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divides the document into its Articles and Sections followed by the document’s text and an
explanation for each section.
The site also includes a number of lesson plans that highlight case studies of the Constitution in
action. For example, there are two lessons related to Japanese internment during WWII: “The
Importance of the Japanese Internment Cases” including a conversation with Supreme Court
Justices and “When National Security Trumps Individual Rights”. Additionally the site includes a
section of “Critical Thinking Lesson Plans” using a variety of topics to spark student interest.
The “News” section highlights current events stories that relate to Constitutional issues.
This site provides a wide variety of helpful information and very useable material for any
teacher of civics and government.
TeachingAmericanHistory.org
The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University provides training to teachers of American history
and government. Ashbrook’s TeachingAmericanHistory.org website offers teachers, at no cost,
an extensive and growing library of primary source documents (currently near 2,500
documents) related to American history and government.
The website also contains special exhibits on the Constitutional Convention, Ratification
Debates, and Bill of Rights, designed in conjunction with a leading scholar, to assist teachers in
teaching these materials in a way that interests and engages their students.
Teachers can also learn about and register for the free professional development opportunities
Ashbrook offers.
The Bill of Rights Institute
The Bill of Rights Institute provides very useful information and materials for teachers and
students. The site includes free lesson plans on a wide variety of topics related to the Bill of
Rights. Also, the eLesson Newsletter, sent via email to teachers who register, includes historical
content, connections to real life, classroom activities and discussion questions. Professional
development opportunities for teachers such as Constitutional Seminars, Constitution Day and
Founders Fellowship are explained.
In addition, the site includes information on student programs such as “Think the Vote”,
“Constitution Connection” and “We the Students Essay Contest”.
Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools
The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, a coalition of forty organizations, has as its goal
the improvement of civics education in schools. One resource, Civic Learning Online, provides
links to other organizations that feature lesson plans and practices for all grade levels. The site
also provides access to research study results focused on civics education and civic
engagement.
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Center for Civic Education
The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to
fostering the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by citizens
committed to the values and principles fundamental to American constitutional democracy.
The Center specializes in civic/citizenship education, and international education exchange
programs for developing democracies.
Civics Renewal Network
The Civics Renewal Network allows teachers to search by topic and grade level for free teaching
materials from their many partner organizations. Teachers can create a free account allowing
them to bookmark materials to their account for future account.
Civic Engagement Research Group
Civic Engagement Research Group, conducts research focused on understanding the nature of
youth civic engagement, the impact of civic learning opportunities and digital media
participation.
The site includes a series of videos highlighting youth engagement, information on CERG’s
publications, and a series of Connected Learning webinars exploring ways to support youth
engagement in public life. Also included is a press release of a very interesting Education Week
article titled “Why Are We Teaching Democracy Like A Game Show?” that questions the
wisdom of requiring all students to pass the U.S. Citizenship Test as a graduation requirement.
CNN Politics
CNN Politics is the website of CNN provides up to the minute information and video clips of
political news. In addition, a number of CNN videos are available for classroom use on current
issues.
The Connecticut Network
The Connecticut Network has developed three excellent sets of videos that provide valuable
information for all citizens, but may be of particular use to students who may have limited
experience interacting with their elected officials. These may be especially useful to students
“taking informed action” as the result of an inquiry project or lesson.
Constitute Project
Developed by the Comparative Constitutions Project, the website contains the constitution of
nearly every independent state in the world as of September 2013. Teachers may search by
country and topic. The website is free and provides information for the study of comparative
governments for use with middle school or high school students. This site may be particularly
useful to teacher of grades 6 and 7 as well as high school world history teachers.
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Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Constitutional Rights Foundation provides a variety of programs and teaching materials for
educators. Lessons include topics related to black history month, the Bill of Rights and
Common Core skill related lessons.
In addition, the site provides useful information about civics related programs for students
including The Civic Action Project, Courtroom to Classroom, and the Mock Trial competitions.
The site links to companion sites such as Educating About Immigration; the Civic Action Project;
Judges, Courts and the Law and a CFR Blog for discussion and information for all social studies
educators.
C‐Span Classroom
C‐Span Classroom provides a wealth of free primary source material for social studies teachers.
This site includes a variety of timely videos about recent events and an American History TV
program for classroom use.
A Classroom Deliberations program, including a series of video clips and background
information, is designed to help students examine different points of view and includes a
variety of information to engage students in informed debate on a topic. The site also provides
access to a number of websites related to American history and government. To access the
teacher lesson plans, On This Day in History and Constitution Clips, teachers must register and
create a user name and password.
In addition, C‐Span offers two teacher workshops each summer to help 6‐12 grade teachers
learn to effectively integrate C‐Span’s online resources into their classes.
Courts in the Classroom
Courts in the Classroom is a product of the Judicial Branch of California and the Constitutional
Rights Foundation. The site includes a section titled “Big Ideas” that provides information on
topics such as privacy, censorship and due process; a section titled “The Third Branch” including
information on courts and judges; and a section titled “Landmark Cases” related to the
amendments. The “Teachers” section includes lesson plans on the Constitution.
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers is an organization designed to promote inquiry teaching in social studies. The
College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework, a national social studies framework, guided the
development of the Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks.
The C3 Teachers website includes 15 civics related inquiries available to teachers. Topics
include: The First Amendment, Political Parties, Voting, The Constitution, Industrialization, The
Great Compromise, The Declaration of Independence, Government and Citizens, Civic Ideals
and Practice, Global Citizens, The President, and Civic Ideals and Rules. Inquiries are available
for students in grades K – 12 with more being developed.
In addition, the website provides information on the Inquiry Design Model for teaching.
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Dirksen Congressional Center
The Dirksen Congressional Center is a non‐partisan, not‐for‐profit foundation with the mission
of helping people better understand the U. S. Congress, its people, its processes and the public
policies it produces. The website seeks to promote civic engagement by providing current and
historical information about Congressional activities, the legislative process, and lawmakers’
duties.
There is an interactive Congressional timeline and an extensive collection of legislative related
political cartoons, some with lesson plans. The political cartoons would offer teachers excellent
primary source material to develop inquiry lessons for their classrooms. Congress for Kids
provides information useful to elementary school teachers in planning civics and citizenship
related lessons.
Everyday Democracy
Everyday Democracy is an organization that is focused on helping communities talk and work
together to create communities that work for everyone. The organization works directly with
local communities across the U. S. on issues such as racial equality, poverty reduction education
reform and building strong neighborhoods providing advice, training and how‐to resources.
The website includes lessons for civics teachers as well as a resource list of organizations that
will be helpful to educators teaching civics.
FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org will be a very useful resource for any teacher of civics and government or current
events. The site examines the content of speeches and interviews of elected officials and
candidates to determine their degree of accuracy. Examples of articles include “Trump Gets
Refugee Numbers Wrong”, “Cruz Misquotes Clapper on Refugees” and “Clinton and the
Benghazi Reports”.
FlackCheck.org
FlackCheck.org is the political literacy companion site to FactCheck.org. This site provides
resources to help students recognize flaws in arguments in general and political ads in
particular. This will be a very useful tool to any teacher planning lessons about upcoming
elections.
Joint Florida Center for Citizenship
Joint Florida Center for Citizenship is designed to make civics instruction an essential part of
teacher education at Florida’s colleges and universities and help teachers already in the
classroom enhance their civics teaching skills and methods. The site includes materials for
students in elementary, middle and high school.
The high school segment, A Conversation with Congress, is a series of video discussions, each
on a specific topic, with a moderator and a former Republican and Democratic member of
Congress. The middle school and elementary school sections include a number of lessons
complete with materials. This material may be very helpful to teachers at all grade levels.
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Joe Foss Institute
The Joe Foss Institute is an educational non‐profit organization to battle civics illiteracy and
close the civics education gap. They provide programs for schools, youth organizations and
schools to prepare students for a life of active engaged citizenship.
One goal of the Institute is to have every state pass a law requiring every high school student to
pass the test given to anyone becoming a naturalized citizen. Their education programs aim to
teach students about the roots of democracy.
The Judicial Learning Center
The Judicial Learning Center was created to promote public understanding of the function and
value of the judicial branch of government, especially at the federal level. It is both a physical
space (located at the Thomas F. Eagleton U. S. Courthouse in St. Louis) and a not‐for‐profit
corporation dedicated to promoting the rule of law in American society.
The site includes a number of court and law related lesson plans for students in grades 6‐12
such as How to Create a Law (including articles about recent laws in the U. S.), Separation of
Powers, The Federalist Papers and The Federal Judiciary, State and Federal Courts, What’s
Wrong with This Court and Trial By Jury.
iCivics
iCivics is an organization founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The
website was created to help and support civic educators to engage students in the study of the
Constitution and government. The site includes units organized by topic that include lesson
plans, materials, background information tied to each state’s standards and grade levels.
Unit topics include The Constitution (one unit for each branch of government) Citizenship and
Participation, Politics and Public Policy, Media and Influence, Civil Rights, International Affairs,
Government and the Market, Landmark Library (a variety of landmark Supreme Court cases),
Influence Library (People, Ideas and Events that have influenced the U. S. government) and
County Solutions (focused on solving community issues).
It also includes games and web quests to teach a variety of topics about the government.
There is a wealth of information and material here for civics teachers to use with students. The
information is free to educators who register – teachers are given a user name and password.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress provides a wide variety of materials for teachers related to civics and
government (click on themes then civics). There are lesson plans that have been created by
teachers. In addition, a vast collection of civics related primary source materials can serve as
the basis for the creation of exciting inquiry lessons for classroom use. The site also offers
multimedia resources to improve teachers’ content understanding and to serve as materials to
use with students.
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National Center for State Courts
The National Center for State Courts is an independent, nonprofit organization founded to
educate the public about the state courts. A search feature allows one to search by state,
providing a wealth of information about state courts throughout the country.
In addition, the Center has developed a series of graphic novels, called Justice Case Files, that
provide insight into how judges make decisions, how the courts protect the public and why
courts are so important to a democratic society. Lesson plans for middle and high school
teachers are available for use with three of the novels.
National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC)
National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) is a Congressionally chartered national organization
that believes that everyone has the power to make a difference in how their community and
country thrive. A non‐partisan organization, NCoC explores the shape of today’s citizenry to
define the evolving role of the individual in our democracy and uncover ways to motivate
greater participation.
NCoC sponsors events (including an annual conference), conducts research, and publishes
reports to expand our nation’s understanding of what it means to be a citizen. Through its
national “civic health” initiative, it seeks new ideas and approaches for creating greater civic
health and vitality throughout the United States.
The organization has partnered with 20 states (including Connecticut) and 7 major cities in
publishing state and local “civic health index” reports with a wealth of information on various
indicators of civic participation, including voting, volunteering, contacting and working with
public officials, attending public events, working with neighbors on local issues and donating.
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center is a physical museum at Independence Mall in Philadelphia,
but is also a website. The website includes a section titled Interactive Constitution where
experts interact with each other to explore the Constitution’s history and what it means today.
For each provision of the Constitution, scholars of different perspectives discuss what they
agree upon, and what they disagree about.
By clicking on the “Learn” section, teachers gain access to lesson plans, activities, games,
videos, and historical documents. A variety of lesson plans are offered for elementary, middle
and high school classes. One example is “Address America: Your Six Word Stump Speech”,
where students examine stump speeches from recent president elections and then create their
own six word stump speech summarizing their candidacy.
The activities section includes puzzles and craft ideas. Online games are accessed in the
“games” section. The “videos” section includes Constitution related videos for students in
grades 5 – 12. The “documents” section includes a number of primary source documents as
well as timelines and perspectives written by scholars.
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This site includes material that will be very helpful to any teacher creating lessons about the
Constitution.
The National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEMENT!
The National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEMENT! website is divided into three
sections. The “Lesson Plan” section includes a number of history and social studies lesson
plans, many related to civics and government. For example, the site includes lessons such as
“The Argument of the Declaration of Independence”, “Background on the Patriot Attitude
toward the Monarchy” and “Balancing the Three Branches: Our System of Checks and
Balances”. The lesson plans are very complete, including materials and assessments.
The “Student Resources” section includes a variety of interactive activities collected from
around the web. The “Features” section includes highlighted collections of resources. For
example, the collections include titles such as “The Teacher’s Guide to the 150th
Anniversary of
the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln”, “Four Freedoms for the Fourth”, and The Declaration of
Sentiments by the Seneca Falls Conference (1848): A Common Core”.
National Priorities Project
The National Priorities Project is a very interesting and potentially useful resource for civics and
government teachers. The mission of the site is to make the federal budget transparent so that
citizens can see how their dollars are spent. The “Federal Budget 101” explains how the federal
budget works, where the money comes from, where the money goes and borrowing and the
federal debt. The Educator Toolkit: Peoples Guide to the Federal Budget includes such activities
as “Debate on Keynesian vs Supply Side Economics”. This site shows the importance of
economics in the understanding of government and civics.
New York Times Learning Network
The New York Times Learning Network provides the latest news and opinions including the
world of politics and government. The Teaching Topics section is an index linked to thousands
of stories, many connected to civics and government. The site also includes a daily news quiz.
The Learning Network includes a variety of lessons including “Fake News vs. Real News:
Determining the Reliability of Sources” with a video and lesson plan. Also included is “Drawing
for Change: Analyzing and Making Political Cartoons”. Students can post their opinions on
issues in the news on an online forum. This site includes a wealth of information for middle
and high school teachers and students of civics and government.
Newseum Institute News First Amendment Center
The First Amendment Center of Newseum News provides a research library of resources on the
first amendment, and sections titled “First Amendment FAQ, “State of the First Amendment”,
and the “National First Amendment Moot Court Competition”.
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PBS News Hour Extra
The PBS News Hour Extra website is an extension of the daily PBS News Hour program. It
includes a series of lesson plans based on the program’s news stories, including a number of
government and citizenship related lessons.
A sample of these lesson titles includes: “Constitutional Amendments and Same‐Sex Marriage”,
“What Makes Someone a Bystander”, and “The State of the Union Address”. In addition, the
“News for Students and Teachers” provides additional material for grades 7‐12, including daily
and archived videos.
PBS Learning Media
PBS Learning Media provides an abundance of material that can be searched by topic and grade
level including lessons related to civics/government and history. Additionally, the site provides
access to video clips that have been archived as well as current events videos. Since the site
includes materials on all disciplines, it may prove especially useful to teachers planning
interdisciplinary lessons and to elementary teachers who use social studies content in
connection with literacy skill lessons. Teachers need to create an account (free) and then can
log into the account to access materials.
Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote is a non‐profit, non‐partisan organization established to educate and register
young Americans and encourage them to vote. The organization uses pop culture, politics and
technology to mobilize young citizens to vote, protect voting rights and advocate for voting
systems that work in today’s United States. The site includes a variety of short videos by
popular recording artists and other young people. The site provides election information on a
number of topics such as voter registration deadlines and absentee voting and information on
Rock the Vote in the news.
Street Law
Street Law is a not for profit organization committed to engaging students around issues of law,
democracy and human rights. They develop curricula for use with students and professional
development programs for teachers. They publish Street Law: A Course in Practical Law, a
textbook used in many classrooms. They provide a wide variety of programs to help young
people gain a better understanding of law related topics. In addition, the site includes a listing
and description of many free, useable lesson activities. The “Deliberation” series engages
students in discussion around topics such as “Freedom of Expression: Should our Democracy
Permit Hate Speech?” and “Direct Democracy: Should our Democracy Allow National
Referendums?”
The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center at the Ronald Reagan
Foundation
The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center at the Ronald Reagan
Foundation has developed the first in a series of lesson units, a ten lesson unit on civics and
citizenship for high school students.
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Unit topics include: Rights and Limits, Roles and Responsibilities, Civil Disobedience, Private vs.
Public Character, Civic Dispositions, Civic Participation, as well as preparation and presentation
of a project. The lessons use a variety of primary source material and are based on the UBD
model. Primary source document analysis sheets are included.
TeachingAmericanHistory.org
The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University provides training to teachers of American history
and government. Ashbrook’s TeachingAmericanHistory.org website offers teachers, at no cost,
an extensive and growing library of primary source documents (currently near 2,500
documents) related to American history and government.
The website also contains special exhibits on the Constitutional Convention, Ratification
Debates, and Bill of Rights, designed in conjunction with a leading scholar, to assist teachers in
teaching these materials in a way that interests and engages their students. At
TeachingAmericanHistory.org, teachers can also learn about and register for the free
professional development opportunities Ashbrook offers.
Teaching Civics
Teaching Civics is focused on supporting educators with a growing repository of relevant
material that brings the subject of civics and government to life. The website provides civic
education and law‐related education materials that assist teachers in creating engaging lessons
for their students. The lessons are designed for elementary, middle, and high school
classrooms and include simulations, discussions, mock trials, case studies and other research
based materials.
The website contains hundreds of lessons that teachers can filter by teaching strategy, grade
level, teaching standard or lesson topic. In addition, the website provides a list of many
professional development workshops and programs to help teachers learn new content and
keep current on law related topics. This will be a very useful site for any social studies teacher.
Text, Talk, Vote!
Text, Talk, Vote! is an interesting platform to encourage civil discourse and youth voting
conversations. It encourages small groups to discuss suggested topics and then register their
conclusions with a “vote,” via texting, on a national platform. Text, Talk, Vote was developed as
a partnership between New Hampshire Listens, Everyday Democracy, and the National Institute
for Civil Discourse, based on a similar platform (Text, Talk, Act) developed by Creating
Community Solutions.
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives houses a vast collection of primary sources related to our nation’s history
and government, much of this material has been digitized, is available free online and can serve
as the basis for countless lessons for social studies teachers. In addition, their DocsTeach.org
section includes lessons that utilize primary sources to inform students about a topic and ask
them to make judgements related to the material.
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Some civics related topics include Separation of Powers or Shared Powers, Immigration, To
What Extent Was Reconstruction a Revolution, Assimilation of American Indians, Documenting
Key Presidential Decisions, Congress in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, Extending Suffrage to
Women and Lowering the Voting Age.
Free distance learning programs are available for elementary and high school students about
the Constitution, presidential powers and more. The website also provides information on
National History Day resources for teachers and students, professional development webinars
for educators and information about education programs at presidential libraries and events
and public programs at regional NARA sites.
National Conference of State Legislators
The National Conference of State Legislators provides news, current events, information, and
nonpartisan analysis to support state legislatures. It also includes bipartisan case studies facing
state governments. NCSL provides access to pending and enacted state legislation through 50‐
state searchable databases covering a variety of issues.
Through NCSL, educators and students can find current legislation, with bill status and other bill
information, in the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and nationally in Congress. In addition, NCSL has
developed a variety of specialized legislative and statutory analyses on issues important to state
legislatures.
This site provides a wealth of information about the organization and composition of the
legislatures in all 50 states. It also includes a video and information about serving as a state
legislator or staff person. This site will provide a wealth of information for any social studies
teacher planning a unit on state government.
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center provides this website where Constitutional experts interact
with each other to explore the Constitution’s history and what it means today. For each
provision of the Constitution, scholars of different perspectives discuss what they agree upon,
and what they disagree about.
The site includes a variety of lesson plans for all grades including topics such as Born in the USA:
Music as Political Protest, Bill of Rights, Citizenship and Character: Moderation, Creating a
Modern Day Propaganda Poster, Debate It!, and Prohibition Era Dinner Party. In addition there
are a number of civics related games, activities and videos.
A number of important documents are included – some as primary sources such as the 13th
Amendment (Handwritten Congressional Copy) and the Emancipation Proclamation (Leland‐
Boker Edition from 1864 signed by President Lincoln). Some of the documents are typed in
modern text and some are translated into a variety of languages.
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Also included are biographies of the founding fathers by state and a Marketplace of Student
Ideas where high school students can debate important issues on a webcast. This side provides
a great deal of useful materials and information.
Tufts University Center for Information on Civic Learning and Engagement (Circle)
Circle conducts research and publishes findings on youth engagement in the U. S. The website
includes a variety of interesting material including statistics and trends on youth involvement,
especially voting.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services – Citizenship Resources Center
The U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website is designed to provide information to
those wishing to check their immigration status and apply for citizenship. However, this
website also includes valuable information for social studies educators. It includes the 100
Civics Questions (study guide with answers), the basis for the naturalization test potential
citizens must pass.
It also includes lesson plans for teachers, in beginner and intermediate levels, including such
topics as You and Your Government, Bill of Rights and Other Amendments, Fighting for Our
Rights, U.S. Constitution, Early America, and Establishing Independence.
United States Courts
The US Courts website provides links to very interesting and useable information and materials
for educators. Amendment activities allow students to apply landmark Supreme Court cases to
contemporary scenarios. A number of scenarios are provided for rights guaranteed in the first,
fourth, fifth and sixth amendments.
In addition, under the Supreme Court Landmarks section, students participate in interactive
landmark Supreme Court cases that have shaped history and that have an impact on citizens
today. There are also interactive outreach activities prepared for high school teachers and
students including “Unique Niche: Courts, Judges, and Teen Issues”, “Local Court Involvement”
where federal judges across the nation host in‐court events and programs, and “Open Doors to
Federal Courts”, an annual in‐court event presided over by host judges that involve students in
realistic legal dilemmas, coached by volunteer attorneys.
There is also a wide variety of information provided on a range of court related topics that will
be useful to teachers and students. This site provides access to engaging activities for high
school students.
U. S. Government Printing Office
The U. S. Government Printing Office, , is designed to inform students, parents and educators
about the Federal Government. The site is provides basic information about government
written in age appropriate language for students ages 4‐8, 9‐13, and 14+.
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Youth Leadership Initiative
The Youth Leadership Initiative from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, develops free
education resources for civics teachers with the goal of encouraging students to participate in
the political process. The center provides a complete teacher‐developed curriculum of lesson
plans at a variety of grade levels. The mock election program allows students to vote online for
real candidates. The E‐Congress program is an interactive online legislative simulation.
Democracy Corps is a complete service learning program. A More Perfect Union is a political
campaign simulation. Teachers need to register (free) for this site to access all material.
NOTE: Everyday Democracy and its consultant do not take any position on, nor shall be held
responsible for, the lack of accuracy, partiality, intent or agenda, or credibility of the content
and the organizations, institutions, websites, etc. included in this resource list. Teachers should
use their own judgment when accessing and using materials and resources from these
organizations/institutions and their sites.
This resource list, developed by Mr. Daniel Coughlin, was commissioned by Everyday Democracy and made possible
through a planning grant from Connecticut Humanities.
© Everyday Democracy, October 2015.