The site is divided into Programs (a list of the Center’s initiatives), Community (where learners and educators can link to reference info and PD opportunities), Resources (with links to textbook supplements and stand-alone lesson plans), Media (a gallery of some short videos and newsletters), and About (with info about the organization itself). The site also includes links to Donate (to contribute to the nonprofit), Shop (to buy textbooks and supplemental materials), or Subscribe (to the Center’s newsletter).
If your school uses textbooks by this publisher, you’re in luck: Have your learners download the free app to their devices to enrich and extend their experience with the site. Have learners use the free resources like the “We the People Resource Center” to create their own vocabulary lists of critical words to know about voting, democracy, and citizenship. Have learners comb through the authors’ claims in the readings and PDF copies of the chapters. Talk through the questions in the included lesson plans, and have them consider discussion questions in class or as short essay questions for homework.
Click the “Lesson Plans” icon at the bottom right of the homepage or select the same option from the “Resources” drop-down menu at the top of the page; that’s the best bet for educators. These lessons are nicely aligned with holidays and observances (like a Presidents’ Day section and a Black History Month section), nicely cueing educators to useful times of year to plug these lessons into their curriculum. The Lesson Plans vary in quality and complexity: Some, like the “Citizens, Not Spectators” content on voting, is especially extensive, with 3-day, 5-day, and extended lesson plans available for the fall or spring election cycles. All elements of this section are extra-detailed and good for all grade levels. The Black History Month section is dense but looks dated, and some learners (and their educators) might be underwhelmed by the format. Other lesson plans are interesting but less detailed; the Presidents’ Day section focuses on four presidents, comparing them head to head on two key concepts: their contributions to American constitutionalism and citizenship (Washington versus Madison) and their use of executive power (Lincoln versus Reagan). Other lesson plans are less strong, though; some are just PDFs of the publisher’s book chapter plus a few worksheets; as you use the site, pick and choose to make sure the lessons you find are on the rich side, not the slim side.
Additionally, the “We the People Resource Center” is also a great resource for learners: While it’s technically a companion website for the third edition of the Center’s textbook of the same name, it’s also a good-but-dated resource website for exploring terms and concepts related to American democracy and citizenship. Overall, this isn’t the slickest website, and it’s likely most useful in classrooms where the accompanying textbooks are already in use. But if you’re looking for some stand-alone lessons on the voting process or the constitution, this site is definitely worth a look.
Website: http://www.civiced.org/home
Overall User Consensus About the App
Student Engagement
Aligning lesson plans with notable dates offers kids a built-in connection to real life. The discussion topics and ideas are solid and thought-provoking, but the text-based series of worksheets won’t really entice learners.
Curriculum and Instruction
There are a lot of worksheets here, and educators will have to get creative to thoughtfully design what’s worth using in their classroom. Some discussion questions and lesson plans are quite good, inviting kids to think critically.
Customer Report
Clearer indicators for navigating the site’s resources would help. There’s some good info on what’s for sale and what’s free, but this could be clearer.
