Good Resources for Teaching and Learning About Income Taxes
There are two things that I always write about at this time of year. One of those is Patriots’ Day and the American Revolution. The other thing is income taxes. In this post I’ll share some resources for teaching and learning about income taxes in the United States. Tax Help for High School Students A […]
Lesson Plans for The State of Union Address
Tomorrow night President Biden will give the annual State of the Union Address. C-SPAN Classroom offers more than one hundred resources for teaching and learning about The State of the Union Address in historical and current contexts. If you don’t have time to review all of the resources that C-SPAN Classroom offers (honestly, who does?), […]
StudentCam 2023 – Only Three Weeks Left
When it was announced back in September the entry deadline for the 2023 C-SPAN StudentCam contest seemed so far away. Now that 2023 is here, the deadline feels very close. That’s because it is close! The entry deadline for the 2023 C-SPAN StudentCam contest is January 20, 2023. Every year C-SPAN hosts the StudentCam video contest for middle […]
C-SPAN Offers a Free Electoral College Poster
C-SPAN Classroom is one of my go-to sources of ideas for lessons on current events related to U.S. government and politics. Membership in C-SPAN Classroom is free and provides members with lots of digital and physical resources. One of the resources C-SPAN Classroom is currently offering to members is a poster about the Electoral College. This […]
C-SPAN StudentCam is Back for Its 19th School Year!
Every year C-SPAN hosts the StudentCam video contest for middle school and high school students in the United States. This year’s version of the contest was announced yesterday. The theme of this year’s contest is “If you were a newly elected member of Congress, which issue would be your first priority and why?” The StudentCam contest is open […]
Social Studies Teachers! One Month Left to Apply for an Awesome Fellowship
I shared this news back in January, but that feels like so long ago now that some tulips are starting to poke out of the ground in my yard. This summer C-SPAN Classroom is hosting their annual teacher fellowship program in a virtual format. C-SPAN’s Summer Fellowship program is now open for applications. Those who […]
Take Your Students on the American Ideals Virtual Field Trip Hosted by Discovery Education
Disclosure: Discovery Education is an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Discovery Education hosts some fantastic virtual field trips throughout the year. These are open to all teachers who want to have their classes attend them, not just those who subscribe to Discovery Education. I’ve featured many of Discovery Education’s virtual field trips over the course of the […]
Supreme Court Lesson Plans
C-SPAN Classroom is a must-bookmark for anyone who teaches U.S. History. The large collection of free lesson plans is one of the things that keeps C-SPAN Classroom on the top of my list of go-to resources for more than a decade. And if you’re a member of C-SPAN Classroom (membership is free) you’ll get regular […]
Five Places to Find Dozens of Constitution Day Lessons
This Friday is Constitution Day in the United States. According to federal law all schools that receive federal funding have to teach some type of lesson about the Constitution on this day. C-SPAN, DocsTeach, and the National Constitution Center all offer either lesson plans or resources for building your own Constitution Day lesson plans. Constitution […]
Short Lessons on the Value of Money
Last week TED-Ed published a new video lesson titled Why Can’t Governments Print an Unlimited Amount of Money? The purpose of the video is to explain how governments, particularly the United States federal government, were able to spend trillions of dollars on COVID-19 economic relief programs in the last year. The video explains the role of […]
Dozens of Bell Ringers to Start Your Social Studies Lessons
C-SPAN Classroom has long been one of my go-to recommendations for social studies teachers. It’s particularly good for those who are developing lessons about civics and government. Bell Ringers is one of the many good resources that C-SPAN Classroom provides for free to all teachers. C-SPAN Classroom Bell Ringers are short video clips accompanied by […]
Two Short Lessons on Checks & Balances
Today is election day in the United States. While the election is fresh in our students’ minds, it is a good day to review how the three branches of federal government work in a system of checks and balances. In addition to voting for President we’ll also be voting for members of the House of […]
Five Last Minute Resources for Teaching About the Electoral College
We’re one week away from the U.S. Presidential election. While citizens cast their votes next week, the final selection happens in the Electoral College in December. That’s a concept that can be tricky for some students to understand. If you’re looking for some last minute resources for teaching about the Electoral College, take a look […]
A Handful of Videos to Help Students Understand the Electoral College
You can’t go to a news site today and not see something about the upcoming U.S. Presidential election. When you do go to those sites you’ll often find current polling data about the popularity of a given candidate and or the probability of a candidate winning. Those polls don’t always predict who will win because […]
C-SPAN Classroom Offers New Lessons on the Economic Impact of COVID-19
C-SPAN Classroom is a free resource that anyone who teaches U.S. History or civics should have bookmarked. I’ve written about many of their great resources and programs over the years including their annual student video contest and annual summer workshops for teachers. C-SPAN Classroom recently published a new lesson plan that includes a set of […]
Three More Recommended Resources for Teaching Civics and Government
Earlier this week I published a blog post in which I shared the resources that I shared with a reader who had emailed me seeking my recommended resources for teaching civics and government. I made that list completely from memory. This afternoon I dug into my archives to find a few more recommended resources for […]
Three Recommended Resources for Teaching Civics and Government
Yesterday I received an email from a reader who was looking for my recommendation for a few resources for teaching a government or civics course. The following are the recommendations that I made. iCivics is an excellent source of educational games related to various topics in civics and government. iCivics has steadily grown over the years […]
More Than 3500 Free Civics Lessons
60 Second Civics has long been one of my go-to resources for lessons on U.S. civics and government. 60 Second Civics is a daily podcast produced by the Center for Civic Education. Each 60 Second Civics episode offers a short lesson about US Civics. Along with each episode is a one question quiz about that day’s […]
A Fantastic Virtual Tour of the Houses of Parliament
CNN recently published a fantastic virtual tour of the Houses of Parliament or the Palace of Westminster, to be more precise. The narrated, self-guided tour lets viewers explore ten aspects of the Houses of Parliament including the House of Commons, the Robing Room, and the Members’ Lobby. Within each of the ten parts of the […]
Video Resources for Constitution Day
Constitution Day in the United States is on this coming Monday. By law all schools receiving federal funds have to offer some type of instruction about the Constitution. Yesterday, I shared a couple of interactive resources that can help students learn about the U.S. Constitution. Here are a couple of video resources for teaching and […]
What is a Grand Jury?
One of the topics that some of my civics students struggled with was understanding the court system in the United States. Keith Hughes recently published a video that I wish he had made about 10 years ago because some of those students would have benefited from watching What is a Grand Jury? In What is […]
Good Resources for Constitution Day Lessons
Constitution Day in the United States is just nine days away. By law, public schools are required to include a Constitution lesson during the day. Here are some resources that you might find useful in creating a Constitution Day lesson plan for your students. Keith Hughes, the face of Hip Hughes History, has a long playlist of […]
An Overview of Google’s Public Data Explorer
Google’s Public Data Explorer draws on data sets from the World Bank, the US CDC, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other sources of public data. In all there are eighty data sets. The Public Data Explorer makes it possible to quickly create visual representations and visual comparisons of the data sets. Each visualization you create has a […]
C-SPAN StudentCam 2017 – Student Messages for Washington
C-SPAN’s StudentCam contest is an annual event that invites students to produce short videos about current issues related to United States government. The 2016-17 version of the contest asks students to deliver a message to Washington about the most urgent issues for the new President and Congress to address. The StudentCam contest is open to […]
NATO on the Map – An Interactive Overview of NATO
NATO on the Map is an interactive map of information about about NATO. The map, viewable in 2D and 3D, displays information about NATO member countries, partner countries, NATO actions, and NATO security challenges and responses. When you visit NATO on the Map you can choose to display information from five categories. Selecting a category […]
A Crash Course on Foreign Policy
Last fall PBS Digital Studios and Crash Course launched a series on government and politics. The 50th and last installment in the series is about foreign policy. The from trade to human rights to environmental concerns the video covers most facets of what foreign policy is and how governments interact with each other. The video […]