Quick note: This episode is a repost, but it’s a helpful one to revisit as you plan simple ways to make government and civics easier for students to understand.
Welcome to Part 4 of the Social Studies Summer Series!
In this episode, we’re talking about how to teach government and civics skills to 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students in a way that feels clear, practical and engaging.
Government can sometimes feel like a big topic for upper elementary students, but it becomes much easier when we connect it to real-life examples, classroom routines, community helpers, current events and everyday decision-making.
I’ll share simple steps for helping students understand the basics of government, the role of citizens and how people can participate in their communities. You’ll also hear ideas for using interactive activities, multimedia resources and critical thinking questions to make these lessons more meaningful.
Whether you’re teaching branches of government, rights and responsibilities or active citizenship, this episode will give you practical ideas to help students see why civics matters.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, you’ll hear ideas for:
- Starting with the basics of government and civics
- Using real-life examples students can understand
- Adding interactive activities
- Incorporating multimedia resources
- Connecting with community resources
- Encouraging critical thinking
- Promoting active citizenship
- Reflecting and assessing student understanding
- Making government and civics more fun
Resources and Links
Check out my government and civics daily passages!
CNN10 is a great resource for this age!
More government-related resources
Civics-related resources
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab the Back to School Social Studies Pack!
Get your upper elementary students excited to start the school year using these low-prep back to school social studies getting to know you worksheets! With 20 pages of engaging activities targeting geography, history, and classroom community building, it makes a great back to school resource for the first week or first month of school!
Learn more about the Back to School Social Studies Resource
Teacher Summer Talks and Bootcamp - Double Dose of PD!
The week of July 20th is jam-packed with some exciting PD for teachers!
Sign up for the Teacher Summer Talks audio summit >> https://thesouthernteach--secondstorywindow.thrivecart.com/tst-26-max-pass/
Sign up for the Social Studies Bootcamp >> https://thesouthernteach.com/bootcamp
