This page offers resources you can use to engage students in civic education, including developing skills for civil discourse and media literacy, building knowledge about democracy and democratic processes, and fostering the disposition for civic engagement during the SD Unified for Democracy: 2024 Election Cycle Project and beyond.
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Why Engage in Civic Education?
Why Engage in Civic Education?
student civic knowledge, skills, and disposition.
student civic knowledge, skills, and disposition.
Classroom Instruction: Schools should provide instruction in government, history, economics, law, and democracy that is relevant and interesting to students.
Discussion of Current Events and Controversial Issues: Schools should incorporate classroom discussion of current local, national, and international issues and events into the classroom, particularly those that young people view as important to their lives.
Service Learning: Schools should design and implement active civics programs that provide students with the opportunity to apply what they learn through performing community service that is linked to the formal curriculum and classroom instruction.
Extra-Curricular Activities: Schools should offer extra-curricular activities and opportunities for young people to get involved in their schools or communities outside of the classroom.
School Governance: Schools should encourage student participation in student councils and other school governance opportunities so students gain practical experience in civics and democracy.
Simulations of Democratic Processes: Schools should encourage students to participate in simulations of democratic processes, procedures, and policymaking to teach students 21st century skills such as public speaking, teamwork, close reading, analytical thinking, and the ability to argue both sides of a topic.
As outlined in the research report, "Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools", students who receive effective civic learning are:
More likely to vote and discuss politics at home
Four times more likely to volunteer and work on community issues
More confident in their ability to speak publicly and communicate with their elected representatives
Fostering Civil Classroom Community
Fostering Civil Classroom Community
Use these resources to develop and maintain a classroom community that elevates student voice, develops identity and belonging, honors diverse perspectives, and builds strong relationships. You can build in democratic principles and foster discourse that is inclusive and safe so that you can prevent harm from occurring as well as have the right conditions to address harm in restorative ways if it occurs.
Primary and Elementary (Grades UTK-5)
Primary and Elementary (Grades UTK-5)
QLIs for Community Building: Beginning of Year Guide: Follow this beginning of year guide to develop a strong classroom community. Quality Learning Interactions are designed to help students and teachers build warm, demanding, and reciprocal alliances in service of learning. During the election cycle, you can adjust any of the interactions to build in elements of democracy (E.g. your agreements can be develop in partnership with students and you can call it your constitution) or address student needs in relation to the election cycle (such as processing feelings about rhetoric they heard in the news). These interactions are appropriate and adaptable for all ages.
CASEL Classroom Community Building Activities: This webpage from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning includes several activities that help build the relationships that allow learners to feel a sense of community- that they are “in this together”- so you can create a safer, more equitable environment where all students participate and achieve.
Proactive Community Circles: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this webpage contains links to multiple resources to develop proactive community circles in your classroom to create conditions to prevent and respond to harm. Resources include check-ins, guidelines, closings, lessons, and mindfulness activities.
Civil Discourse Structures and Supports PDF: From our partner, San Diego County Office of Education, this list with links to Civil Discourse Structures offers several different talk structures that support in civil discourse in classrooms.
This Preparing for Discussion list with links to several different activities can be used to prepare students for discussion on any topic by providing space to process new information and begin formulating thoughts. Included activities vary in level appropriateness but can be adapted to suit student needs.
And this Post-Discussion Reflection list with links to activities will provide opportunities for students to engage in reflecting on learning.
Included structures vary in level appropriateness but can be adapted to suit student needs.
Middle and High (Grades 6-12)
Middle and High (Grades 6-12)
QLIs for Community Building: Beginning of Year Guide: Follow this beginning of year guide to develop a strong classroom community. Quality Learning Interactions are designed to help students and teachers build warm, demanding, and reciprocal alliances in service of learning. During the election cycle, you can adjust any of the interactions to build in elements of democracy (E.g. your agreements can be develop in partnership with students and you can call it your constitution) or address student needs in relation to the election cycle (such as processing feelings about rhetoric they heard in the news). These interactions are appropriate and adaptable for all ages.
CASEL Classroom Community Building Activities: This webpage from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning includes several activities that help build the relationships that allow learners to feel a sense of community- that they are “in this together”- so you can create a safer, more equitable environment where all students participate and achieve.
Proactive Community Circles: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this webpage contains links to multiple resources to develop proactive community circles in your classroom to create conditions to prevent and respond to harm. Resources include check-ins, guidelines, closings, lessons, and mindfulness activities.
Civil Discourse Structures and Supports PDF: From our partner, San Diego County Office of Education, this list with links to Civil Discourse Structures offers several different talk structures that support in civil discourse in classrooms.
This Preparing for Discussion list with links to several different activities can be used to prepare students for discussion on any topic by providing space to process new information and begin formulating thoughts. Included activities vary in level appropriateness but can be adapted to suit student needs.
And this Post-Discussion Reflection list with links to activities will provide opportunities for students to engage in reflecting on learning.
Included structures vary in level appropriateness but can be adapted to suit student needs.
Code of Civil Discourse: From our partners at National Conflict Resolution Center, you can post, include in lessons, and even adopt this poster/PDF as a classroom code that all agree and adhere to in order to support safe, empathetic, and open discourse about sensitive topics.
First Week Classroom Community Building: From Facing History and Ourselves, these beginning of year activities, done in order, help students imagine a classroom where all members feel seen, valued, and heard in preparation for creating a class contract in the final activity.
Activities:
-Community Is... Community Isn't...
-Envisioning Our Classroom Space
-Contracting for Back to School
If you want more, you can see additional activities for the first days of school here and a toolkit for building community and connection here.
Invitation to Brave Space: From our Ethnic Studies team, this lesson has been adapted from Facing History and Ourselves. In this lesson, students analyze a poem in order to define “brave space” and envision what a brave classroom community might look, sound, and feel like. Use ideas generated in this activity as framing for the norms and agreements your class will utilize while discussing post election feelings, reflections, and experiences, as well as other conversations throughout the school year.
Repairing Harm
Repairing Harm
Election cycles can elevate harmful rhetoric that makes its way onto our campuses and classrooms. If harmful rhetoric or hate speech (or any other harm) occurs, you can use these restorative justice practice resources to address and work to repair that harm. Repairing harm in restorative ways is most effective when classroom communities have been built around civil and inclusive communication and students have those skills and practices already in place. (See previous section resources to develop a restorative classroom community that incorporates democratic principles and supports civil discourse.)
Primary and Elementary (Grades UTK-5)
Primary and Elementary (Grades UTK-5)
Visual Think Sheet: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this document offers reflection space and is supported with visual representations of the accountability process. They help to hold individuals accountable for repairing the consequences of their choices.
Restorative Questions Cards: Print and keep near our RJP Department's Restorative Questions Cards to be ready to address harm when it occurs. Use these questions to support both the person who was harmed and the person who caused the harm.
Behavior Reflection: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this document/worksheet offers reflection space. It helps hold individuals accountable for repairing the consequences of their choices.
Restorative Questions Processing: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this document/worksheet offers restorative questions for the individual(s) impacted by the incident, allowing them to process their feelings and determine what they need to feel that things are “right.” These questions also help to hold individuals accountable for repairing the consequences of their choices.
Affective Statements: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this webpage contains links to multiple resources to support affective statements in your classroom. Resources include printables to implement as well as readings and videos to develop understanding of this restorative practice. Teach students to use affective statements so they can discuss conflict between themselves and others in meaningful and nonjudgmental ways.
Restorative Conversations: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this webpage contains links to multiple resources to support restorative conversations in your classroom. Resources include printables to implement as well as readings and videos to develop understanding and implement this restorative practice to use when harm has occurred.
Restorative Discipline Policy: San Diego Unified's RDP includes preventative practices as well as restorative practices and a tiered intervention Restorative Repsponse Matrix to help know how to respond when harm occurs.
Middle and High (Grades 6-12)
Middle and High (Grades 6-12)
Restorative Questions Cards: Print and keep near our RJP Department's Restorative Questions Cards to be ready to address harm when it occurs. Use these questions to support both the person who was harmed and the person who caused the harm.
Restorative Questions Processing: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this document/worksheet offers restorative questions for the individual(s) impacted by the incident, allowing them to process their feelings and determine what they need to feel that things are “right.” These questions also help to hold individuals accountable for repairing the consequences of their choices.
Affective Statements: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this webpage contains links to multiple resources to support affective statements in your classroom. Resources include printables to implement as well as readings and videos to develop understanding of this restorative practice. Teach students to use affective statements so they can discuss conflict between themselves and others in meaningful and nonjudgmental ways.
Restorative Conversations: From our Restorative Justice Practices Department, this webpage contains links to multiple resources to support restorative conversations in your classroom. Resources include printables to implement as well as readings and videos to develop understanding and implement this restorative practice to use when harm has occurred.
Restorative Discipline Policy: San Diego Unified's RDP includes preventative practices as well as restorative practices and a tiered intervention Restorative Repsponse Matrix to help know how to respond when harm occurs.
Developing Media Literacy
Developing Media Literacy
This section offers resources to support media literacy so students are able to think critically, determine bias and credibility, and identify and prevent the spread of mis- and disinformation.
Elementary (Grades K-2)
Elementary (Grades K-2)
With so much information at their fingertips, help students learn what it means to "give credit" when using content they find online. Taking on the role of a detective, students will learn why it's important to give credit and the right ways to do it when they use words, images, or ideas that belong to others
The web is full of photos, and even videos, that are digitally altered. And it's often hard to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. Help your students ask critical questions about why someone might alter a photo or video in the first place.
Elementary (Grades 3-5)
Elementary (Grades 3-5)
Rumor Guard: Rumor Guard is a non-partisan fact-checking site from the News Literacy Project that stays up to date with the latest in rumors and conspiracies. Teach students to use this fact-checker to identify mis-information and stop the spread.
The Essentials of Fact-Checking: Know Your News: From our partners, League of Women Voters, this blog contains a checklist that will guide you and students in finding fact-based media.
Your Guide to Mis- and Disinformation: From our partners, League of Women Voters, this blog contains tips to identify and interrupt the spread of mis- and disinformation. Teach students to use these methods and build media literacy.
News Literacy Tools, Tips, and Quizzes: This webpage from The News Literacy Project contains engaging quizzes, short activities, and shareable infographics to develop media literacy. Topics on this comprehensive and extensive resource site include confirmation bias, vetting sources, credibility, misinformation, AI, social media, and more.
Media Literacy Booster Pack: This collection of resources from Newseum Ed offers tools (videos, activities, artifacts) to tackle eight pressing challenges. Each challenge includes several resources to support that topic.
-Separating Facts and Opinions
Use the links above to go directly to each challenge, or use the webpage link to navigate the booster pack on your own.
Middle and High (Grades 6-12)
Middle and High (Grades 6-12)
All Sides News: All Sides is a balanced (unbiased and credible) news source to use and to share with students to stay up to date on accurate news. They present news stories from the Left, Center, and Right with each source labeled as such to help readers determine bias and understand multiple perspectives.
Rumor Guard: Rumor Guard is a non-partisan fact-checking site from the News Literacy Project that stays up to date with the latest in rumors and conspiracies. Teach students to use this fact-checker to identify mis-information and stop the spread.
The Essentials of Fact-Checking: Know Your News: From our partners, League of Women Voters, this blog contains a checklist that will guide you and students in finding fact-based media.
Your Guide to Mis- and Disinformation: From our partners, League of Women Voters, this blog contains tips to identify and interrupt the spread of mis- and disinformation. Teach students to use these methods and build media literacy.
News Literacy Tools, Tips, and Quizzes: This webpage from The News Literacy Project contains engaging quizzes, short activities, and shareable infographics to develop media literacy. Topics on this comprehensive and extensive resource site include confirmation bias, vetting sources, credibility, misinformation, AI, social media, and more.
Media Literacy Booster Pack: This collection of resources from Newseum Ed offers tools (videos, activities, artifacts) to tackle eight pressing challenges. Each challenge includes several resources to support that topic.
-Separating Facts and Opinions
Use the links above to go directly to each challenge, or use the webpage link to navigate the booster pack on your own.
Instructional/Curricular Resources
Instructional/Curricular Resources
Each row of this embedded sheet describes and links a resource (or resources), along with the appropriate grade level, what aspect of this project is being addressed, and the time required to implement in your class.
Scroll down to see more resources, scroll right to see the whole row if not on-screen, and toggle between levels using the page tabs at the bottom of the sheet.
If desired, you can see the sheet in its own window by hovering over the top right corner and clicking the arrow to open in a separate window.
Resources/links included here are vetted for:
easy access without sign-in or account creation;
inclusion of materials necessary for implementation;
and non-partisanship.
If any adjustments are needed, please use our feedback form to let us know.
Instructional Resources: Recommended Sources
Instructional Resources: Recommended Sources
The curated instructional and curricular resources above were sourced from multiple platforms. Platforms that have additional resources that are related, but are not included on the curated list are included below for those who want to explore further.
Kid Citizen
(Primary, Elementary)
Kid Citizen Episodes: This site from the Congress, Civic Participation, and Primary Sources Project (funded by the Library of Congress) offers activities exploring congress and civic engagement for primary and elementary students.
Center for Civic Education
(All Levels)
Center for Civic Education: The Center's mission is to promote an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy. This site contains multiple programs, resources, and lesson plans , including for Constitution Day, a series of videos that explain the constitution, 60 second civics education videos and quizzes about voting and elections including diverse perspectives.
JFK Presidential Library and Museum
(All Levels)
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum offers a variety of lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits on several topics to support educators.
PBS: Learning Media
(All Levels)
This Arthur Civics Collection from PBS Learning Media includes civics lesson plans, videos, and an interactive game to develop an understanding of civics in young learners. (Primary)
This Let's Learn/Social Studies collection from PBS Learning Media includes civics lesson plans and videos to help primary students develop a broad understanding of topics such as community, identity, democracy, and culture. (Primary)
This Elections Central collection from PBS Learning Media ranges from elementary to high and contains resources for several election relevant topics. (Elementary, Middle, High)
Use this America from Scratch video collection with accompanying discussion guides to attend to the most important issues of the day, and to encourage critical thinking and promote civic engagement with your students. (Middle, High)
News Literacy Project
Resource Library
(Elementary, Middle, High)
This Classroom Resource Library hosts an extensive collection of lesson plans, classroom activities, posters and infographics, quizzes, training materials and videos for educators teaching news literacy.
Resources can be filtered by grade or resource type.
Included topics are relevant to and supportive of building media literacy.
Rock the Vote
Democracy Explainers
(Middle, High)
This collection of easy to follow explainers from our partner Rock the Vote covers a wide-range of US election and democracy topics. Explore to find explainers relevant to current work.
PBS: American Experience
(Middle, High)
The Vote collection features video, digital shorts, articles, images, and interactive activities related to women's suffrage, including controversies over gender roles and race.
Facing History and Ourselves
(Middle, High)
Facing History and Ourselves has thousands of research-based resources and professional learning to support Social Studies and English Language Arts education. Teaching resources include lessons, units, collections, and toolkits.
Relevant resources include the Current Events in the Classroom collection or the Resources for Civic Education in California collection, which meets 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade standards for History-Social Science.
National Constitution Center
(High)
The Constitution 101 Curriculum from the National Constitution Center is a 15 module curriculum that provides students with a basic understanding of the Constitution’s text, history, structure, and caselaw. Each module includes detailed materials for classroom educators, as well as opportunities for guided discovery and practice and tools to check for understanding. Recommended modules included in the curated list above are Module 1: Constitutional Conversations and Civil Dialogue and Module 13: Voting Rights in America. You can navigate through each module by scrolling down the page OR download the full module as a PDF. You might also want to use the interactive Constitutional Rights.
Upcoming Events and Other Opportunities
Upcoming Events and Other Opportunities
If you are dedicated to building civically engaged students, this section is for you! Find activities, events, and opportunities to civically engage students below.
VAPA Lessons
(All Levels)
Engage students in this art lesson/project and display share art to support SD Unified for Democracy and reinforce important ideas such as civil discourse, media literacy, or getting out the vote.
For elementary, see Tiny Art, Big Voices.
For secondary, see Community Action Poster Design.
Judges in the Classroom
(All Levels)
From our partner, California Judicial Branch, visit Power of Democracy to request a classroom visit and lesson from a judge. Lessons include time for students to get to know the judge, ask questions about their role, path to the bench, types of cases they hear, etc.
Election Day Walk
Through Polls at Vote Center Schools November 4
(All Levels)
If your school is a vote center/polling site, you can arrange to do a class walkthrough on Monday, November 4 (only).
You can even arrange for the site manager or precinct inspector to talk and explain to your class if they aren't too busy.
Check back closer to Election Day for details including host sites and contact names.
Constitution Day
September 17
(All Levels)
September 17 is recognized in the United States as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. On this day, we commemorate the creation and signing of the supreme law of the land and celebrate the privileges and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship, be it for native-born or naturalized citizens.
The Center for Civic Education has many resources, including lesson plans for every grade level.
Get Supplies and Host Your Own Mock Election
(Elementary, Middle, High)
From our partner San Diego County Registrar of Voters, get supplies to set up a mock election at your site.
You can coordinate the mock election and prepare your own ballots and election process by connecting with the SD County Registrar of Voters Logistics Manager, Laura Kelly, whose team is able to receive the specific requests, provide booths, I Voted stickers, and schedule a pickup time, etc.
Inquiries related to mock election supplies and pickup scheduling should be directed to:
Laura Kelly, Elections Manager
Participate in CA's Mock Elections on Tuesday, Oct 8 (Middle and High School)
From our partner CA Secretary of State, register to participate in the 2024 California Mock Elections by September 16. Read the joint letter from Secretary of State and Department of Education. Sign up and see resources or learn more on the website.
Post and Share PSAs About Being Informed
(Elementary, Middle, High)
From our partner League of Women Voters, share PSA videos to help inform community partners.
Verify Before You Share Spanish
Preregister to Vote at 16
Register to Vote at 18
(High)
From the California Secretary of State, students who are 16 can pre-register to vote and then automatically be registered and able to vote on their 18th birthday.
Post the pre-registration flyer on your website, classroom, or social media. You can access the flyer in 10 different languages here. You can also share the "Our Time is Now" promotional video. And, of course, you can share the link to pre-register.
For students who are 18 and older, share the link to register to vote.
Access the social media toolkit to spread the word.
Vote 411
(High)
This website from our partner, League of Women Voters, has all of the resources a new voter might need to register, understand a ballot, or explore voting rules in our state.
Become a Poll Worker
(High)
Encourage students to become a poll worker.
Starting at age 16, high school students who are U.S. citizens, maintain a 2.5 grade point average, and have permission from their parent or guardian and school can learn how elections are run while they earn money as a student poll worker on Election Day. If interested, students complete the high school poll worker application. It only takes 2-3 minutes!
You can also share the high school poll worker FAQ.
Help Register Voters
(High)
Help make an impact by registering voters!
Get a Voter Registration Event Toolkit from our partner, Rock the Vote.
Share the link to the CA Secretary of State Voter Registration page. The information on this page is available in ten languages.
Access the Social Media Toolkit from our partner, San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
Request a Civic Engagement Workshop for Students
(High School)
Our partners CA Secretary of State and SD County Registrar of Voters work together to coordinate civic engagement workshops and voter registration training at high schools. To request this service, Contact Su Nguyen at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
(858) 505-7243
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