Resources for Civic Education in New York

This collection includes: 

• Resources for grades 6–8, including lessons, videos, readings, a unit, and an on-demand webinar 
• Resources for grades 9–12, including lessons, readings, a guide, and a unit
• All resources above organized around the themes of Foundations of American Government, Rights and Responsibilities, Role of the Individual, Power and Politics, and Active Engagement

1. Lesson: Defining Democracy
   Students brainstorm different definitions of democracy and consider democracy's relationship to their own communities and cultures.

1. Lesson: The Challenge of Confirmation Bias
   Students will define confirmation bias and examine why people sometimes maintain their beliefs in the face of information that contradicts or challenges their understanding or assumptions.
2. Video: Defining Confirmation Bias
   Reporters and media professionals define the term “confirmation bias,” and discuss its effect on how people approach and evaluate news and other information.
3. Reading: Online Civic Participation
   Civic participation increasingly takes place online. Share with students political theorist Danielle Allen's ten questions to ask before choosing to take action online.
4. Reading: The Voices of Millions
   Learn about the advent of online activism and consider the internet's impact on civic participation.
5. Unit: Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age
   Help students become informed and effective civic participants in today's digital landscape. This unit is design to develop students' critical thinking, news literacy, civic engagement, and social-emotional skills and competencies.
6. Lesson: Free Press Makes Democracy Work
   Students explore the relationship between a free press and responsible citizenship by listening to interviews with journalists from the United States and South Africa.
7. Video: The Role and Challenges of a Free Press
   Reporters and media professionals discuss the functions and importance of a free press in a democracy.

1. Lesson: Public Art as a Form of Participation
   Students analyze the Battle of Cable Street Mural and reflect on the role of public art to commemorate, educate, and build community.
2. Video: '63 Boycott: Today is Freedom Day Video
   Students today can learn from student activism in the past. This video features footage and eyewitness accounts of the Chicago Public Schools Boycott when 225,000 students protested racial segregation and unequal conditions in Chicago's schools.
3. On-Demand Webinar: Student Agency After Parkland
   This webinar recording helps educators explore the many questions they may face in the wake of the events like those in Parkland, Florida.
4. Reading: How the Parkland Students Pulled Off A Massive National Protest in Only 5 Weeks
   Learn about the movement to end gun violence launched by Parkland students after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
5. Lesson: Citizen Power Makes Democracy Work
   Students explore citizenship, power, and responsibility using the work of civic entrepreneur Eric Liu.

1. Lesson: Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations
   By acknowledging people's complicated feelings about race and creating a classroom contract, teachers and students can establish a safe space for holding sensitive conversations before introducing the events surrounding Ferguson.

1. Lesson: Finding Your Voice: Flag of Faces Activity
   In this activity, from our Finding Your Voice lesson, students reflect on what "American" means to them and are introduced to the idea that the United States is the product of many individual voices and stories.

1. Reading: We the People in the United States
   Learn how the US Constitution’s promise of equal protection under the law has been questioned throughout US history in debates over issues such as women's right to vote and birthright citizenship.
2. Lesson: Defining Democracy
   Students brainstorm different definitions of democracy and consider democracy's relationship to their own communities and cultures.

1. Chapter: The Individual and Society
   How does our society shape the way we define ourselves and others? Explore some of the dilemmas people experience when others perceive them differently than they define themselves using the readings from a chapter in our resource, Holocaust and Human Behavior.

1. Reading: We the People in the United States
   Learn how the US Constitution’s promise of equal protection under the law has been questioned throughout US history in debates over issues such as women's right to vote and birthright citizenship.
2. Lesson: Citizen Power Makes Democracy Work
   Students explore citizenship, power, and responsibility using the work of civic entrepreneur Eric Liu.
3. Collection: What Makes Democracy Work?
   Use this collection of lessons, podcasts and blog posts to teach your students about the fundamentals of democracy and the importance of engaged citizenship.

1. Mini-Lesson: Voting Rights in the United States
   Use this teaching idea to helps students explore the expansion and constriction of voting rights throughout US history.
2. Lesson: The Challenge of Confirmation Bias
   Students define confirmation bias and examine why people sometimes maintain their beliefs in the face of information that contradicts their understanding.

1. Guide: Fostering Civil Discourse
   This guide provides strategies to help you navigate the challenging times and support your students to develop effective skills for civic participation. A login is required to download this publication.
2. Unit: Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age
   Help students become informed and effective civic participants in today's digital landscape. This unit is design to develop students' critical thinking, news literacy, civic engagement, and social-emotional skills and competencies.