Civics Education Resources

The White House's official website outlines the organization and service of the United States administration. The Constitution tab provides context material and an overview of the United States Constitution.
The website contains vital material about the origins of the Constitution, which in theory describes how the United States of America was formed. The website is also an excellent civic literacy guide, as students can read about the nation's founding principles and what it means to be an active member of society. The use of simple, non-technical language makes it a great tool for this purpose.

Potential learning outcomes after visiting the website include the following: the student can explain the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, analyze reasons for developing the Constitution, explain events of the Constitutional Convention, and explain the importance of the Bill of Rights.

Common Core State Standards, in this case, would be addressed by the student determining the meaning of words used in the text and thoroughly analyzing events described in the text.

https://www.icivics.org/

The iCivics website, founded by Justice Sandra Day O’ Connor, provides resources to help students understand civics and participate in civic life.

The website provides comprehensive material to help teachers teach civic education in the form of lesson plans, interactive games, mini-lessons, web-quests, and a drafting. Using the interactive games, for example, students can step into any of the various roles in government and experience civics in action. The innovative techniques can help even uninterested students gain civic awareness and practice what they have learned through role- playing. The immersive experience could also be a great way to teach democratic ideals that have molded the United States over the years.

Potential learning outcomes using iCivics include the following: students can explain the foundations of government including key influences in the American system, elucidate the reasons why the Constitution of the United States was created and the constitution- making process, analyze key amendments to the Constitution, explain the structure and function of the three branches of government, explain citizenship and participation and the influence of media and civil rights on governance.

The student should be able to provide an accurate summary of how key events develop over the course of the text and determine the use of vocabulary in the text in order to address Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

http://www.uscourts.gov/

The official website of the federal courts of the United States provides information on the structure and function of the judicial branch of government.

Through educational activities provided on the website, an instructor can create scenarios in class to explain the application of precedents of the Supreme Court. The activities listed revolve around the Bill of Rights which is perfect for teaching democratic ideals. The website explains the role and structure of federal courts in addition to ways of interacting with the court system such as jury service and court cases thus serving as a great civic awareness tool.

The potential learning outcomes, in this case, are that the student can explain the role and structure of Courts in the United States, explain the types of court cases, explain some landmark Supreme Court rulings, and explain judicial administration.

The student should ably explain the meaning of technical terms and their context. This in addition to the citing of specific textual evidence to support the evaluation of the text should also be provided in order to address Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

https://www.azlibrary.gov/sla/statehood-docs/constitution-state-arizona

The website provides the full text of the Constitution of the State of Arizona in addition to providing resources for learners.

By providing the timeline of the Arizona Constitution and documents leading to statehood, a teacher can use the website to increase the students’ civic awareness. The resources provided in the learners’ database include an analysis of opposing viewpoints in context which can be used to teach democratic ideals.

The potential learning outcomes in this regard are that the student can explain the timeline of the Arizona Constitution, explain the history of State agencies, and analyze the differences between the Federal and the State Constitution.

It is imperative that the student explains the meaning of various words and phrases, determines the central idea of the text, and analyzes how the text uses structure to advance an explanation. This would be in a bid to address Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/

The website a variety of civic education resources including an interactive Constitution.

The resources included on the website which includes a simplified analysis of the text of the Constitution can be used to teach civic awareness in class. The web-based videos also help achieve this end in addition to helping students understand democratic ideals.

The potential learning outcomes using this website are that students can identify and explain the role of the founding fathers, explain the major aspects of the Constitution of the United States, and identify historical documents such as the Articles of Confederation, the 13th amendment, the Magna Carta, and the Declaration of Independence.

In a bid to address the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the student should cite specific textual evidence supporting the information provided, determine the central ideas conveyed by the text, and integrate the visual information (videos) which the text provided.