Here’s a collection of some of the popular and important posts from around the site. If you’re new, start here and browse through them.
I’m a big fan of using essential questions and themes to organize my social studies class. If you’ve looked around this site, you probably know that already. If not, check out a few of these posts and then come back: Use Themes to Make Social Studies More Civics Oriented Civic Spotlight: Redesigning a Thematic World […]
Project Citizen is a textbook and curriculum designed to help you teach civics through project based learning. You can make it the centerpiece of your civics class or incorporate it as an extended project into a history class. If you’re not familiar with the program, you can read more about Project Citizen here. But today […]
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 […]
This week’s civic educator spotlight is about Jayson, an early career educator in California who is redesigning his world history curriculum in a thematic way. Do you have a story to tell? We’d love to hear it – so head over to the submission guidelines and drop me a line. I have loved history ever […]
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 […]
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 […]
It was way back in college when I first read Paulo Freire’s book, the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but one idea has stuck with me since then: the distinction between reading the word and reading the world. As an educational system today, what is our focus – the former or the latter? Paulo Freire and […]