Category: Educator Blog

iCivics Launches Animated Music Video Series with Nickelodeon

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

iCivics is thrilled to announce its partnership with Nickelodeon and ATTN: to bring children ages 2–11 a brand new animated music video series that helps them learn about how to be a part of a stronger democracy.

Well Versed hits all the right notes as it teaches civic concepts to the youngest generation in fun and imaginative ways through original pop songs. The 12-video series explores topics such as the functions of government, how laws are made, and how to be of service to the community. iCivics helped design the series and created viewing guides that support learning in the classroom or at home with short activities and conversation starters.

View the Series

Joining us to unveil the series on National Civics Day were First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden and Former First Lady of the United States Laura Bush. Speaking to a crowd of students in Philadelphia, Dr. Biden shared, “…learn everything you can about the things you love, the things that make you curious, but also take time to learn your rights as a citizen.”

First Lady Bush added via recorded video: “We believe that we need to inspire public trust, promote service, encourage civility, tolerance, and compassion among Americans. But it’s especially important that we teach our children how to be engaged citizens.”

Said Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount Global, “Our goal is for these videos to be played in classrooms and homes across the nation in order to help address the enormous gaps in civic literacy today.” Check out these stories on NPR and CBS News to learn more.

Civic education, like reading or math, should start young, and these videos and learning materials can make government more relevant, interesting—and fun—for our youngest learners.

In addition to iCivics, the videos are also available across all Nickelodeon Platforms, Paramount+ and Noggin now.

Dive into Primary Sources & Inquiry-based Learning with Three New DBQuests

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Are you looking for ways to incorporate primary source analysis into your lessons without spending hours preparing? 

Unlock the power of inquiry-based learning with our three new DBQuests! Each DBQuest asks students a big question which acts as a guiding light for in-depth analysis of three multimedia primary resources. With step-by-step guidance from a virtual writing assistant, students will gather evidence, check sources, analyze what they mean, and write responses to important questions.

Explore Our Three Newest DBQuests

Non-Voting Delegates in Congress

Today there are six non-voting members of Congress representing American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In this DBQuest, students will explore the duties and limitations of non-voting members from the perspective of the members themselves.

Policy, Public Interest, and… Margarine?

This DBQuest invites students to take a closer look at how the public can inform and impact public policy over time. Students will review and analyze primary sources from 1900–1949 to discover how legislation can change and the role of public opinion in these changes. It’s a DBQuest with extra butter (or margarine) on top! 

Kids Making a Difference

Hear as kids from three different times in history share, in their own words, how they helped their communities and country tackle the issue of food insecurity in times of war and peace. In this DBQuest, students will use evidence from primary sources to support analysis, answer questions, and describe how young people have made a difference in their communities throughout U.S. history. 

iCivics has your back all year long

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Is the new school year truly upon us? How are you feeling about it?

We’re sure you have mixed feelings.

At iCivics, we are filled with anticipation and excitement. There are so many new resources debuting this fall—including a new game and video series—and we can’t wait to share them with you!

We recognize you might not be feeling that same energy, or maybe yours comes with a bit of trepidation. Teaching is a tough job, and you’re on the frontlines of some of the biggest challenges facing our country. But without fail, you continue to show up to support your students. And we are by your side. 

You can rely on iCivics to create engaging, trustworthy, and useful materials that are accessible and scalable. We remain committed to providing you with the highest quality, nonpartisan civic education resources and programs.

Here are a couple of places to start:

  • Scope & Sequence
    This document is a handy reference all year long as you plan lessons. It lists all of our non-partisan resources in one place so you can quickly find the perfect match for your learning objectives. Our comprehensive units can be used as-is or you can select individual items to supplement existing materials. 
Elementary
Middle School
High School
  • Free Webinar
    Join us for an information-packed webinar that will energize you for the year ahead. You’ll come away with great ideas for incorporating iCivics’ other resources into your lessons and have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues and the iCivics team.
Elementary Webinar
Middle School & High School Webinar

We admire you, we support you, and we’re cheering you on! We hope this year is filled with inspiration and growth.

DBQuests: Adventures in ELA

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

It is a universally known truth that teachers are some of the only people who live for the questions. Well, us and whoever hosts Jeopardy. But while living for the questions, we sometimes struggle with which questions to ask and about what we should be questioning. We worry about time for authentic student agency because research shows that students learn best when they are actively engaged in their learning, and practice shows that students are more engaged when the content is relevant or valuable to them.

A few years ago, as a classroom teacher, I happily spent Sunday afternoons fueled by coffee, researching and creating engaging lessons. In fact, my classroom was designed for engagement and activity. As an ELA (and former social sciences) teacher, it was extremely important to include materials that connected my students to the setting and context of the literature. ELA is designed to be inclusive in that way. Yet, by the time I found relevant resources, created the teaching materials, scaffolded the activities, and wrote the lesson plans, the coffee pot would be empty and the street lights would be on. Every Sunday, same routine. It is the weekend routine of many educators. Imagine the time and coffees saved had I known about DBQuests by iCivics.

ELA teachers rejoice! There is a place where historically relevant content exists in ready-to-use lessons. iCivics DBQuests are free online digital activities that teach history and civics by using primary source documents and evidence-based learning. Each lesson allows students to interact with several primary sources to answer guided questions and craft written responses. Students respond to questions about the text. They examine the text for supporting details and evidence BEFORE creating an analysis in response to a Big Question that links each of the primary sources together. At the end of the lesson, the students will have a written analysis. There is no wandering around a wide-open web visiting shady sites or getting lost en route to the lesson’s materials. With DBQuests, everything is in house and on the house.

The versatility had me giddy. With so much emphasis on improving student writing and increasing engagement, DBQuests are the perfect interactive digital writing tools to support educators in their quest for student mastery. Whether your class is 1:1 or you’re sharing tech, these innovative and intentional inquiries into history and civics are game changers. But that’s not all. Imagine using DBQuests in a cross-curricular collaboration with your fellow history or civics teacher. You’re getting ready to begin a unit teaching Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals. The memoir details Beals’ experiences as one of the “Little Rock Nine.” You want to adequately dig in and cover the topics and themes of the book, but time, right? Well, iCivics DBQuest Little Rock: Executive Order 10730 would be a perfect addition. It introduces students to the historical context of desegregation and why Executive Order 10730 was used by President Eisenhower. Teach middle school? Then try Clean Getaway by Nic Stone, one of my favorite new bildungsromans about Scoob, a young boy experiencing the inequalities and injustices of the past while road tripping through the South with his grandmother. Tie in the iCivics DBQuest, The Nashville Sit-Ins to provide students an opportunity to experience what life was like for Scoob’s grandparents. Then collaborate and synchronize with your fellow civics or history teachers for an impactful and memorable lesson. Imagine the possibilities! Talk about relevant and engaging! Excuse me while I go tell all my teacher friends about DBQuests by iCivics. But first, another coffee.

Written by Emeka Barclay

Emeka Barclay is a Curriculum Associate at iCivics where she helps create and cultivate curricular materials for educators and students. Prior to joining the iCivics team, Emeka taught secondary language arts and social sciences and worked as a technology and learning coach in Alabama. She then relocated to Florida where she was a dean of students. When not helping save the world, Emeka enjoys exploring the sites with her family and friends, searching for the perfect sip of coffee and nibble of cheese, and visiting public libraries.

Scope and Sequence for All Grade Levels are Here!

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Whether you enjoy finding opportunities within a well-structured sequence of resources or prefer looking around for pieces and bits that can be jigsawed together, our Scope & Sequence documents are a perfect reference point for jumpstarting your lesson planning for the upcoming school year.

Our Scope & Sequence documents—available for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms—list all of our resources in one place, broken up into curriculum units.

  • Our elementary Scope & Sequence organizes over 50 mystery lessons into units broken out by grade level and topic.
  • Our middle school Scope & Sequence organizes our 14 games and over 250 lesson plans into 21 units.
  • Our high school Scope & Sequence organizes our 14 games and over 100 lesson plans into 17 units.

Most of our resources stand alone and don’t require teaching another lesson first, so you can pick and choose what will work best for your students and the timing of your curriculum. 

For those who prefer a structured approach to planning, the resources within each unit have been organized in an order that seems most logical to the iCivics Curriculum Team.

Use the Scope & Sequence to help you plan your iCivics classroom experience!

Elementary
Middle School
High School

Infographics + Infografías = Visual Literacy for All!

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

A picture says a thousand words, and our infographics have a lot to say! So what, exactly, is an infographic? Well, “info” = information and “graphic” = visual representation, so it’s using visuals and graphics to present content in an easy-to-understand way. Infographics can be used to help all learners practice their visual literacy skills. iCivics has 19, which can be found in the Infographic Library. And, in honor of April’s National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month, we are excited to announce that we now have infografías (Spanish versions of all of them).

 

How do infographics help English and multilingual learners?

 

“The majority of my Spanish dominant students are English Language Learners full of fear, angst, and hope. When they enter school in the United States they are confronted with grade-level material in language unknown to them. The idea of having to look up every word in a dictionary to translate a grade-level article is overwhelming. Thankfully, iCivics now offers their Infographics in both English and Spanish. There is benefit to this for both English Language Learners and Dual Language Learners as they are able to make cross-linguistic connections between the two languages. This not only helps in comprehension, but in the acquisition of language.” Verónica E Schmidt-Gómez, MEd, GradCert Dual Language Ed, Dual Language Immersion Program DRT, Hillsborough County Public Schools. FL

“As Emerging Language Learners we always view our environment first through images. Viewing the illustrations helps us anchor the language context to the lesson we are mastering. Without the visuals, we don’t have a schema to build on.” Maria Sheldon, US History & Spanish Language Arts, Ortiz Middle School, NM

Infographics present language and content together in a comprehensible way which is great for ELs/MLs. The WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework provides a foundation for curriculum, instruction, and assessment for multilingual learners (grades K–12). The updated framework, which is centered on equity and student assets, now includes viewing and visually representing, and infographics are a great way to enhance visual literacy skills.

Each iCivics infographic has a Teacher’s Guide (available in English and Spanish) with all the information you need to use it in your classroom right away. We include an introduction to visual literacy skills, guiding questions, suggested activities, and relevant background knowledge and vocabulary. 

 

How can you deepen the learning?

 

Many of our infographics are thematically linked to iCivics video games or lesson plans so you can use them along with other materials in order to extend the lesson and dig deeper into learning. They are also a good springboard for inquiry-driving instruction. You can ask questions and have students use their visual literacy skills to respond. Here are some ideas:

In the U.S., multilingual learners (MLs) are one of the fastest growing student populations. These students bring cultural and linguistic diversity and we believe all learners should have the support and tools they need in order to participate in our democracy. In addition to our infographics, we also have built-in supports for all English learners in our games, extension packs, and more. Check out our collection of ELL resources for additional details: iCivics & ELL: Resources to Engage your Multiligual Classroom.

We are always adding new resources. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the know about new resources, products, and opportunities!

Written by Kristen Chapron

Kristen Chapron is Senior Editor of Digital Learning and ELL at iCivics. She has worked on all 19 infografías and looks forward to creating even more materials for English and multilingual learners.

This work supported by the National Defense Education Program (NDEP)

Annual Gameplay Giveaway is Open!

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Who’s ready to win iCivics swag? The Annual Gameplay Giveaway is open! Play any one of our 16 games and enter for your chance to win one of five exclusive prize packs from iCivics, Nearpod, and BrainPOP.

Entering is easy! All you have to do is:

  1. Play any iCivics game with your students between Monday, April 3 and Sunday, April 30, 2023
  2. Email the gameplay completion certificate. (Here is a quick tutorial on how to screenshot your Game Certificate.) You only need to submit one game certificate to enter.
  3. Complete the form with a short write-up of top takeaways and memorable moments during gameplay to complete your entry.

Winners will be chosen at random through an automated selection process and alerted via email no later than Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Prizes will be mailed to all winners by June 2, 2023. Prizes will be fulfilled by iCivics, Nearpod, and BrainPOP directly.

Each prize pack includes:

  • 1 iCivics tee
  • 1 Nearpod tee
  • 1 BrainPOP rubik’s cube
  • 1 pair of Nearpod socks
  • 1 Nearpod water bottle
  • 10 iCivics Guides to the U.S Constitution
  • 25 iCivics tote bags
  • 30 BrainPOP (Moby) stickers
  • 30 BrainPOP pencils
  • 50 iCivics pencils

Thank you to our partners at Nearpod and BrainPOP for their generous contributions to the Gameplay Giveaway.

New High School Executive Branch Lessons & Activities Added to Unit

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

The president is the most central figure within the U.S. government. What are the powers, purpose, and limitations of the presidency and the executive branch? Dive deeper into this role with our newly-updated Executive Branch Unit! Introduce high school students to the powers of the president, the function of the executive branch, and the president’s role in foreign policy with these new resources:

Lesson Plan: Why President?

Students examine why the Framers created the presidency and how it differed from other leaders around the world.

Lesson Plan: The Second Branch

Students take a deep dive into Article II of the Constitution to understand the structure and function of the executive branch.

Lesson Plan: Foreign Policy

Students learn what foreign policy is, as well as the role of the executive branch and the president in implementation.

Lesson Plan: The Modern President

Students explore how the role of the president has expanded and evolved since it was established.

WebQuest: What Can a First Spouse Do?

The president’s job is clearly defined, but what is the role of the First Spouse and how has it evolved over time? In this WebQuest, students learn how First Ladies have contributed to the leadership of the country.

Infographic: Order Up! Executive Orders

What the president says goes… or does it? This printable infographic explains what executive orders are, how they work, and what they can be used for, and how they are limited.

Looking for more resources for teaching about the presidency and the executive branch? Find all of our games, lesson plans, infographics, and other resources for middle and high school students in our Executive Branch curriculum unit!

Explore the Unit

Prepare for Presidents’ Day with our collection of resources.

Presidents’ Day is just a week away on February 20. Use our games, lesson plans, infographics, and other resources to teach about the important role the president plays in the U.S. government.

View the Collection

Now accepting new members for the 2023 iCivics Educator Network!

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

You don’t have to navigate the challenges of teaching alone. At iCivics, we are committed to building a supportive community for educators across the country. The iCivics Educator Network is one of the key ways we do that.

More than just a professional development network, the iCivics Educator Network is an energetic group of civics, history, government, and social studies teachers from almost every state in the nation who serve as champions and ambassadors for high-quality equitable civic education.

“The iCivics Educator Network not only helped me develop best practices for teaching civics and government but has allowed me to collaborate with educators from across the country who have become great friends.”

~ Michael M., Social Studies Teacher and iCivics Educator Network member

Benefits of joining the iCivics Educator Network:

  • A monthly email newsletter packed full of learning opportunities and resources
  • Monthly virtual Educator Network meetings where you’ll connect with other members and discuss pedagogy and teaching ideas
  • First access to behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at new iCivics resources, special events, pilots, and other opportunities
  • The chance to share your teaching experiences with national and local media
  • Collaboration with other teachers as part of a vibrant and supportive community

 

iCivics Releases Private i History Detectives, a Curriculum that Uses Inquiry to Teach History and Civics to K-5 Students

Posted on by Luke O'Connor

Private i History Detectives is iCivics’ first product made specifically for elementary students and fills a significant need for resources that teach the fundamentals of history and civics in K-5 classes. Product will be unveiled to teachers during a live webinar Nov. 1 for educators.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – October 25, 2022 – iCivics has released Private i History Detectives, a new curriculum for K-5 that taps into young learners’ natural curiosity and uses inquiry to teach the basic skills that students need to understand history and civics.

Private i History Detectives is a powerful new tool that elementary educators can now use to help their students build foundational historical and civic knowledge, as well as inquiry and critical thinking skills early in their education. This will ensure that students understand how history has and continues to shape our country’s institutions and our own roles as citizens as they continue through middle and high school and into adult life.

Born out of a collaboration between iCivics and History’s Mysteries, through the Library of Congress’s Teaching With Primary Sources (TPS) initiative, the curriculum challenges young learners to take on the role of history detectives. They must use primary sources and inquiry skills to answer “big questions,” such as “What does it mean to be a citizen?” It then guides them through age-appropriate discussions with teachers. The curriculum is easy to use and aligned with state standards.

Private i History Detectives is the first curriculum iCivics has developed specifically for the youngest learners, a segment of the learning population that is traditionally underserved when it comes to civics. Over the next few years, iCivics will continue to expand its K-5 resources.

“For civic education to be effective, we must approach the subject just like we approach STEM and literacy, teaching the fundamental skills starting in elementary school,” Taylor Davis, iCivics Director of Curriculum and Content, said. “Private i History Detectives, breaks historical inquiry skills into simple, easy to grasp concepts in a way that is fun and engaging so that we can meet young learners where they are.”

The full K-5 curriculum is now available for teachers to use, for free, on iCivics’ website.

“After working with many educators, it became clear to us that elementary teachers were hungry for quality, primary source based lessons that would excite and engage their students,” said Laurie Risler, Elementary Education Instructor at Westfield State University, and History’s Mysteries co-creator. “Private i History Detectives requires even the youngest students to think deeply and draw conclusions based on primary source evidence. In the role of history detectives, students do the work of historians as they answer questions using evidence from primary sources.”

Private i History Detectives will be officially unveiled at a launch webinar that is open to educators and school administrators on Nov. 1, 2022, at 7 P.M. EST. The webinar will feature Taylor Davis, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for iCivics, History’s Mysteries co-creators Kelley Brown and Laurie Risler, who are both educators, and Natacha Scott, Director of Educator Engagement at iCivics.

Watch the Webinar Recording