Vocabulary instruction often shifts once students reach middle and high school. As students dive into deeper content vocabulary—osmosis, oligarchy, onomatopoeia—we tend to stop intentionally teaching general academic words like augment,…
Reading maps is one of those skills we tend to assume students will have naturally. Perhaps it’s because the thinking is, “well… you just look at them.” But maps do…
We often think that learning the 50 states and capitals, state facts, or how to read a map, in fourth or fifth grade, is all students need to know about…
Teaching the 50 states and capitals can feel frustrating. Younger kids may have fun learning with flashcards, songs, and puzzle maps, but that kind of memorization doesn’t make learning stick.…
Researching and learning about the 50 states is almost a rite of passage, usually in elementary school. Students pick a state, look up a few facts, color in the flag,…
Even though the US’s largest political “party” by far is independents, Democrats and Republicans influence everything about how government in the US operates. It’s just a fact. That’s why it’s…
Doable real-world PBL civics project ideas you can easily do in your middle or high school government & Civics classroom.
It’s easy to focus on just the President when teaching the Executive Branch, but it’s important also to stress the role of the four million other people who make up…
Probably the most fundamental part of teaching the executive branch is the president's expressed and implied powers and all the roles they fulfill. But it’s a long list, and it…
Including the Electoral College in your civics and government class is essential. And since it’s a bit complicated, it’s a great topic to spend a few days on because there…
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