Before diving into the 13 colonies or 3 branches of government, pique your students’ curiosity and connect to larger themes of America so that you can return and “rehook” to these big ideas throughout the year.

6 Included Activities:

• Concept Definitions (US/Civics) dive into the nuanced meaning of concepts like “democracy” and “American dream,” asking students for their perspectives
• Citizenship Speed Dating activity (Civics) analyze and reflect on various quotes on citizenship, challenging students to form their own ideas
• President Obama’s 50th Anniversary of Selma Address analysis (US) hear, watch, and annotate an impassioned argument about our American values and who really founded it
• U.S. Naturalization Test (Civics) really see how “citizenship ready” your students are and discuss what sort of questions belong on the test
• American Values analysis (US) consider how current-day America upholds and also struggles to uphold its core founding values; then identify these values in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution Preamble
• GREAT Goal and Action Plan activity (US/Civics) conduct values self-inventory and develop a personal goal for the year, tying to previous activities

Teacher Supports Also Included:

• Detailed Overview & Daily Lesson Plans with step-by-step teacher directions
• Answer Keys for all applicable activities
• Editable Google files version of all student materials

These activities are perfect for bringing real impact to your U.S. History or Civics classes without throwing out everything you already have!

Create a Thematic & Inquiry-Centered Course with this Kit

• Pick from the 14 included course-long inquiry questions that are each tied to the included activities
• Open your class by challenging students to chew on your chosen question; post the question everywhere–on your syllabus, whiteboard, and LMS homepage
• Complete 2-3 included activities which require students to brainstorm and pull from their incoming knowledge, consider new ideas, then begin forming a deeper understanding they will build on all year
• Build a “progressive” bulletin board or wall timeline with the question or central concepts to add to as you progress through your units
• Return to inquiry question and central concepts as you introduce each unit, during end-of-unit review, for your final project, and as you wrap up the semester or year

This resource is 60 PDF pages, plus Google files.

Additional Information

What grades is this intended for?
This was designed for high school, but should still work for upper middle school. 

Can I use this in a homeschooling setting?

Sure! The resources can easily still be used in a solo or a small-group setting. 

Is this editable? What file types does this resource come in?

The main resource comes as a secured, non-editable PDF file intended to be printed.

Included are links to editable Google files, to customize to your classroom needs and assign digitally if you choose. 

What are the terms of use for this resource?

This resource, including all ancillary files, may be used as needed for regular, non-commercial single-classroom use between a teacher and their students. 

This includes printing copies and sharing digital files with students through a secure platform, like Google Classroom or Canvas, email, or a classroom-only shared drive.

The using and sharing of any part of this resource in any manner outside the above-mentioned capacity is strictly prohibited. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to,

• posting files on the open internet or in a Facebook group
• emailing files to or sharing print copies with others (without purchasing additional licenses)
• uploading or storing files in a shared cloud drive accessible by anyone other than students
• including any part, or any derivative work, within any commercial endeavor like curriculum development, professional training, or for-profit teaching like Outschool, or selling this resource as your own in either print or digital formats

Doing so violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright law, and these terms.

By downloading this resource from Let’s Cultivate Greatness, the original user has been granted one license for a single teacher (or number of teachers matching the number of licenses purchased) and their students at any one time.  

Let’s Cultivate Greatness retains the full copyright of this resource.

Reviews

I loved this activity for giving me an idea of my kids’ interest level and gave them an idea of my expectations without me having to actually read them to them.  I love getting to know my students in such a relaxed manner.   – Connie

Great resources to start a course in Government on. Fun activities that got the kids up and moving, and talking about important concepts/values. Highly recommended! – Jeff

This includes different activities that I used at different times of the year. This was helpful at the beginning of the year as we were introducing the Founding Docs and the ideas of what the US is all about. Thanks! – Amy