Gerrymandering is a complex and abstract topic, but it is extremely relevant if you’re learning about government and politics today. Thankfully, there are some great resources out there to help you teach gerrymandering, like Mapmaker: the Gerrymandering Game. Mapmaker: the Gerrymandering Game is great strategy game, and it’s based on the concepts involved in gerrymandering. […]
CNN10 is a great resource for teaching current events. If you watch one of the videos in your class, you’re probably going to want to have a quick discussion afterwards – so here’s a list of CNN10 discussion questions that you can use to get that going. Which story did you find the most interesting? […]
If you’re a civics or social studies teacher, then I don’t need to tell you how important it us to teach government and civics. But, unfortunately, kids can sometimes find it dry and boring. And so, as with all things teaching, you might find yourself thinking about how to teach government in a fun way. […]
This year, I was fortunate enough to have free delivery of the Wall Street Journal for my classes. I do love CNN10 and video current events, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to get free newspapers. I stacked them up neatly on my desk each day, and I gave students weekly homework assignments that […]
During last week’s workshop at the NJEA Convention, I modeled a lesson about a controversial issue: gun control. I needed a way to start the lesson off. Typically, I kick off Classroom Deliberations lessons with a Take-a-Stand Activity. But that works best with a binary issue. This topic is more multi-faceted. You can’t boil gun control down […]
A mock Congressional hearing is a form of experiential learning. It is a great summative activity for a social studies class that has learned about a controversial issue in public policy. This could be used in conjunction with current events, and it could also be used to assess student understanding of controversial issues in history. […]
Do you ever get tired of reading countless summaries of current events from your students? Chances are your students are tired of writing them, too. Maybe it’s time to rethink the traditional current event assignment and modernize it a little bit. Engaged citizens need to be aware of what’s going on around the world. This […]
Teaching current events is an important part of civics education. Students need to know what’s going on around the world to be engaged citizens. If you want to teach current events in class, CNN10 is a free online resource for doing so. If you’re unfamiliar with CNN10, you can read more about why it’s a […]
The “Take a Stand” activity is a method for teaching controversial issues. The idea is simple. You ask a controversial question, and students line up according to their opinion. This can be used as an introductory activity, as a formative assessment, or as a closure activity. The method is also sometimes called the “continuum” method […]
I’m not a huge fan of watching movies in class. As a general rule of thumb, I don’t think it’s a wise usage of time. That being said, there are plenty of movies that can be useful tools for teaching concepts in civics and government. If you’re teaching AP Government and Politics, it can help […]