SUBSCRIBE | News Archive We've come to the end of another school year, and will be on hiatus over the summer preparing to hit the ground running, and harder, for 2019-20, after ending the 2018-19 on a very high note, with the eleventh annual Our American Voice Summit, this year in two locations, and the ground-breaking passage of a new civics education requirement for all middle schools in Illinois, which OAV students … [Read more...]
Citizen U News: Issue 5
April 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
SUBSCRIBE | News Archive Welcome to the official newsletter of Citizen U and Our American Voice, supporting all civics initiatives empowering educators and education supporters to integrate civics into every classroom, civic action into every community, and primary source civic literacy throughout. All while keeping you up to date on the latest civics news and opportunities, like the upcoming pilot test of a new TPS civics … [Read more...]
Primary Source Learning: Civil Rights
February 20, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Citizen U: interdisciplinary civics lessons Civil Rights and Civic Action Dolores Huerta Building Coalitions to Affect Change Collaborating to Affect Change Inspiring Civic Responsibility Selma & Voting Rights: Standing Up for Equality Lesson plans Baseball, Race Relations and Jackie Robinson Baseball, Race and Ethnicity: Rounding the Bases I Have a Dream Image Sequencing We Shall Overcome Guided primary source analysis activities An … [Read more...]
Timely Connections: Civics, History & Interdisciplinary Connections
December 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The overarching goal of a general education in the United States has been, and should continue to be, to promote civic competence. Teaching with primary sources, no matter the content focus, provides students with the skills necessary to be competent and active citizens. Digging into primary sources and grappling directly with different perspectives provides students practice in information literacy skills that they will employ in numerous contexts throughout their lives. When students "do" … [Read more...]
Citizen U & Engaging Congress: Free Workshops in IL & TX
December 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
WHY These free in-person workshops will help civic-minded educators develop engaged citizens by: improving inquiry-based teaching using Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) methodology; reviewing the elementary through high school inquiry-based Citizen U interdisciplinary civics lessons interacting with the free civics app Engaging Congress; previewing the Library of Congress TPS Civics micro-credential pilot. WHO 6th–12th grade educators in all content … [Read more...]
Citizen U Webinar: The “Four Freedoms” & the Bill of Rights
December 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Citizen U lessons infuse civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions across the core subjects in elementary, middle, and high school grades. This interactive webinar will feature practice with interdisciplinary civics, inquiry-based learning, and teaching with primary sources. You'll see how these free lessons can be used in either ELA or social studies classes and how they're differentiated across grade spans from elementary to high school. You’ll also be eligible to enter a drawing for a $50 … [Read more...]
Citizen U & TPS at NCSS 2018
November 29, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Look for Barat Education Foundation at NCSS 2018. We are excited to engage with you. We will be showcasing Citizen U lesson plans, which integrate civics into math, science, English, and social studies, at our NCSS poster session on Friday, Nov. 30 from 3-4 pm: Innovative and Collaborative Teacher Transformation. Poster session #2229 (Crystal Ballroom Foyer, Lobby Level, West Tower) will delineate the ways in which Barat effectively collaborated with DePaul University and the Constitutional … [Read more...]
Citizen U: Multidisciplinary Civics Lessons
November 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Citizen U integrates inquiry-based civics across core curriculum disciplines—English-language arts, math, science, and social studies—in elementary, middle school, and high school grades. Created through a grant awarded by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources TPS program, Citizen U is a collaboration of the Barat Education Foundation, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and DePaul University’s Office of Innovative Professional Learning. Get the Lessons! Download a lesson … [Read more...]
Citizen U Webinar: Should the Government Ever Censor the Press?
October 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Citizen U lessons infuse civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions across the core subjects in elementary, middle, and high school grades. This interactive webinar featured practice with interdisciplinary civics, inquiry-based learning, and teaching with primary sources, and provided information about free middle and high school lessons that can be used in either ELA or social studies classes. Webinar recording Lesson Plans Middle School: Freedom of the Press, Censorship, and … [Read more...]
Citizen U Webinar: Teaching About Journalists & a Free Press
October 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Citizen U lessons infuse civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions across the core subjects in elementary, middle, and high school grades. This interactive webinar featured practice with interdisciplinary civics, inquiry-based learning, and teaching with primary sources, and provided information about a free elementary-level lesson that can be used in either ELA or social studies classes. View webinar recording Lesson Plans Elementary: Journalists and a Free Press Middle … [Read more...]
George Washington penned a letter about religious freedom to prominent Jewish leader Moses Seixas. Check out our