Civics Resources

 Civics Time!

Many quality sources provide curricular materials that help teachers bring civics alive. This multi-disciplinary subject is more than the particulars of government: it also encompasses geography, economics, history, international relations, participatory skills, community interaction and involvement.

What So Proudly We Hail is a new, free website created by two teachers who use literature to teach civic skills, through questions such as “What does it mean to be an American?” and “For what are we willing to fight and to sacrifice?” Through primary and secondary sources, songs, art, videos, and question-based curriculum, the site has a range of ideas for teachers of all grade levels. 

DPI Social Studies consultant Kris McDaniel maintains a webpage on Wisconsin Resources such as the Wisconsin Digital Archives, the state government portal, the Wisconsin Blue Book, the State Cartographer, and more. She has also tagged websites as “civics” in her Diigo library.

Using primary sources in civics education is the topic of a 2005 article by Lee Ann Potter of the National Archives. Similar resources from the Library of Congress include Ten Tips for Facilitating an Effective Primary Source Analysis and the Primary Source Analysis Tool. McDaniel created a Wisconsin-specific Primary Source Toolkit, too.

Students who play the challenging civics-based games at http://www.iCivics.org earn points which can be used to help choose which real, community projects will receive quarterly $1,000 grants from the site. Envisioned by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as a broadly encompassing civics learning platform, iCivics.org lets teachers set up an online classroom to gauge what and how students are learning.