This audio excerpt captures the beginning of Bayard Rustin's 1967 "Freedom Budget" speech, describing the social and economic impact of racism over time.

How does Washington’s state constitution compare and contrast with the U.S. Constitution? In this lesson, students will find out! Guide your class through some basic similarities and differences as well as side-by-side text analysis with this lesson’s integrated reading/activity format.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Determine how the Washington State Constitution complements the federal structure of government in the United States
Compare the state government established by the Washington Constitution with the federal government defined in the U.S. Constitution
Compare and contrast rights protected by the Washington and U.S. Constitutions
Compare and contrast methods for amending the Washington and U.S. Constitutions

View this activity online or register with iCivics (free) to download materials. Materials may be copied or transmitted for noncommercial purposes with proper attribution.

This video segment, adapted from Decision in the Streets by civil rights filmmaker Harvey Richards, portrays the interracial protests that took place in San Francisco in 1963-64.

It is important to educate future voters about the issues, processes, and impacts of voting in elections. These resources include links to lesson plans, videos, games, and printables to assist teachers K—12 to promote civic participation and voting.

These short films by Stourwater Pictures are accompanied by activities for classroom and remote teaching and learning about the story of Japanese American WWII exclusion and incarceration on Bainbridge Island and Washington State.

Kibera, a poor community, in Nairobi, was a blank spot on the map until recently. This video from Penn State Public Broadcasting’s Geospatial Revolution shows how geospatial technology enabled residents to map resources to help their community.

The topic of Gerrymandering can be a difficult one to teach and get students to understand. This lesson includes several options, along with additional resources and information for the new teacher or a teacher who like many Americans may have trouble grasping and explaining gerrymandering and congressional redistricting. The lesson options include having students engage in a Debate and/or activity where they draw or redraw the boundaries of a state or congressional district.

Local government has lots of layers. In this lesson, students learn that local government is a tool they can use for getting things done and finding out information. Students learn the structure and function of local government in Washington and how they can “harness the power” of local government to address issues of concern. This lesson’s activity is web-based so that students can explore their own local governments.

To access and assign the web activity, click here.

For student access without assigning the activity, here’s the link: https://www.icivics.org/node/2528357

Got a 1:1 classroom? Find fillable PDF versions of this lesson’s materials below. Registration with iCivics (free) required to download content.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the structure and function of local government in Washington
Identify the level of local government that can address an issue
Explain the basics of public meetings
Use the internet to locate information about the layers of local government where they live

What should you do if you're lucky enough to find an artifact? In this resource, JPPM Educator Kenny walks you through a simple 4-step process for making sure your find gets taken care of. Use to support Maryland Social Studies Frameworks for Grades 2 and 3. For Grade 2 Content Topic "Civic Engagement" search OER Commons for the related resource "JPPM - Marv's Story". Read the story together then as a class discuss and explore students' ideas of citizenship by asking whether Marv was a good citizen and if she could have made a different decision while still being a good citizen then have students reflect further by creating short profiles of people they respect, writing what makes them good citizens. For Grade 3 Content Topic "Civic Virtue" do the same except before discussing Marv's story have some students list their responsibilities if they find an artifact while others list what they are technically free to do even if they find an artifact. Then as a class decide if Marv had even more responsibility to do something when artifacts were found on her farm. If you evaluate or use this resource, please respond to this short (4 question) survey at bit.ly/3Gb4ZX5

Washington’s initiative and referendum powers let regular people participate directly in lawmaking! This lesson presents the initiative and referendum powers as tools and shows students how to use them.

Got a 1:1 classroom? Find fillable PDF versions of this lesson’s materials below. Register with iCivics (free) in order to download materials.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Explain the purpose and procedure of the initiative and referendum in Washington State
Compare and contrast the initiative and referendum powers in Washington State
Analyze and evaluate aspects of the initiative power and procedure

What should you do if you're lucky enough to find an artifact? In this resource, JPPM Educator Kenny walks you through a simple 4-step process for making sure your find gets taken care of. Available in video and text form, this resource also includes connections for instructors to Maryland State Social Studies Frameworks for grades 2 and 3 on Civic Engagment and Civic Virtue.

Learn more about the stories and legacy of over 13,000 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II at Minidoka Relocation Center, an American concentration camp in Idaho. 

Civics is the study of our national government, constitution, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Topics in the Puyallup Civics course include democracy and other forms of government; legislative, executive, and judicial functions; the political process; and foreign and domestic policies. The course also includes a summary of Washington State History and local native sovereignty.

This model course reflects 2018 Washington state legislation regarding the High School Civics Course requirement - RCW 28A.230.094.

This course is by Puyallup School District - only submitted by Barbara Soots.

In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Frank Dukes describes his role in the 1962 boycott of discriminatory stores and businesses.

He commandeered a Confederate gunship as he led his family to freedom. Meet the courageous Robert Smalls (1839-1915), the statesman and entrepreneur that exhibited integrity, conviction, and “radical grace” in his quest to rebuild South Carolina in the devastating aftermath of the Civil War.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Educational videos, documentaries, book club sessions, conversations, and a podcast produced by the Minidoka Pilgrimage that cover a variety of topics on the Japanese American WWII incarceration. Image of Minidoka Internment Camp by Dave Horalek, courtesy of Pixabay

There are over 260 countries and territories across the world, each with its own type of government.  A government is a group of people who officially and legally control a country or territory and make all the decisions about its taxes, laws, public services, and more.  The word ‘govern’ comes from the Greek word kybernan which means “to control the direction of something.”  From communist China with the largest population in the world to Vatican City with the smallest,  each nation is uniquely directed or ruled by one person, a few people, or many.

Water rights are a big deal for many reasons. In this lesson, students learn where water comes from, what water rights are, and how a variety of competing interests factor into managing water resources in Washington State.

Got a 1:1 classroom? Find fillable PDF versions of this lesson’s materials below.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Identify key factors involved in Washington’s water resource management
Explain the basics of water rights and the prior appropriation doctrine
Analyze how competing interests affect water resources
Predict how impacts on a water source could affect competing interests