ABOTA Civics Education is holding an essay contest for middle and high school students. Winners will be chosen in both groups (grades 6-8 and grades 9-12). They will receive $500 and a possibility of their essay being published. The deadline is May 22, 2020. For more information, go here. Read More ⟶
New Primary Sources Added to DocsTeach
DocsTeach is the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. Recently added are primary sources related to: Green v. County School Board of New Kent County. Parents in New Kent County, Va., complained that the school district was deliberately maintaining a segregated school system after Brown v. Board of Education. The Supreme Read More ⟶
New SCOTUS in the Classroom Case Available
Street Law has announced its spring SCOTUS in the Classroom case – June Medical Services LLC v. Russo (formerly June Medical Services LLC v. Gee). This case involves a challenge to a Louisiana law that requires abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. It was argued on March 4, 2020. Street Law posts case materials as they become available on the SCOTUS in the Classroom program page. Read More ⟶
Core Knowledge Announces New Books and Guides
Twenty-four new American and World History Grade K−2 Student Books and Teacher Guides in the Core Knowledge History and Geography series are available for free download. What’s unique about CKHG for students in Grades K−2? The Student Books are authentic texts, intended to be read aloud by a teacher or parent while young students follow along in their own book, looking at the richly drawn illustrations, engaging photographs, and colorful maps. Read-aloud texts are central to teaching history in these early grades because young students are more able to grasp complex ideas when they hear content read aloud than when they read to themselves. The Teacher Guides offer step-by-step guidance in reading the stories aloud and in discussing their content. They also offer additional wide-ranging activities for teachers and parents to choose — such as, virtual tours of historic sites, history games, craft projects, short video and music clips, as well as activity pages. Check them out now! Read More ⟶
Saturday Seminars at the National Constitution Center
Deepen your constitutional knowledge and enhance your classroom instruction strategies for teaching constitutional topics with Saturday seminars at the National Constitution Center. Teachers will tour the museum’s exhibits, participate in classroom application sessions, and practice civil dialogue techniques. The seminars are free and open to all classroom teachers working with students in grades 5-12. Two more seminars are scheduled this school year: April 18 on Federalism and May 2 on the Electoral College. Go here to register. Read More ⟶
Registration Open for Share My Lesson’s Virtual Conference
The 2020 AFT Share My Lesson Virtual Conference is open for registration. The conference line-up of 40 free, for-credit professional development webinars runs March 24-26. The sessions span several topics from organizations such as Discovery Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, StoryCorps, NASA, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Topics include: current events and student activism; building inclusive communities; trauma-informed practices and social emotional learning; instructional strategies across the curriculum; STEM; and webinars for teachers, leaders and all-school staff. If you can’t make a session time, register anyway, and you’ll receive a link to view it on-demand after it has aired live. Learn more here. Read More ⟶
Library of Congress Seeks Teacher-in-Residence
The Library of Congress is seeking applications from current teachers of journalism or economics for a Teacher-in-Residence position within its Learning and Innovation Office during the 2020-21 school year. The program description and application details can be found here. Applications are due on Friday, March 27, 2020. The Learning and Innovation team develops and delivers teaching materials and programs to make the Library’s unparalleled collections of primary sources visible, accessible and easy for K-12 teachers to integrate into the classroom. The Teacher-in-Residence program is designed to give an educator a unique professional development experience – a year at the Library in Washington, D.C., working with staff, contributing to K-12 education programs and materials, advising on outreach to teachers, and helping to uncover and make visible primary sources in the Library’s collections. Read More ⟶
Find Summer Teacher Institutes at U.S. Courts
More than two dozen summer teacher institutes are offered by federal courts across the country. Federal judges, volunteer attorneys, legal scholars and court staff create realistic courtroom experiences and offer classroom-ready resources for high school and middle school teachers who seek to deepen their understanding of the third branch. Most of these tuition-free programs range from three to five days at courthouses in almost every federal court circuit. Those that are co-sponsored with a law school or university are eligible for education credits. Go here for more information. Read More ⟶
Apply for Presidential and Congressional Academies
The Center for Civic Education is implementing a multiyear grant from the U.S. Department of Education for Presidential Academies for teachers and Congressional Academies for high-need high school students. The Academies provide high-quality educational engagement in American history and civics. Fifty-one teachers and 102 students from throughout the country participate each year in the Academies Read More ⟶
A Roundup of 2020 Summer Institutes
We’re compiling a list of summer institutes and professional development offered by Civics Renewal Network partners. Check back often as more institutes will be added in the coming months. Read More ⟶