understanding using one of the many digital tools found at Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Have a group create posters that include downloadable maps found at this site to tell the story of the Civil War through a geographic lens, ask another group to create a web page sharing information from a journalist's point of view, and have others create social media graphics featuring headlines of the day appealing to different areas of the country.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The People's House: History, Art & Archives - Office of the Historian, US House of Representatives
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Understanding the separation of powers is fundamental to learning about how the US is governed. While it may be tempting to group the Senate and the House of Representatives into one legislative entity, there are important differences between the two bodies. This site can help students see the specific role the Founders had for this branch of government. Looking at important events in US history, like women's suffrage, civil rights, and foreign policy through the lens of the House gives added depth to the lesson. Students may be interested in the process by which the House conducts its business. Who is a "whip" and why do they call him (or her) that? Take some time to check out the lesson plans and other resources designed for educators as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History of Voting in America - Office of Secretary of State Washington
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document for use with any lessons on voting and to provide context during American History units. The visuals included on the timeline are especially helpful for visual learners to give context and a deeper understanding of the progression from 1776. Engage students by introducing this information with a gamification app such as Blooket, reviewed here. Blooket works well with both in-person and remote learning and offers a variety of game options, including games for single players and groups. Additional Blooket options are offered as homework, meaning students participate at their leisure during the provided time frame. Enhance student learning by creating timelines that include information from this document and additional information from your lessons. Canva, reviewed here, offers many easy to use timeline templates that allow you to add links to outside sites, images, and more. Extend learning by asking students to interview local election officials or senior citizens to share their experience with voting rights and regulations. Ask students to create presentations sharing what they learned using Google Slides, reviewed here, or Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. Include links to audio recordings of interviews, add images, supporting videos, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Whole New World: Using Books to Help Teach Students About Colonial America - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this resource to use when teaching about Colonial America. Engage students in learning by incorporating suggested book titles that help students understand colonial times through a personal perspective. Help students compare and contrast current times to the colonial time period using a Venn Diagram. Canva's Venn Diagram Creator reviewed here, includes easy to use tools for creating and sharing a variety of Venn Diagrams. Extend learning by asking students to create animated videos using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here to tell the story about a character or event from colonial times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teachers Righting History - Rosie Rios
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Download and share the database provided on the site as a starting point for many different history projects. Enhance student learning and begin your project by having students choose a famous woman and personalizing a dollar bill with her image using Festisite Money, reviewed here. As students continue researching famous women, share our TeachersFirst Women's History Month Resources located here, as a starting point for finding information. Instead of just creating a list of online resources for student research, engage students by creating interactive learning activities using a tool like FigJam, reviewed here. Google Jamboard allows you to highlight, add comments, and add sticky notes including video to any web page. Students reply directly within the page and add their own notes. As a final project, enhance learning by asking students to use a timeline tool like Time Graphics Timeline Maker, reviewed here, to share information about their research and add context with other historical events of the time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching The New Jim Crow - Tolerance.org
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Incorporate this free unit as a guide to teaching the sensitive topics of race and justice with or without using the novel. As you begin your unit, use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, as an anonymous brainstorming and response tool. Use AnswerGarden by forming open-ended questions such as "The hard part of talking about racism is..." or "The beneficial part of talking about racism is..." as a way to elicit student ideas without students being concerned about sharing ideas orally with their peers. Use AnswerGarden in various ways throughout the unit to gauge student ideas and responses to lesson topics. All of the lessons include essential questions and big ideas, use Gravity, reviewed here as a collaborative tool to encourage student conversations through Gravity's video response options. Extend learning using podcasts as a format for students to share their learning about race and our justice system. For example, PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, for students to create podcasts to discuss different components of race relations and the justice system.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Social History for Every Classroom (SHEC) - American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to find lesson ideas and teaching activities to use in any American History Class. Include the ideas found on SHEC to apply to other history lesson topics. For example, one activity looks at slave life using primary source images and short text. As part of this activity, students create found poems using the keywords found in the documents. Adapt this strategy to learning about the American Revolution, World Wars, or any other significant events. Using lesson ideas and information on SHEC, engage students to start a new learning unit using a polling tool to create a word cloud. Answer Garden, reviewed here, is a free tool that creates word clouds based on students' short answer responses to an initial question. Ideas might include, "What words come to mind when you think about slave life?" or "What do you think life was like for the first colonists arriving from England?" Enhance student learning using Curipod, reviewed here, to create interactive lessons that include videos, quizzes, and learning activities. Extend learning by asking students to demonstrate learning using a multimedia tool such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Offer students options to "show what they know" by creating a website, video, or graphic images that share their understanding of the content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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You Can't Say That in School?! - NewseumED
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Download (left menu in PDF or Word doc) and carefully read through the Unit - You Can't Say That in School?! Select activities and discussion questions that you think will pique student interest. You may want to print the scenarios and explanations made in the ready-made lesson of the Unit and hand one or two out to small groups of students to discuss. Break students into small groups, by interest, to investigate the results of each of the Allowed or Not Allowed questions. Have students present their findings to the class with a simple infographic tool such as Venngage, reviewed here, or creating a newsletter using Revue, here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'Watergate' Video Lesson - NewseumED
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Include this site with any lessons on the power of the press, the 70's, or presidents. This site is perfect for a flipped classroom activity, have students view the video and complete the worksheet questions at home before going in-depth with the material at school. Transform learning by having students create a timeline of events related to Watergate (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Redefine learning by allowing students to be journalists and create their own newspaper using a site such as Printing Press, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Letters of Note - Shaun Usher
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Find letters from authors to read when studying their novels. Choose letters from different time periods to share with students as an authentic look at life during that time (primary sources!). Have students share what they learned using a tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here. Zeemaps allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location (on a map) where the story takes place. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president, famous scientist, or nearly any other real or fictitious person.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Knoema - Knoema
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Use in Social Studies or World Cultures to compare economic indicators of countries. Create data sets and visualizations of environmental data around the world. Use data in the writing of papers or creation of presentations on the country statistics such as GDP or exported goods. Trying to find meaningful data to include in an infographic? Knoema has it! Math teachers can use data sets for practice activities with statistics.Comments
I absolutely love Knoema! They also have World Data Atlas (Chrome Web Store app for free) - chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/world-data-atlas/knlgfedckdhkgjinnhogmhkbcjpmmhko that I strongly advise to use.Olga, , Grades: 0 - 12
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OECD Data Lab - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Start with the OECD Better Life Index that brings together many factors to numerically rank countries by happiness or well-being. Assign this graph as a "Make Your Own," with students rating the topics (or more importantly, asking their parents or grandparents). Compare their results and look at gender differences. Students can brainstorm reasons for gender differences or ranking of topics in importance. Compare the United States to other countries. Allow class time to look at other data found on this site and brainstorm how these are connected. Connect the data to curriculum being discussed in class: economic policies, wars, global problems with food and agriculture, social norms, and more. Connect the information to headlines from around the world, both past and present. Encourage students to write an essay, opinion piece, or elevator pitch on one aspect or social issue that is important to change. What a great example of argument and evidence as required by Common Core! This assignment can also be delivered as a podcast, video, or part of a news segment the class creates. Use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here) to create podcasts. Try creating a video and share it using TeacherTube reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Interdisciplinary Civics Education Lessons - United4SC
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark this excellent resource for use throughout the year to engage students as they learn about various social studies topics. Luckily, this site includes a link to each of the videos that are shared on EdPuzzle, reviewed here. Use these links to create and share video lessons with your students, including notes, quizzes, and comments extending learning. Use the included lesson plans as a starting point for your lessons, then ask students to extend learning by sharing information through various choices. For example, offer students options for creating a podcast teaching about one of the topics using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Buzzsprout includes options to personalize podcasts, such as the ability to add links to show notes and the option to schedule episodes for release at specific times and dates; in addition offer Genially, reviewed here, where students can choose to create interactive presentations, images, infographics, charts, and anything else you can think of.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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State of the Union Bingo - National Constitution Center
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free lesson plan as a supplement to your current events lessons. The Bingo sheet was created in 2012, you may need to modify some terms to adapt to current events. Divide students into groups and compare State of the Union addresses from throughout any one president's terms. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vision of Humanity - Institute for Economics and Peace
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use this tool to brainstorm questions about the various indicators shown on this site. Substitute a digital idea bin for paper and pen using lino, reviewed here, that allows for stickies, images, and commenting. What cultural, religious, and political forces affect each of the countries and their resultant scores? What factors can be changed in each of the countries to improve their scores? Debate various policy changes in your own or other countries. Explore possible changes the world can take in order to provide a better life for all citizens of the world. What are many of the differences that exist among the states in the United States? Consider adding this resource when students complete a study of an individual state or country.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day - Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Use the materials shared on this site to enhance your current lessons about Christopher Columbus and Indigenous Americans. Many lessons include using organizational frameworks like Frayer Models and adding a Frayer Model to Google Slides, reviewed here, or Microsoft PowerPoint, reviewed here for students to share their information digitally. Find ready-to-use Frayer Model templates on sites like SlidesMania, reviewed here, by using the search feature. As students explore the primary source documents and information shared during the lesson activities, use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share information with students. Add links for viewing primary source documents, supplemental articles, and videos related to the lesson topic. As a learning extension, ask students to share their understanding of history by creating websites using Site123, reviewed here, which provides documentation and reflection upon the different historical perspectives found during the lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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GDP: Measuring the human side of the Canadian Economic Crisis - National Film Board of Canada
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
This site can put a human face on the numbers for students studying current events, economics, or social studies. The site may also be useful as an example of how to tell stories related to history. Consider asking students to analyze HOW the stories are told, either using film or still photography. How can we use these media to illustrate a historical event? For students considering a History Day exhibit or documentary, these stories may provide inspiration and direction. As Common Core calls on students to engage in digital writing, showing these examples to help students plan student-made media will be more meaningful than simply talking about it.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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