Civitas
A Newsletter for the CCS K-12 Social Studies Community
Special Edition - Constitution Day and Election 2016
Inside this edition:
- Constitution Day Lessons on the Web
- Newsela Leveled Text Collections on the American Founding and Election Issues
- Constitution Games and Interactives
- Kids Voting DoubleClick Democracy Election and Curriculum Resources
- INFOhio Spotlight - Points of View Reference Center
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Constitution Day Law
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Constitution Day Lessons on the Web
Constitution Day Collection (Share My Lesson) - A collection of lessons from leading civic education partners. Grades K-12 (Create a free account to download resources)
Constitution Day Lessons (Center for Civic Education) - A collection of lessons on the Constitution for all grade levels, K-12.
Constitution Day Lessons (Constitutional Rights Foundation) - A collection of lessons on the Constitution for all grade levels, K-12.
Constitution Day Lesson (iCivics) - Lesson on the functions and powers of each branch of government and checks and balances. Grades 4-12
Seven Ways to Teach the United States Constitution - An article outlining strategies for teaching the Constitution
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Newsela Leveled Text Collection on Founding Documents and Election Issues
Newsela provides news articles, primary sources, and secondary readings adapted for multiple reading levels. Each article includes a writing prompt and text-dependent questions.
Newsela includes several primary sources on the Constitution and American founding era. These sources are compiled into a single text set collection here: https://newsela.com/text-sets/106721/constitution-day
A text set on election issues is also available on Newsela here: https://newsela.com/text-sets/#/tag/election:2016?tag=election:2016
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Constitution Games and Interactives
Check out the games and interactives below:
- American Symbols (Primary Grades)
- Bill of Rights Game (Elementary/Middle School)
- Separation of Powers (Elementary/Middle School)
- Celebrate the Constitution (Elementary/Middle School)
- Life Without the Bill of Rights? (Elementary/Middle School)
- Help Restore the Bill of Rights! (Middle/High School)
- Check Point Powers (Middle/High School)
- We the People - Focus on Details: Compare and Contrast (Middle/High)
- Federalists and Anti-Federalists (High School)
- Branches of Power (High School)
- Checks and Balances in Action (High School)
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Kid Voting and Election 2016
All CCS students in grades K-12 will have the opportunity to participate in the Kids Voting DoubleClick Democracy election. The ballot for the November general election will be available beginning October 17 and running through Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, 2016. School Library Media Specialists will have the information on how to participate.
To prepare your students to discuss the election and related issues, you can access the Kids Voting USA curriculum through CCS Blackboard. Additional election resources are available on the Kids Voting Central Ohio website: http://www.kidsvotingoh.org.
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INFOhio Spotlight: Points of View Reference Center and Election 2016
INFOhio is Ohio's PreK-12 digital library. The comprehensive collection of resources are useful for all grade levels. For secondary teachers, the Points of View Reference Center can be especially helpful in teaching about issues that dominate the news in Election 2016.
The Points of View Reference Center is a full-text database that provides students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of today’s most controversial scientific, social, economic, and political issues. Each of the more than 340 topics features the following four main essays:
- Overview–an objective background description.
- Point –the arguments supporting one side of the issue.
- Counterpoint –the arguments supporting the opposing side.
- Guide to Critical Analysis–questions and tips to helps students analyze the issue in depth.
Access the Points of View Reference Center here: https://www.infohio.org/students/er/item/points-of-view. Working from school, you will automatically be logged in. Contact the Social Studies Department for the district username and password for home access.
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Columbus City Schools Social Studies
Matt Doran, 6-12 Social Studies Coordinator
Lynda Ray, K-5 Social Studies Coordinator
Chris Weatherholtz, K-5 Science/Social Studies Coordinator
Email: mdoran2067@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: www.ccsoh.us/socialstudies.aspx
Location: Columbus, OH, United States
Phone: 614-365-5372