Teachers | iCivics

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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

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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Lesson Plan

Lesson 3: Bias

Strip the fear out of bias by showing students how to notice the word choices and framing that show up when bias is present in a news story. Students learn about methods journalists use to produce…
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Lesson Plan

Mini-Lesson B: Satire

Satirical news stories, like political cartoons, are meant to poke fun—not trick people. Help your students learn to spot satire and understand both the joke and the purpose of this news-related…
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Mini-Lesson: Succession (HS)

Review the official presidential line of succession and read about its origins. Students also learn how to detect satire in a news literacy-related activity.
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Lesson Plan

Mini-lesson: Congressional Committees (HS)

Discover the different types of congressional committees and their responsibilities. What's more, teach students about bias and balanced reporting. In the closing activity, students put their news…
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Lesson Plan

Mini-lesson: Filibusters (HS)

First, teach students about filibusters and how and why senators use them. Next, help students develop their news literacy skills by taking a look at how news coverage of a filibuster can be…
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Mini-lesson: The Incumbent Advantage (HS)

Learn about the electoral advantage that favors incumbents and the benefits and drawbacks of reelecting members of Congress. Then, put students' news literacy skills to work as they learn what…
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Lesson Plan

Mini-lesson: Gerrymandering (HS)

Students try their hand at a simplified districting exercise and learn about the common gerrymandering practices of packing and cracking districts. Students then explore the media’s traditional roles…
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Lesson Plan

Mini-lesson: Midterm Elections (HS)

Students learn about midterm elections, their role as a referendum on the presidency, and how a shift in party control impacts the legislative and executive branches. Page two of this Media Moment…
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Lesson Plan

Immigration Nation Extension Pack

Make your students’ gameplay more meaningful by using our immigration lesson plan designed specifically for Immigration Nation. This easy-to-use Extension Pack helps you give context and purpose to…
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Lesson Plan

Foundation Basics

Meet your PALS—Power, Authority, Legitimacy, and Sovereignty! In this lesson, students are introduced to these characteristics of government and consider how governments establish and maintain these…
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