I Can’t Wear What?
The content on the iCivics site, how
ever, is more than just engaging—it’s
substantive. Take, for example, the
persuasivewriting unit, which includes
seven detailed lesson plans. The lessons
help set the context for the discussion,
provide resources such as PowerPoint
presentations and videos for students to
watch, suggest supplementary readings,
and offer meaningful activities for stu
dents to complete. As they navigate
their way through these resources,
students learn that “there’s a difference
between ‘arguing’ and making an
argument in support of a position, and
that making an argument is a learned
skill that doesn’t depend on how you
feel about an issue” ( www.icivics.org/
teachers/lessonplans).
In the scenario provided in the unit,
students follow a student, Ben Brewer,
who violates the dress code by wearing
his favorite band Tshirt to school. To
figure out which laws apply, students
read a summary of the 1969 Supreme
Court decision Tinker v. Des Moines
Independent School District, in which
five students were suspended from
school for wearing black armbands to
protest the Vietnam War. On the basis
of the evidence that students learn to
gather and present coherently, they
argue before the Supreme Court for and
against Ben’s right to wear the shirt.
They wrestle with difficult questions:
Is a band Tshirt actually “speech”? If
so, does that kind of cultural speech
have as much right to protection under
the First Amendment as political speech
does? What’s the balance between free
speech and disruption? In what way
might a Tshirt be disruptive? Students
can listen in as pairs of judges argue for
and against various points.
The lesson plans offer helpful tools,
such as “Yabbut Rabbit,” who teaches
students how to acknowledge the
iCivics: Play and Learn
iCivics teaches core civics content through games, free lesson plans, and a
variety of interactive modules. Here’s what it offers:
n 16 Games: In Branches of Power, kids get to control all three branches of government; in Win the White House, they manage their own presidential campaign;
in People’s Pie, they control the federal budget; in Crisis of Nations, they take
the helm of their own country and collaborate with others to solve international
problems. iCivics games are playable in one class period and provide a detailed
printable report at the end for grading purposes. Students can play the games on
individual computers, or the teacher can display the game on a single computer
with the help of an interactive whiteboard or projector.
n 11 Webquests: Webquests cover such topics as civic heroism, county basics,
the court system, making laws, being president, and the three branches of U.S.
government. Webquests include video clips, simulations, selected readings,
and questions with links to web resources that help students see how the topic
relates to the real world. Students can complete a webquest on individual computers, or the teacher can display it on a single computer with the help of an
interactive whiteboard or projector.
n 50+ Lesson Plans: Each lesson plan includes a lesson description; a lesson
objective; what the teacher needs to do to prepare for the lesson (such as
preview the PowerPoint presentation provided or print out specific materials);
and detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to conduct the lesson from
beginning to end.
n 12 Curriculum Units: Units cover such topics as foundations of government,
the U.S. Constitution, budgeting, politics and public policy, and state and local
government.
n Impact Projects: These are interesting community service projects that students are doing around the United States. iCivics gamers can spend points they
have won on their favorite project. Every three months, iCivics donates $1,000 to
the winning project.
truth of an argument (“yeah”) while
presenting counterarguments (“but”).
Students work their way through an
outlining process, learn how to structure
sentences that minimize or emphasize
specific information, and become adept
at differentiating between complex and
notsocomplex arguments.
