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General
Center for Civic Education We the People Page
Mock Congressional Hearing Questions
60 Seconds Civics A daily podcast that provides a quick and convenient way for listeners to learn about our nation’s government, the Constitution, and our history. A product of CCE.
Four B’s Videos by Constitutional Scholars focused on WTP Questions. Created Annually
Constitution Explained Video Series – iCivics
Power to the People: Seven Webinars from 2020, The Power of People and the Courts, The Power of Indian Sovereignty, The Power of Movements: The Struggle to Pass the Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond, The Power of Symbols: Monuments and Flags, The Power of Free Speech, The Power of Voting: The Electoral College, Gerrymandering, and Suppression, & The Power of the Criminal Justice System
Constitution 101 Curriculum | Constitution Center Constitution 101 is a 15-unit asynchronous, semester-long curriculum that provides students with a basic understanding of the Constitution’s text, history, structure, and caselaw
Constitution Center Materials by Topic
American Lawyers Alliance Law Related Educational Materials. great list of other providers.
Center for the Study of Federalism
Educating for American Democracy: Home
Stanford History Education Group
Hip Hughes See Teacher Talk & US Constitution for instructional ideas and short videos
Allsides.com Free Classroom Activities Examining bias, applying critical thinking skills, structured conversation guides, etc.
Gilder Lehrman Lesson plans and Primary Sources focused on US History, including Teaching History through Civics, titles include Federal, State and Tribal Governance, Freedom of Speech, Immigration, Race and Race Relations, & Voting Rights.
Mock Congressional Hearing Example From Ohio
Colorado-Created We the People Materials
Online Hearings from State Competition and Showcase 2020 & 2021
CO We the People Summer Institute Resources 2022
CO We the People Institute Resources 2010
First Amendment
11 Resources for Teaching Social Movements Past and Present Interesting collection of teaching materials teachers can use to explore how social movements used the First Amendment in 20th-century history.
The First Amendment in Public Schools The Anti-Defamation League presents a four-lesson unit on First Amendment rights in school.
Bill of Rights in Action This quarterly publication from the Constitutional Rights Foundation has featured many articles on Bill of Rights Issues.
The Power to Change the World: A Teaching Unit on Student Activism in History and Today Teaching materials developed in the current climate of student protest.
Student Clothing and the First Amendment This lesson plan considers limitations on students’ right to express themselves through their clothing in light of school safety concerns.
K-12 Public School Student Expression Overview
“First Amendment 101,” Upfront (January 8, 2018), Good overview for students.
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Free Speech, also see FIRE’s page on college speech codes
National Constitution Center: Interactive Constitution, First Amendment,
Supreme Court Center at FindLaw
Equal Rights Amendment: Identifying Bias and Using Multiple Sources
Legislative Branch
Congress.gov Extensive site with information on current legislation, leadership and committee structures of the House and Senate, and more.
Congressional Chronicle C-SPAN, A comprehensive resource on what is happening in Congress right now.
Center on Representative Government Indiana University. Lee Hamilton, Hamilton writes extensively about Congress. Many lessons and games.
National Conference of State Legislatures If you want to investigate state legislative issues, NCSL’s website is a good place to start.
Congress Week This informative site about Congress includes a useful list of links for classroom resources on the legislative branch.
ICivics, presents an array of teaching materials on Congress and the work of legislating.
Teaching with Primary Sources The Center on Congress at Indiana University, Many teaching ideas for using primary sources to teach about Congress.
What Congress Does and Why It Matters Lesson Plans, National Archives,. Collection of lessons designed to help students understand the role of Congress and some of the issues with its performance.
GeoCivics offers state-based strategies to develop skills & knowledge for discussing electoral apportionment & redistricting. Based out of University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Executive Branch/Bureaucracy Resources
Educating for American Democracy: Home
Dickerson, John, “What if the Problem Isn’t the President, It’s the Presidency,” The Atlantic, May 2018,. The veteran newsman argues that the job of the presidency has become too complex for anyone to be successful and makes suggestions for fixing the problem.
The Executive Branch: Bureaucracy in a Democracy: Chapter Study Outline. Support material for Lowi/Ginsberg American Government text, W.W. Norton
USA.gov Centralized site for accessing government information.
Bureaucracy Basics, Crash Course Government and Politics #15, PBS, Very fast-talking presentation about bureaucracies with lots of information presented in about 6 minutes.
Bureaucracy: A Controversial Necessity, Annenberg Learner Video-based lesson exploring the growth of the federal bureaucracy, the source of its power, and its activities.
Judicial Branch
Oyez Oyez presents synopses of historic and current cases, the decisions rendered, the breakdown of justices voting each way, and more. The site also features a 360-degree virtual tour of the Court and biographies of past and present justices.
SCOTUSblog This site provides all the Court news you can possibly imagine, plus links to briefs (including amicus briefs) and decisions, all accompanied with insightful commentary.
Landmark Cases Free Resources and Activities to Support the Teaching of Landmark Supreme Court Cases. Provided by Street Law.
Hobbs, Gregory J., Jr., “Colorado Judicial Merit Selection—A Well-Deserved 40th Anniversary Celebration The Colorado Lawyer 13 (April 2016) An article supporting the merit selection process in Colorado, written by a former Colorado Supreme Court Justice.
How a Judge Becomes a Judge, Colorado Judicial Branch April 2001, A brochure with solid information on the current system of selecting judges in Colorado.
Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver. Started by former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, is a national, independent research center dedicated to facilitating continuous improvement & advancing excellence in the American legal system. Offers many useful resources and commentary.
Judicial Selection in the States, National Center for State Courts A comprehensive source of information on how judges are selected in the 50 states.
A Defense of the Elected Judiciary, Legal Memorandum O’Malley, Deborah, Heritage Foundation, September 9, 2010. An article from a conservative think tank supporting judicial elections.
Annenberg Institute for Civics Annenberg presents teaching materials on a variety of topics and includes many video clips designed for classroom use. For example, a lesson on “Students and the Supreme Court: A Lexicon of Laws”
Supreme Court Historical Society The Society provides detailed and useful information about Court history and how the Court functions.
Selection of Federal Judges If you want to have students compare selection of state judges with selection of federal judges, Street Law provides several free lessons. Accessing free materials requires creating a login.
Foreign Policy
Bill of Rights in Action This quarterly publication from the Constitutional Rights Foundation has featured many articles on the foreign policy.
The Choices Program This program at Brown University provides teaching materials on numerous foreign policy issues.
Council on Foreign Relations In-depth background on many foreign policy issues.
Foreign Policy Association FPA provides lots of background and sponsors the venerable Great Decisions program.
Foreign Policy Research Institute Analysis of international issues, plus lesson plans.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History The Gilder Lehrman Institute provides many lessons and readings on historical foreign policy issues.
iCivics Convene The Council Game
U.S. Department of State: Policy Issues This page is a good starting point for exploring the many resources available from the State Department.
See National Civic Education Sites & Research Sources for Civic Education