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    • All Games
    • Convene the Council
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    • Counties Work: Texas
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    • Win the White House
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New Executive Branch Lesson Plans Added!

What are the powers, purpose, and limitations of the presidency and the executive branch? The newly updated Executive Branch Unit introduces high school students to the role and powers of the president and the function of the executive branch.

March is Women's History Month

Women's History Month provides an opportunity to discuss and reflect on the role women have played in shaping the United States. Explore our resources for teaching women's history, including weekly planners!

Explore New Elementary Resources: Private i History Detectives!

We are thrilled to release a new inquiry-based civics and history curriculum just for K–5 learners.

Empower English & Multilingual Learners with Spanish Translations

As part of our commitment to helping every student understand our system of government and be inspired to be civically engaged, many of iCivics games are available with English language learner supports & Spanish translations.

Would you like a slice of People’s Pie?

Your favorite game to teach about the federal budget is back. People’s Pie breaks the complex concepts of the federal budgeting system into sweet, student-friendly, bite-size pieces.

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  • Lesson Plan

    Step One: We've Got Issues

    In the first of nine steps, students explore two county issues you have chosen. They vote to decide which issue the class will focus on for its “County Solutions” project.This resource was created…
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    Step Two: The News and You

    Having chosen an issue for the project, students analyze two news articles about the issue. They apply the “5W + H” method in order to learn how to gather information from a news article. Using what…
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    Step Three: Who You Gonna Call?

    To begin thinking about possible solutions for the issue they read about in Step Two, students learn about the difference between individual, group, and government action. They analyze examples, then…
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    Step Four: Working With Websites

    To increase their knowledge about both the chosen issue and the three types of actors they studied in Step Three, students examine three websites of governmental and non-governmental organizations…
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    Step Five: All About Public Policy

    Having built a foundation of knowledge about the chosen issue in Steps One through Four, students now learn the term “public policy.” Students identify government action and regulation as the two…
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    Step Six: Real World Policies

    Building on the concepts of public policy, government action, and regulation from Step Five, students analyze real-world examples of government actions and regulations. Students get a taste of the…
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    Step Seven: Brainstorm a-Brewin'

    Armed with knowledge about the chosen issue and about how public policy works from Steps One through Six, students brainstorm a public policy solution for the issue the class has been studying.…
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    Step Eight: Positions, Please!

    Students summarize their research and their proposed solution in one coherent document that describes what the issue is, what’s being done, and how the proposed public policy will help solve the…
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    Step Nine: Action Campaign

    Now that the research is done and students have articulated a proposed public policy solution for the chosen issue, they learn how to gather support. Students learn 12 different campaign and…
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    Step 1: Change the World?

    Kick off this project-based unit by asking students to examine what it means to make change in the world. Students think about why people are motivated to advocate for change, what kinds of issues…
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    Step 2: Find What You Need

    Do your students breeze through internet search results, easily weeding out irrelevant results and finding exactly what they need? No? This step offers a detailed look at how to search for and find…
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    Step 3: Become an Expert

    In this step, students read and annotate the sources they identified in Step 2. The lesson discusses investigative reading and offers strategies for staying organized when faced with a large amount…
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    Step 4: Consider the Context

    No issue exists in a vacuum, so in this step, students examine the factors that contribute to the circumstances surrounding their issue to gain a deeper understanding of the issue and its interplay…
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    Step 5: Identify Your Stakeholders

    In this step, students figure out who’s got a stake in their issue. They learn what stakeholders are and how to identify them, as well as why the power of numbers is important and how to leverage…
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    Step 6: Plan Your Attack

    Armed with information and a deep understanding of their issue, students shift into action mode in this step by writing an action plan for “moving the needle” on their issue. 
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    Step 7: Fill the Holes

    Students take a “step” back in Step 7 and identify gaps in their information: What pieces of the puzzle are still missing? What information is important to have before going on? To fill those holes,…
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    Step 8: Talk It Up

    To get support for an issue, you have to be able to talk about it—and in this step, students learn how to do that effectively. By developing and practicing both an elevator speech and a set of…
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    Step 9: Grab People’s Attention

    In this step, students get creative by developing “swag” to promote their cause. They learn principles of effective attention-grabbing that they apply to their own swag designs, including how to…
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    Step 10: Make Your Pitch

    In the culminating lesson, students learn how to design and deliver an effective slide presentation to gather support for their issue, create a 5-minute presentation targeted to a specific…
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