Pull-out from Social Studies and the Young Learner. Includes list of children's books about elections.   

An examination of three recent Supreme Court cases and two that are upcoming can generate stimulating classroom debate on issues ranging from Native American interests to Fourth Amendment rights.

The use of trade books to foster discussion of historical events and major Supreme Court decisions in the elementary classroom can serve as a powerful method through which elementary students can begin to see themselves as active contributors to the communities and worlds in which they live. In this article and the accompanying lesson plan, the authors share ways to teach about Supreme Court decisions —specifically the decisions that have affected marriage equality—with the C3 Framework.

The following articles have been selected from our three main journals for K-12 teachers: Social Education, Middle Level Learning, and Social Studies and the Young Learner. These articles are grouped by topic for easy reference. Also included are recent current event responses that address racism and call for human rights education. NCSS Current Events Responses (2020)Teaching about Race and Racism in the ClassroomThe African American Struggle for Civil RightsSlavery and Its LegacyRacism and Discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and People of ColorHuman Rights EducationMiddle Level…

The Keys election forecast system predicts a loss for Donald Trump’s reelection bid. Studying the system can give students a more profound understanding of the factors that determine the outcome of a presidential election.

iCivics is featured in a new book exploring how video games are pioneering social change around the world.POWER PLAY: How Video Games Can Save the World by Asi Burak and Laura Parker devotes a chapter to iCivics’ origin story to illustrate how video games can be a force for good in society. The chapter narrated how Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was inspired to turn educational video games into the nation’s largest civic engagement project, which is now used by over 5 million students every year. Justice O’Connor said of the book, “This fascinating book shows how much games have to teach not…

Two recently published books offer behind-the-scenes insight into the 2012 presidential campaign and can help teachers illustrate important electoral concepts.

In Pursuit of Equity: Book Banning and Censorship Book bans in schools and libraries are on the rise. Last school year, more than 850 individual titles were impacted by censorship efforts of local groups and state decision-makers. How can educators and students navigate censorship in their communities? NCHE and NCSS united for a fourth virtual Equity Summit in October 2023 in support of our history and social studies educators and students, with a focus on book-banning and censorship. These are the session recordings from the Summit. 

The year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu epidemic, which killed about one-third of the human population on Earth. We also have, this year, an especially virulent strain of the flue to contend with. How society prepares for, and responds to, infectious diseases is the topic of these teaching resources. Raphael Mazzone and Lee Ann Potter, “Documents Related to the Flu Pandemic of 1918,” Social Education 70, no. 7 (November/December 2006): 393–396. *** As World War I neared its end, a worldwide epidemic claimed more victims than the war itself. The two featured documents…

This probing discussion of the Electoral College offers new approaches to teaching about this often-perplexing political system.