Teaching American History

MARCH 11, 2025

Teaching government at Hilliard Darby High School in Ohio (a suburb of Columbus), Amy Messick helps students understand how our constitutional system works. She also encourages them to figure out their own political views and to actively engage in civic life. I can’t get students to put their phones away.

Government 89

Government Controversial Topics American History Civics 89

ED Surge

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

DENVER In Zach Kennellys senior civics class, students are building custom chatbots with artificial intelligence. One student is working on a chatbot that better curates movie and television show recommendations based on a viewers recent watch history. Its AI-leveraged, Kennelly clarifies.

Education 124

Education Charter School Civics Lesson Plan 124

APSA Educate

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Over the past few years, the American Political Science Association and its members have renewed their commitment to high school civic education.

Civics 52

Civics High School Political Science Education 52

APSA Educate

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Over the past few years, the American Political Science Association and its members have renewed their commitment to high school civic education.

Civics 52

Civics High School Political Science Education 52

APSA Educate

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Over the past few years, the American Political Science Association and its members have renewed their commitment to high school civic education.

Civics 52

Civics High School Political Science Education 52

Passion for Social Studies

JULY 15, 2024

The Civics Posters and U.S. Academic Decor Honestly, high school students are going to daydream. Luckily, the Civics Posters and U.S. Civics Posters These posters are fantastic when looking for what to hang on the walls for government classroom decor! There are five posters that all focus on civics and government.

Government 130

Government Civics History Social Studies 130

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 12, 2024

Yancy Sanes teaches a unit on the climate crisis at Fannie Lou Hamer High School in the Bronx – not climate change, but the climatecrisis. He is unequivocal that he wants his high school students to be climate activists. “I I need to take my students outside and have them actually do the work of protesting.”

Teaching 134

Teaching Civics K-12 Civic Engagement 134

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 1, 2018

. There still aren’t enough students graduating from high school. Earlier this year, GradNation Acceleration grants from America’s Promise and AT&T were awarded to five programs in communities across the country that have successfully increased high school graduation rates while preparing students to succeed after graduation.

High School 70

High School Civics Economics Humanities 70

ED Surge

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

In 2020, California’s State Board of Education adopted criteria and guidance to award a State Seal of Civic Engagement to students who demonstrate excellence in civics education. There is no better way to integrate SEL and civic engagement for the next generation of learners. SEL programs are not reported either.

Civic Engagement 138

Civic Engagement Civics K-12 Education 138

Let's Cultivate Greatness

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Here are some of my favorite lessons and activities for teaching the executive branch in my high school Civics and Government class. With a few targeted activities, though, you can cover the president and the operations of the whole branch in just a couple of weeks. But first, lets go over what the branch does exactly.

Civics 52

Civics Government Critical Thinking Social Studies 52

The Hechinger Report

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

The middle school exercise was almost not included in the study because researchers thought it was too easy, said Sam Wineburg, Stanford professor and lead author of the report. “We Information is clearly the basis for their civic agency and civic empowerment. We were stunned,” he said of the overall results.

K-12 145

K-12 Civics Critical Thinking Middle School 145

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 5, 2018

Laci Hargrove, 18, who fell short of the high school credits she needed to graduate, moved straight from high school to a HiSET-prep program that also provides her with needed social supports. When Laci Hargrove turned 16, she was a sophomore in high school with nowhere near the credits she needed for her grade level.

High School 70

High School K-12 Tutoring Elementary School 70

The Hechinger Report

MAY 2, 2023

Students will carry these basic life skills across any career, any life situation and any form of civic participation for the long haul. These efforts all attempt to incorporate data analysis and computational technology into core school subjects, with a focus on mathematics, science and social studies.

K-12 143

K-12 Civics Lesson Plan High School 143

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 22, 2020

eLearn.fyi is a database of more than 300 online resources, from a civics curriculum created by a former Supreme Court justice to engineering lessons for building a robotic arm. Other student entrepreneurs have applied their hard-earned wisdom to improving virtual school, too. Credit: eLearn.fyi.

Civics 145

Civics Digital Resources K-12 Lesson Plan 145

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 23, 2017

Every senior spends a month working outside of school at full-time internships throughout Chicago. Blanton, a high school senior, was interning for the firm’s information technology group. Linnea Garrett, Chicago Technology Academy school director. ChiTech high school student Devante Jordan, interning at an ad agency.

High School 79

High School Project-Based Learning Psychology Charter School 79

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 12, 2023

On May 31, a school board meeting in Hernando County, Florida, made national news when more than 600 hundred people showed up and the meeting lasted until 2:30 a.m. The county had moved the meeting to the high school auditorium to accommodate a large crowd. Florida Gov.

Civics 145

Civics K-12 Museum American History 145

Political Science Now

OCTOBER 1, 2024

This summer, the American Political Science Association partnered with Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) District’s Summer Rise Program to offer three high school students the opportunity to gain experience in political science knowledge production and higher education non-profits.

High School 47

High School Civic Engagement Civics Social Justice 47

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 10, 2022

A 2019 report from the Stanford History Education Group found that high school students had “difficulty discerning fact from fiction online.”. After 40 years of teaching English to high school students in New Jersey, Olga Polites knows how critical media literacy education is in today’s digital age.

Teaching 132

Teaching Civics K-12 Social Science 132

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

We’ll never forget last year, when survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, became leaders instead of victims, taking their cause all the way to Washington, D.C., The public high school I attended — River Bluff High School in Lexington, South Carolina — has one answer.

Civics 108

Civics High School Community Engagement Social Studies 108

Let's Cultivate Greatness

JULY 16, 2024

Once kids are in high school, there usually isn’t time or the need to spend a whole week solely doing relationship-building activities. I might tweak my “Welcome to Civics class” activities a little year to year, but here are my tried-and-true favorite ones to do to establish a great foundation.

Civics 52

Civics Government High School Civic Engagement 52

The Hechinger Report

MAY 3, 2020

When my District of Columbia public high school, The School Without Walls, closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, all of my courses moved to an online platform. High school students like me might not be interested in the 2020 Census. The best civics lesson requires you to leave the classroom.

Civics 96

Civics Civic Engagement Library High School 96

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 23, 2022

One idea that’s been gaining steam since last year is to break down barriers between high school, college and career to create a system that bridges all three. What would it look like to change the typical, or what we think of as the conventional high school experience and instead design something that was built for the modern economy?”

Education 137

Education K-12 High School Civics 137

Let's Cultivate Greatness

AUGUST 24, 2023

It seems like that’s precisely what’s happened now that the Citizenship Test is a high school graduation requirement in many states. I’ve heard many Government and Civics teacher friends in states that do require it talk about it being “one more thing” and “such a joke.” I want to share how I do it in my senior Civics class.

Civics 52

Civics Government Geography Project-Based Learning 52

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 9, 2018

This was the launch of my civics engagement. Related: Making America whole again via civics education. People around the country talk a lot about the importance of civics education, how youth are the future and how we can effect change to create a stable and improved country. About voting? Related: Go vote.

Civic Engagement 90

Civic Engagement Civics Elementary School History 90

Let's Cultivate Greatness

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Political cartoons are the perfect basis for so many civics activities and topics, regardless of ability level. Over the years of teaching high school Civics and Government, I’ve used them in countless ways with my students. Here are my go-to favorite civics activities I use with political cartoons.

Civics 52

Civics Government Teaching High School 52

ED Surge

JANUARY 17, 2023

In Jessica Lander’s classroom at Lowell High School, every student is a recent immigrant or refugee. Lander teaches history and civics at this large public school in Massachusetts, and she says one of the most important strategies is to find ways to bring out her students’ stories in the classroom.

Teaching 122

Teaching Civics History Public School 122

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 10, 2020

Another troubling finding, from a survey conducted this spring by SimpsonScarborough: Forty-one percent of minority high-school seniors say it’s likely they won’t go to college at all in the fall or “it’s too soon to say,” compared to 24 percent of white high-school seniors.

Civic Engagement 140

Civic Engagement K-12 Education Economics 140

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 26, 2022

“The liberal deep state is faking sexual assault to block Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment,” said one of my classmates with great conviction during my freshman year of high school. There are models schools can copy in my home state. “I I ask what [students] can see, and they always say the dot.

Controversial Topics 98

Controversial Topics Civics High School Advocacy 98

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

Fewer than 20 percent of high school students knew that simply looking at one photo online is not enough research to gauge if something is really happening. And among middle school students, 80 percent did not understand that “sponsored content” on a news organization’s website is paid advertising.

Civics 112

Civics Advocacy Elementary School Middle School 112

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 14, 2021

The good news is that bridge builders — including nonprofit civic groups, economic development agencies and businesses and educators — have shown in recent years how to bring the right parties together to make change. Workers have had to rapidly figure out what additional training and skills they need, and where to find them.

Civics 116

Civics Education Economics High School 116

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 29, 2024

I’m principal of a high school with a well-known name, only because it’s the site of one of the most devastating school shootings in recent American history: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I’m also a mother, a neighbor and a witness to the enduring scars left by gun violence in our schools.

Civics 113

Civics American History High School Professional Development 113

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

As a teacher and school-based leader, I always understood the necessity of advocating for students and helping them navigate life, and I tried to help other teachers change the trajectory of many lives. I taught my students to respect the power of civic engagement and social activism.

Civic Engagement 129

Civic Engagement Civics Education K-12 129

ED Surge

APRIL 12, 2023

Even more astonishing, five of my former students decided to become high school history teachers, just like me: Paula Katrina Camaya : a former Chicago Public Schools educator currently teaching civics and humanities at Evanston Township High School (ETHS) in Evanston, Illinois. Victoria was in my U.S.

World History 122

World History World Religions Civics History 122

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Sophia Perry, a senior at Red Bank High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, says her school has been lax in enforcing its mandatory mask-wearing policy. Sophia Perry, 17, a senior at Red Bank High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the return to in-person classes five-days a week. It blows my mind.

High School 144

High School Elementary School Charter School History 144

Zinn Education Project

OCTOBER 20, 2024

How is it possible to teach about civics without discussing racism? Zach Wilson Middle School Social Studies Teacher, San Antonio, Texas We have a responsibility to be more inclusive and truthful to our students — especially those whose cultures have been marginalized in history books for years. Hayley Breden High School U.S.

History 92

History Teaching Civics Middle School 92

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 12, 2019

Penida-Briceno, a senior with blue-tipped hair who hopes to become a biochemist, was one of two dozen teens at the high school in Flushing, Queens, who helped dream up the idea of building a greenhouse after learning that students could choose how to spend $2,000 of the school’s budget this year.

Civics 108

Civics Civic Engagement High School Economics 108

The Hechinger Report

MAY 19, 2021

Students who partake in social activism should be able to speak freely without worrying about retaliation from their schools. Consider the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who founded March For Our Lives after the tragic shooting at their school.

Civics 117

Civics Middle School Leadership High School 117