iCivics Teachers,

Back in December, we asked you for feedback and comments on your iCivics experience to share with Justice O'Connor. 

Justice O'Connor was overwhelmed by your response! We received incredibly helpful insights into how we can improve the lesson plans, what you like (and don't like) about the games, and directions you might like to see iCivics explore. 

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (ret.) was born on this date, March 26th in 1930. She went on to become the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court! Today there are three women that hold the title ‘U.S. Supreme Court Justice’ - can you name all three*?

While discussing her new book, Out of Order, Justice O'Connor also spread the word about iCivics with help from the Morning Joe crew:

Ah President’s day. According to the federal government the holiday is meant to commemorate George Washington’s birthday. Yet the day has come to honor the office of the presidency, not just our first president. No surprise here, but we’re all about using digital resources to teach and get your students excited about civic knowledge. So we’ve picked out our favorites to help you celebrate our nation’s leaders in your classroom.

Video

Role play games -- such as mock trials, debates, and model legislatures -- are well-established ways to introduce students to important civic processes, to encourage critical thinking, and to target Common Core speaking and listening standards. They are specifically identified as a best practice in civic education by the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools. The problem is that they are difficult for teachers to prepare, administer, and grade.  As such, many teachers forego using these powerful learning tools.

The team here at iCivics is ecstatic to learn that our most ambitious project to date, Drafting Board, is more effective at teaching argumentative (persuasive) writing than traditional teaching approaches. According to CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Tufts University, Drafting Board had a "significant and positive effect on essay scores" for  students whose classes were randomly assigned to the tool compared with those who learned using existing methods.

With the launch of its 17^th online game, We The Jury, iCivics is bringing fun to jury duty.

Serving on a jury is one of the fundamental duties of American citizenship. Yet when most Americans see that summons come in the mail, their first thought is “How can I get out of jury duty?” It’s a staple of sitcoms and comedy routines. When Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer appeared to serve jury duty, national newspapers treated performing this basic duty of citizenship as something remarkable.

iCivics.org, the nation’s leading provider of high-quality and cost-free civic education materials, is revolutionizing both civic learning and the teaching of writing skills with the launch of its new tool, Drafting Board.

Civics and citizenship took center stage at the National Council on the Social Studies Annual Conference this year in Seattle. The keynote event and major highlight of the conference was a citizenship and naturalization ceremony followed by a Q&A session with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Gerda Weissman Klein on the importance of citizenship.

The home of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, and a commitment to civic learning... iCivics is a hit in Philadelphia, according to a story from local ABC station WPVI. Check out the full story here.