At a Glance

Description

Gain inspiration for new ways to approach political history.

Producer
Michigan State University College of Education, MATRIX, and H-Net

Civics Online

Painting, "Penn's Treaty with the Indians," Edward Hicks, c.1840-1844

This site was designed as a resource for teachers and students of Civics, grades K-12, in Michigan public schools. The site provides access to 118 primary source documents and links to 71 related sites. Of these documents, 22 are speeches, 34 are photographs or paintings, and five are maps. The site is indexed by subject and "core democratic values" as determined by Michigan Curriculum Framework. A section for teachers includes one syllabi each for primary, middle, and high school courses. The syllabi are accompanied by interviews with the teacher who developed the assignments and by a student who participated in the curriculum, as well as by examples of student work. "Adventures in Civics" presents student visitors with a 178-word essay on Elian Gonzalez and an essay assignment for each grade level on what it means to be an American. The site links to six articles and 17 sites about Gonzalez.

Students may use a multimedia library, simultaneously searchable by era, grade-level, and core democratic value. The site also provides a timeline of American history with 163 entries (five to 500-words). The site provides a 1,000-word explanation of core democratic values and links to 41 other government and university sites about American history and civics. This site will probably be most interesting and useful for teachers looking for curriculum ideas.