By Lani deGuia, Guest Blogger and Curriki Member
21st century students need more than just preparation for college and careers. Studies indicate the millennial generation is much different from what we may know. With today’s heated political climate, civics has become a center of discussion in schools. In every content area, teachers are seeing politics bleed into class discussions, a sharp contrast to past decades.

Source: Pixabay.com
A Pew Research poll conducted in 2010 indicated that students in general were not familiar with the legislative process and 44% could not name the three branches of government. But today, seven years later, students are hungering for civics education.
We’ve curated some of Curriki’s top civics resources to enhance your instruction:
Civics Education
- Learn Liberty Collection – Learn Liberty is your resource for exploring the ideas of a free society. We tackle big questions about what makes a society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in. Resources in the collection include:
- Liberty 101 – This video series explains the core principles of a free society and the meaning of liberty.
- America’s Founding: The Figures and Ideas That Shaped A Nation – This video series explains the ideas that inspired a revolution and the significant individuals responsible for founding the nation.
- Free Speech: Trigger Warnings, Academic Freedom, and More – A video series explains the complexity of free speech including hate speech, speech restrictions on college campuses, the Charlie Hebdo massacre, and the use of free speech by oppressed groups to change the world.
- Real World Dilemmas of the Hunger Games: Liberty and Security – From increasing police militarization, to overreaching government regulation, to the desensitization of culture through mass media, modern America and fictional Panem share qualities that, indeed, threaten both freedom and quality of life.
- Schools of Thought in Classical Libralism – This video series explains the origins, basic tenets and philosophies of classical liberalism – like the Austrian School, the Chicago School, Public Choice, Natural Rights, Anarcho-Capitalism and more.
- Feminism: A New Perspective – This video series explains women’s equal rights and opportunities as well as contemporary issues like wage gaps and slut shaming.
- The Bill of Rights and Freedoms of Press, Assembly, and Petition – This series of lessons outlines how First Amendment freedoms like press, assembly, and petition are essential to self-government. The Founders saw these freedoms as a bulwark of free, republican government and a means of assuring justice in government.
- Campaign Wars – This lesson teaches students about campaigns and elections in the United States. It uses examples from previous campaigns and has students create an original campaign.
Use these activities as a way to inspire students using some of the biggest “hot topics” of their generation. Maximize this opportunity!
Lani deGuia is a Norfolk, VA-based Educational Consultant with experience writing and developing curriculum and managing school technology.