809 government-civics-us results | sort by:

Socratic Smackdown - Institute of Play
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): debate (46)
In the Classroom
Use Socratic Smackdown for students to debate and discuss current events, themes in literature, or historic events. Use Socratic Smackdown with your school's debate team. After your "Smackdown," have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Share Socratic Smackdown with teachers at your site.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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The Digital Declaration of Independence - David McClure
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): american revolution (85), declaration of independence (13), franklin (11), jefferson (20)
In the Classroom
Challenge students to find other paintings depicting famous events in United States (or another country). Have cooperative learning groups create a multimedia presentation about the paintings. Create fictitious blog entries from one character in a painting to another character within another painting at another famous event. What would John F. Kennedy write to Benjamin Franklin? Assign students different roles, i.e. founding fathers, and have them use the biographies on this site to allow them to research what their role was and what their beliefs were for a debate as to whether or not to sign the Declaration of Independence.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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edX - Anant Agarwal
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): aeronautics (14), architecture (85), china (63), circuits (23), civil rights (119), computers (102), electricity (92), engineering (129), environment (325), evolution (102), folktales (55), greeks (33), magnetism (38), medicine (70), nutrition (159), poetry (219), psychology (66), religions (68), shakespeare (110), solar energy (39), speech (89), statistics (127), terrorism (46)
In the Classroom
Share with students on your interactive whiteboard and take the demo course together. This is perfect for use with gifted and advanced students as an option for college level courses and enrichment. Allow gifted students to enroll in courses that interest them or that provide enrichment beyond classroom content. Share with others, in your building, as a resource for professional development. Explore the topics yourself for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Help Lincoln Get to the White House - National Park Service
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): elections (73), lincoln (84), presidents (123)
In the Classroom
Have students brainstorm ideas to create a book about Lincoln's life. Use and online bulletin board like Dotstorming, < a href="/single.cfm?id=16997">reviewed here. With Dotstorming students are allowed to vote and make comments. Then challenge younger students create an online book of images and captions about Lincoln's life using Book Creator, reviewed here,. For older students - challenge cooperative learning groups (or partners) to create a similar story about another president using pictures, themes, and other prompts generated by the site StoryBird, reviewed here. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Compfight, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smart Voter - League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): elections (73)
In the Classroom
Include Smart Voter as part of any election unit. Have students research candidate information and compare and contrast points of view. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, to present information about candidates or ballot topics.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Latino Vote Map - Latino Decisions
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): elections (73), electoral college (15), hispanic (17)
In the Classroom
Although the Latino Vote Map specifically looks at the 2012 election, it is still useful as a tool for teaching any election unit. Show the map on an interactive whiteboard or projector and discuss changes based on moving the sliders. Have students predict what will happen before moving the sliders. Challenge students to create a timeline using History in Motion,Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Branches of Power - Annenberg Classroom
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): bill of rights (28), branches of government (49), constitution (88), game based learning (139), supreme court (24)
In the Classroom
Use the Sunnylands Civics Games to introduce Constitution-related topics to your class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. View videos together and pause as needed to discuss information. Challenge students to try the interactive activities on individual computers or at home. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about Americans described in the games. Have students create timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Capzles, reviewed here, to trace the path of a bill or the writing of the Constitution.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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JFK Assassination Timeline - Washington Post
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): kennedy (25), presidents (123)
In the Classroom
This site is ideal for an interactive whiteboard or projector. Open the site and view together as a class during a study of the presidents or elections. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast presidential security for JFK to today's president. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here. Have them create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook from the perspective of John Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, or a Secret Service agent documenting the day's events.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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3D City - loth/ Micropolis JS
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): communities (37)
In the Classroom
This simulation would fit well in a unit on how communities work or basic governmental principles. Share this simulation on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) with student operators to figure out how the tools work. For a smooth introduction, have a small group of your "techie" students figure out what the tools do and explain them to the rest of the class. Then challenge student partners or groups of three to discover how to build a successful city. Have them take screen shots of their city's successes (and failures) and post them on a class wiki or in a blog post explaining what a successful city needs and why. Then have them find local news articles about a real world example of the same issues, such as a debate over a proposed industrial zone or new taxes, and share the link as part of their wiki or blog post. Note that github, the software sharing site where this game is hosted, may be blocked in some schools, so test before you plan to use this in a classroom!! If you teach computer coding, this is a great game for your students to try as inspiration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Migrant Trail - Marco Williams
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): critical thinking (120), immigrants (22), immigration (60), migration (58), problem solving (294), reading comprehension (123)
In the Classroom
Introduce this interactive to students on a projector or interactive whiteboard. You may want to start out as a border patrol officer so students will understand the underlying humanitarianism in this job. The officers in this interactive are empathetic and concerned about the health of the migrants. Have students explore individually or in pairs the different migrants, their history, and decisions they have to make while crossing the desert. Be sure to supply earbuds/headphones or have students silence the audio on the computers. There are short biographies of the migrants. Pair weaker readers with stronger readers as necessary. The Migrant Trail is an excellent way to make students think about and discuss a real-world issue in a government class. In an economy class, talk about the role of public policy in citizenship and the financial matters that drive the migrants.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Know More - The Washington Post
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): infographics (51), writing prompts (93)
In the Classroom
Share this site as a link on your class web page to inspire students in search of a blog topic, a research topic, or current events stories they can "relate to." Share one of the infographics on a projector or interactive whiteboard to give students practice interpreting visual representations of data or to spark discussion about current events. If you assign students to share current events stories, they will love this as a starting point for their investigations. Challenge your gifted students to dig deeper into a topic that fascinates them and share the results as their own infographic using these as a model. Share this site in math classes to make data and statistics more meaningful and to connect to the "real world." Use a Know More infographic as a writing prompt for persuasive writing. Use these visuals to lure students into experience with informational texts by letting them choose one from the widely varied offerings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Retronaut via Mashable - Timescape
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1700s (29), 1800s (48), 1900s (36), 20th century (50), advertising (33), cultures (109), images (277), maps (298), medicine (70), politics (97), transportation (43)
In the Classroom
Share Retronaut via Mashable with students to explore images from a given time or relating to any historic topic to get an interesting perspective not typically seen in textbooks. Create capsules using images to share for any classroom project or allow students to create their own in conjunction with classroom presentations. Use Wellcome Images, reviewed here, with over 100,000 historical images if you do not find what you want on Retronaut. Galleries are not moderated, so check before sharing on your interactive whiteboard or projector. You can always use the URL of the topic you wish to share on a new tab of your web browser.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Create Your Visited States Map - Jeremy Nixon
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): maps (298), north america (19), states (165)
In the Classroom
Creating this would make an interesting map to create as a class project when learning about the 50 states. Go through the states list on your interactive whiteboard and create your class map to print or share as a digital image on your class website. Do a map as a class to see which states MOST students have visited. If you feel students may be embarrassed at their lack of travel, this may be better done on individual computers or on a personal response form given to you to input privately. For a whole class activity, divide your class into groups to create separate maps. Compare and contrast states visited. Send home a link to the website for students to create a map with their families. For older students, use the map for content and reassign colors as needed. For example, create a map showing the birthplace of U.S. Presidents: assign red to states without a president, yellow with one president, and green with two or more. This same format could be used in nearly any subject while studying differences in states (democrat or republican, most popular agriculture product, how many - if any - NFL teams, teen pregnancy rate, and much more).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Our Nation's Leaders - Minnesota State University
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): presidents (123)
In the Classroom
Use this site to introduce a specific president. Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Use this tool for research projects. There are several short paragraphs devoted to each President, and they would be perfect to teach how to take notes or summary writing. Have your class write a proposed piece about the current President and have the class vote on the best one.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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100 Years of Parcel Post - Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): transportation (43)
In the Classroom
The ability to mail packages across the country is an important factor in the growth of the US and has contributed to an ever-more-mobile society. Incorporate some of the historic images here into a discussion of changes in transportation and communication over the 20th and early 21st centuries. Ask students to brainstorm the items in their own bedrooms that might have arrived via Parcel Post. How would their lives be different without package delivery? Why is it important for the US Government to be involved in package delivery? Have students share their findings and thoughts by creating online posters individually or together as a class. Use a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CurriConnects Book List - 20th Century America, Part 2 (1945-2000) - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): 20th century (50), book lists (131), independent reading (128), kennedy (25), vietnam (34)
In the Classroom
Make the 1950s and beyond come alive during your unit on American History. Have students choose a book from this list and present their impressions from it in the form of a blog post from the times. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Pen.io, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration! Have students interview parents about different times that they learn about. Have students include the interview in the blogs. Collect the links to all the student posts on your class web page for students to browse and gather a "human" experience of history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History on the Net - Heather Wheeler
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): african american (109), aztecs (9), battles (20), black history (56), britain (35), civil rights (119), cold war (30), egypt (67), elizabethan (16), greeks (33), mayans (14), myths and legends (26), native americans (78), olympics (51), romans (35), victorian (21), vikings (10), worksheets (63), world war 1 (55), world war 2 (142)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and use it as a center. Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. This site is a perfect addition to use with President's Day activities, when learning about the Olympics, or as part of a Black History Month lesson. Be sure to include this site on your class web page for students to access both in and outside of class. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here, or Venngage, reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president, a passenger on the Titanic, a famous scientist, or another person learned about on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SlideRule - Parul Gupta and Gautam Tambay
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): professional development (164), search engines (62)
In the Classroom
Share SlideRule with your gifted students as a resource for finding enrichment resources or content not taught by your school. Search for and share free courses for all students to use for review of any topic. Use the SlideRule search engine to find professional development courses for your own personal use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Learn the Address - Ken Burns
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): civil war (144), gettysburg address (18), lincoln (84), slavery (67)
In the Classroom
View a different video daily as part of your class warm up activities. Start with the Old Sturbridge Village to convey the setting and set the tone. Record your class reciting the Gettysburg Address and upload to the site. Encourage others to share their video. Make this part of a class community service project, encourage students to find community members to record a video or go to nursing homes and hospitals to get recordings from patients. While learning the Gettysburg Address have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here, Tagxedo, reviewed here, or WordItOut, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flackcheck - Annenberg Classroom
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): advertising (33), elections (73), politics (97)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Ask your students to visit the site and create a multimedia presentation with the information they learn. Take advantage of the free lesson plan to include with your election unit. This site is excellent for enrichment. Post a link to FlackCheck on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Have students use StepUp.io, reviewed here, to grab other examples of patterns of deception from online video sources such as YouTube or Dailymotion quickly and easily. Have students create a word cloud of commonly used deceptive words using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here, or WordItOut, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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