FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for our education system and our democracy. Members of the Teaching for Democracy Alliance are working to create and elevate resources which may be useful to students and teachers in these new circumstances, as aggregated in the list below.
  • The American Federation of Teachers has compiled information for those working in schools and highlighted materials from their Share My Lesson database which may be used for remote learning.
    • ​Model Pop-Up Democracy invites students to consider they would respond, as elected officials in the United States, to the crisis.
    • Teaching What Unites Us asks students to reflect on the value of democracy before and after watching a video of the same name.
 
  • CERG (the Civic Engagement Research Group) and CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) are teaming up to run a free online course for teachers titled "Educating for Informed and Equitable Voting". This 6-week course will take place from June 15th-July 26th, 2020 and focus on educational models for teaching about elections and voting in a non-partisan way. To reserve your spot in the course, fill out this registration form. Participants will also have the option to earn 4 units via UC Riverside Extension for an added fee of $260. For more detailed information about the course, check out this flyer.
 
  • CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a part of Tisch College at Tufts University) recently launched a new data tool, Youth Voting and Civic Engagement in America, which offers a unique way to explore the relationships between voting and other forms of civic participation, and some of the (political, socioeconomic, and community) conditions that shape such engagement. Educators can explore the tool as well as this teaching resource which offers lesson ideas for social studies, math, art, journalism, or ELA teachers interested in having students investigate the resource on their own. CIRCLE is also launching an initiative to invite young people (ages 14-24) to write/produce a guest post on their blog. Check out the project details here. Submissions are due the night of May 25, 2020.
     
  • Generation Citizen is creating free virtual lesson plans - "Democracy Doesn't Pause" - for teachers, students, families and caregivers working to sustain high quality Action Civics education during distance learning. They've also launched a new online PD tool, "Kick Start Action Civics," designed for teachers to work through on their own time to learn the basics of facilitating Action Civics for their own students. 
 
  • iCivics has created a Remote Learning Toolkit which centralizes access to iCivics' (free) online games and lesson plans (which are based on readings and activities and are not tech-dependent) for teachers as well as for parents teaching at home. A new Game Odyssey turns free iCivics games into an exciting adventure specially designed for remote learning play - students advance through a series of games each week and claim badges, share their successes, and learn important civics lessons on their journey. The Toolkit also points parents toward a series of weekly civic learning plans or grab-and-go ideas for the whole family, including a downloadable BINGO card and for younger learners (7-10 years old).
   
  • Follow @MikvaChallenge on Twitter for a weekly release of new student and teacher-facing materials for engaging in Action Civics online, including this structured student guide for analyzing current events from different perspectives, or access all past resources here. Also on their website, Mikva Challenge offers tools to engage students in a virtual Action Civics showcase and a digital platform, Soapbox Nation, on which young people can submit speeches they've written and presented on issues that matter to them, with the chance to win prizes as part of a national competition. Accompanying lesson plans are provided. The organization has also mobilized a National Youth Response Movement to amplify youth ideas in the media, with elected officials, and via social media platforms on how best to respond to the crisis in ways that support youth, their families and their communities. Check out this intro video to meet the youth, and stay abreast of their website for ongoing opportunities to plug into the movement.
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TFDA is coordinated by CIRLCE, a part of the Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University.