Educator Resources Educator Resources

60-Second Civics is a daily podcast that provides a quick and convenient way for listeners to learn about our nation’s government, the Constitution, and our history. The podcast explores themes related to civics and government, the constitutional issues behind the headlines, and the people and ideas that formed our nation’s history and government. The daily podcast is accompanied by a quiz question.

Students are introduced to the 9/11 attacks and learn that the nation’s response created tension between the need for security and America’s tradition of liberty. They are then introduced to the Declaration of Independence and Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and learn that these documents describe fundamental values and principles that characterize the American political culture.

The War of 1812 is often referred to our country’s second war of independence. As a young nation, the United States’ economy, territory, and rights of individual citizens were again threatened by the British. A Sailor’s Life for Me! presents life at sea during the War of 1812 for those serving aboard USS Constitution, one of the few naval vessels in America’s young navy, and now a national symbol, through interactive games, primary sources, and Museum resources.

This video playlist is part of the New-York Historical Society’s Academy for American Democracy, a new educational initiative focusing on history and civics education for the sixth grade students.

This lesson introduces children to different ways young people have used the internet to work toward positive social change.

This resource set contains best practices for teaching about Native people in your classroom and sample maps with Native viewpoints and inquiry questions to use in your classroom.

Do Americans have shared ideals? What do they look like?​ Students investigate this question by closely examining words that express American ideals, selecting images from a provided deck that best illustrate their interpretation of the word, and them comparing their choices to others in their group.

What does it mean to be a good citizen? Students investigate this question by looking at the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance, which foreign-born people must take to become naturalized American citizens, and thinking deeply about what are or should be crucial requirements of citizenship. This lesson guides students to closely examine information, to ask probing questions, and to take part in complex discussions with classmates.

What would you do to support what you believe in? Through an interactive and movement-based activity, students investigate this question and examine how in many instances there are no black-or-white answers.

What does the right to vote mean to you? Through an interactive and movement-based activity, students investigate this question and examine how in many instances there are no black or white answers.

This lesson focuses on analyzing the style and substance of campaigns in both free media, such as the news and televised debates, and paid media, such as TV commercials.

Students learn about the duties and powers of the three branches of government, the amendment process, and the role of the Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

In 1898, the U.S. officially annexed Hawaii—but did Hawaiians support this? In this lesson, students read two newspaper articles, both hosted on the website Chronicling America, which make very different arguments about Hawaiians’ support for—or opposition to—annexation. Students focus on sourcing as they investigate the motivations and perspectives of both papers and why they make very different claims.

Argue real Supreme Court cases, and put your lawyering skills to the test.

Students explore the connection between art and activism by analyzing a painting about the Gold Rush from the Autry Museum. Students are also invited to participate in activism by creating their own painting.

Explore the National Constitution Center’s Article I: How Congress Works module for everything you need to know about Article I of the Constitution!

Explore the roles of Article II: The Executive Branch as outlined in the Constitution.

Explore Article III of the Constitution and learn about the roles of the Judicial Branch!

Do you want to change the Constitution? Explore the amendment process outlined in Article V of the Constitution!

Children often lack knowledge and skills necessary to interact with each other, especially when confronted with differences in mobility, hearing, sight, developmental skills or verbal skills.

Students will answer the question “How can you make change in your community?” during this activity.

 In this lesson, students consider the impact of the poll tax as a barrier to voting by examining four primary sources.

What really happened at the Battle of Lexington? In this lesson, students practice sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization as they weigh competing accounts of who fired the first shots of the Revolutionary War.

In the decades following the Civil War, the US military clashed with Native Americans in the West. The Battle of Little Bighorn was one of the Native Americans’ most famous victories. In this lesson, students explore causes of the battle by comparing two primary documents with a textbook account.

This resource probes some of the complex issues arising from the history of Japanese incarceration during World War II and invites students to explore difficult questions about national identity, institutional racism, and the boundaries of US citizenship.

Maps, truth, and belief have a complicated relationship with one another. Every map is a representation of reality, and every representation, no matter how accurate and honest, involves simplification, symbolization, and selective attention.

Go on a virtual field trip to the Museum of the American Revolution with Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived… books! You’ll go behind the scenes to meet a museum curator and a museum educator, to examine real and replica artifacts, and to learn stories of real people – including kids and teens – who lived during this dynamic time. This program is presented in partnership with Scholastic, Inc.

Do you like running things? Branches of Power lets you do something that no one else can: control all three branches of the U.S. government.

This lesson is designed to help students develop the skills and understanding to engage in civic dialogue across differences. Students will practice empathy through telling each other’s stories.

This collection of historical biographies tells the story of civic leaders through the lens of the DKP’s 10 Questions for Changemakers.

The Checkology virtual classroom is a free browser-based e-learning platform with 14 interactive news literacy lessons led by subject matter experts. Checkology also includes dozens of challenges and exercises to extend student learning, a verification training center to teach students how to fact-check like the pros and a journalist directory to connect classroom teachers with journalist volunteers for classroom visits.

Lewis Hine shot hundreds of photographs that exposed the working conditions facing thousands of child laborers in the first two decades of the twentieth century. His powerful images shed light on a world largely hidden from most middle-class Americans and influenced public debate about child labor laws. This lesson asks students to think critically about Hine’s photographs and their usefulness as evidence of the past.

This lesson asks students to investigate the connections between constitutional principles, the United States founding documents, and their relationship to one another.

Students will discuss the importance of Civil Discourse and discuss challenging contemporary issues.

This lesson looks at the intersection between constitutional principles and the struggle for equality during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Students will explore how the relationship between the expansion of slavery and sectional debates about the nature of the Union. In doing so they will examine the overlap between historical events and constitutional principles.

Students will examine arguments concerning the role of the government during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Civil liberties are the basic individual rights of all citizens, as expressed in the Constitution and (especially) the Bill of Rights, and reinforced by the 14th Amendment.

A curated collection of documents, documents-based resources and programs, lesson plans, and discussion questions related to the Civil Rights Movements of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Intended for teachers who are eager to get started using original documents, but are unsure of where to start.

Uncover the tools to hold constitutional conversations and civil dialogue.

Comic books are visual literature. This simple cooperative group activity allows students to identify confrontational issues within their own school and then imagine solutions.

Learn about local government by playing a county official responding to citizen requests.

This deliberation guide focuses on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, encouraging students to examine the choices the Californio Indigenous people faced in June 1849 as they determined how they would approach, or avoid, a future as American citizens.