Civics Links
Visit these resources to learn more about civics on a national level, and how you can further you understanding of history, government, and citizenship.
Annenberg Classrom
Description
Annenberg Classroom connects an award-winning, comprehensive curriculum on the Constitution and its amendments to daily news and student discussion. It central service, Speak Outs, connects news articles to Annenberg's varous resources, which include a Constitution Guide, videos, timelines, games and interactives, books, and lesson plans.
Features
Speak Outs; Constitution Guide; Videos from basic Constitutional concepts and famouse Supreme Court cases to voting rights and executive power; Timelines examine specific Constitutional amendments and American issues; Flash-based games integrate interactive documents with descriptive videos; Lesson plans suited for middle and high schools.
Ages
12 to 18 years
Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
Description
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids is a service of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) for K-12 students, parents, and teachers.
Features
Learning tools that teach how our government works, the use of the primary source materials of GPO Access, and how one can use GPO Access to carry out their civic responsibilities.
Ages
5 to 18 years
Congress for Kids
Description
Offered by the Dirksen Congressional Center, Congress for Kids provides information pertaining to the history, structure, and functions of federal government.
Features
"Show What You Know" links offer a quiz to test students' recently gained knowledge, with questions varying from multiple-choice to short answer; "Surf with Uncle Sam" links, books, questions, project ideas, a word matching quiz to enable further investigation.
Ages
8 to 14 years
iCivics
Description
iCivics is a web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy. iCivics is the vision of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is concerned that students are not getting the information and tools they need for civic participation, and that civics teachers need better materials and support.
Features
Flash-based interactive games are easily comprehended for children as young as twelve with accounts to track their progress, earn achievements for meeting certain milestones, and a certificate of completion; Webquest slides on single topics have a short paragraph, illustration and link; Lesson plans.
Ages
12 to 14 years
ThisNation.com
Description
ThisNation.com is a repository of basic information, resources and historical documents related to American Government and Politics.
Features
American government and politics textbook which is analytical in nature, occassionally biased (or at least contentious) in opinion, and meant for older students capable of introspection and subjective inquiry; Library of texts, ranging from crucial American documents and Supreme Court decisions, to patriotic song lyrics and impactful cultural essays; Multimedia section contains images of people, places, and events related to American politics and culture.
Ages
14 to 18 years