Curated OER
Welcome to My World
Elementary schoolers discuss what a community is, and what their community has to offer them. They create posters, or flyers for the different businesses or places in their community to place around their school. After the students have...
Curated OER
How Laws Are Made
Students create a graphic organizer to illustrate the steps elected representatives must take to make a new law. Included: Student work sheet and role-play ideas. Students use their graphic organizers to write a paragraph briefly...
Curated OER
Government
Perfect for a Christian or private school setting, this activity has learners use their Bible to help them identify the purpose of the government. They examine specific Bible verses then use them to define the government and the...
HISTORY Channel
The American Presidency Grades 7-9
As part of a study of the American Presidency, groups investigate five topics: Campaigns and Elections, Role and Responsibilities, Life in the White House, Assassination and Mourning, and Communicating the Presidency.
Carolina K-12
Advocacy 101
Want a change? Become an advocate. As part of a study of the responsibilities of good citizens, class members engage in a series of role plays that model how to lobby for change.
Annenberg Foundation
Making an Issue-Based Video
Encourage class members to become engaged citizens by researching an issue they are passionate about and then producing a video to present to policymakers, the public, and their peers. Everything needed for the unit is contained in...
Facebook
Online Presence
What happens when an online post gets the wrong kind of attention? Learners evaluate the good, the bad, and the occasionally ugly side of social media posting with a instructional activity from a vast digital citizenship series. After...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Walden and "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau
According to Henry David Thoreau, every citizen must object to unjust laws. The teacher's guide to Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" begins with a detailed essay synopsis to help readers understand Thoreau's rationale in the challenging...
Advocates for Youth
What Does Community Mean to Me?
Having a strong and supportive community is key for adolescent success. Teenagers explore the circles of their own communities, including the rights and responsibilities of being in their families, peer relationships, and their country,...
Good Project by Harvard Project Zero
The Good Project Lesson Plans
Excellence, ethics, and engagement are the three E's featured in a unit that promotes good work among elementary scholars. Through discussion, reflection, read-alouds, activity worksheets, and written responses, participants gain...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Role Playing Relating to Big Decisions
While most high schoolers are too young to vote, they still need to learn the skills needed to solve problems. The ninth resource in a 10-part civics series presents class members with four "What Would You Do?" scenarios that have them...
Anti-Defamation League
Teens, Tech, Connect: How Technology Impacts Teenagers' Friendships
To understand their time spent online, class members chart their use of technology during early morning hours, during school, after school, in the evenings, and on weekends. They then read several reports about how social media...
Curated OER
Free-Writing Exercise
Use the suggested question "What does it mean to be a citizen?" to prompt your writers. After they free-write for five minutes, have them trade papers with another classmate. For the next five minutes, class members respond to the new...
Curated OER
Participatory Citizenship
Learners explore U.S. politics by completing a class project. In this National policy lesson, students review and compare the National Service Act of 1990 and the Kennedy Service Act and the importance of service in the U.S.A. Learners...
Curated OER
Current Events
Here is an ongoing activity intended to build interest in local, national, and world news. The class is divided into four groups of approximately five students each. The groups are responsible for monitoring the daily news. They compose...
Curated OER
Getting Out the Vote: An Election Day Classroom Experiment
Students explore through a hands-on experiment why voting is important. They examine the potential impact of deciding not to vote. They they have the opportunity to vote in a mock presidential election if they choose to.
Curated OER
Living in a Digital World
What does it mean to be a good digital citizen? Is it the same as face-to-face communication? In small groups, learners discuss the differences between digital and non digital life, how they are different and what each environment can...
Curated OER
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution: The American Revolution
The contributions of African-Americans to the American Revolution are the focus of this Social Studies and language arts lesson. After reading and discussing Linda Crotta Brennan’s The Black Regiment of the American Revolution, class...
Facebook
Introduction to Privacy
Sharing may be caring, but how much is too much? Young digital citizens ponder personal information during a activity from a module about privacy and reputation. Individuals take a survey, then mingle with classmates in a privacy game...
DocsTeach
Comparing American and French Revolutionary Documents
This document or that? Historians compare crucial documents from both the American and French Revolution to gain a better understanding of the purpose and impact the documents had on each nation. Academics read excerpts from both...
Curated OER
Community Chain
Students examine the concept of rights and responsibilities of being citizens. In this citizenship lesson plan, students participate in a discussion of the responsibilities that are associated with the rights of citizenship. They make a...
Curated OER
Truth, Trash and Treasure
Students investigate how democracy in the United States makes civic virtue possible. They examine the rights and responsibilities associated with democracy. In small groups, they create public service posters that highlight these ideas.
Curated OER
Personal and Civic Responsibility
Students identify the civic responsbilities of those living in a constitutional democracy. In groups, they brainstorm a list of those characteristics of a good citizen. They participate in various scenerios to identify the...
Curated OER
Community Calendar
Students create a calendar about good citizenship. In this character building lesson, students work in groups to make a citizenship calendar to sell to others. They use the profits to improve their community.