Teachers | iCivics

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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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County Solutions - HS Overview

County Solutions at a glance! For a quick overview of the unit, including tips to help your students get the most of out the project, check out this resource.
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Lesson Plan

Lesson 1: Journalism

What separates journalism from all the other kinds of information out there? Teach students to recognize reliable reporting as they explore the tenents of high-standards reporting based on the…
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Lesson 2: Misinformation

Misinformation? Disinformation?? Fake news??? Don't be fooled! Train your students to examine news stories for evidence of transparency and verification that will help them distinguish legitimate…
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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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Mini-Lesson A: Monetization

Reality check: The news is a business! Help students learn how news providers monetize the news through advertisements and consider how the news/profit relationship affects journalism and news…
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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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Amendment Mini-Lesson

Looking for a fun and easy way to help students learn or review their individual rights? This mini-lesson highlights the Constitution's amendments and new artwork from one of our fondest games Do I…
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Lesson Plan

Party Systems

Does every country have Republicans and Democrats? (Spoiler alert: No.) Use this mini-lesson to show your students that there are lots of different political party systems around the world.Got a 1:1…
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Comparing Constitutions (WA)

How does Washington’s state constitution compare and contrast with the U.S. Constitution? Look no further for the answer! Guide your class through some basic similarities and differences as well as…
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Governing Washington Communities

Local government has lots of layers, and Washington's is no different. In this lesson, students learn the structure and function of local government in Washington and how they can “harness the power…
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Initiative & Referendum (WA)

Washington’s initiative and referendum powers let regular people participate directly in lawmaking! This lesson presents the initiative and referendum powers as tools and shows students how to use…
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