“Democracy is not a spectator sport”
So says Sandra Day O’Connor in her video introduction for teachers on the iCivics web site.
iCivics is a web-based civics program that the former Supreme Court justice helped to develop. (They’ve recently changed their name from “Our Courts“, so you can check them out at either site.)
Their games, designed for any group of kids from middle to high school ages, are played on computer – one per kid so you may need to gather laptops from friends – and finish in the classic school period of 50 minutes.
Topics include “Do I Have a Right?” about constitutional law, “Argument Wars” where you debate actual Supreme Court cases, and more. I can see these as part of a family game night or as an activity for a homeschool group.
They also have free downloads on many civics topics and other info for teachers and kids, including lesson plans on the branches of government and many other topics. You could get your entire civics unit from their web site for free!
