Classroom Resources
How can students learn the skills and knowledge of citizens everyday? The resources on this page will help teachers as they provide students big and small civic engagement opportunities.
Select one of the categories below (or scroll down) to see resources.
Action Guides
Step-by-step questions, tasks, and resources for students and teachers.
Teaching Tools
Graphic organizers and other instructional resources to foster the skills and dispositions of an informed citizen.
Learning Exercises
Connect content to civic questions through Taking Informed Action exercises.
Civic Inquiries
Inquiry materials to structure investigations focused on exploring modern civic questions.
Action Guides
Step-by-step questions, tasks, and resources for students and teachers.
Civic Action Project Guide
Action Plan Teacher Guide
Aligned to the C3 Framework’s Taking Informed Action task sequence. This guide has step-by-step guidance to: understand, assess, plan, and act on the issue.
Oral History Interviews
Teacher Guide
Resource to help students conduct ethical and historically-relevant interviews.
Host a Conversation
Teacher Guide
Facilitate a conversation of students and/or community members about important local issues.
Planning Guides
STEP 1: Connect
Stakeholder Guides
Who are stakeholders? What do different elected officials do? How do I contact them?
Use the Stakeholder Guides to connect with people who are: affected, can bring change, or can help you take action.
STEP 2: ACt
Action Guides
How can I take action?
Access the Action Guides for step-by-step guidance on over 50 different ways you can take action. Select a tile below for an example action guide.
STEP 3: Share
Civic Spaces Guides
Where can we share?
The Civic Spaces Guides include a list of different levels for sharing, as well as guidance for selecting the right space.
Example How-To Guides
Write an article
How-To Guide
Step-by-step guidance for writing a news report, featured article, op-ed, or letter to the editor.
Be a Conscious Consumer
How-To Guide
Research where goods come from and buy consumer items reflecting your values.
Organize a community service
How-To Guide
Bring people together to raise awareness and serve a local organization.
Speak at a community meeting
How-To Guide
Raise your voice and speak with stakeholders about addressing your issue.
See more Action Guides.
Teaching Tools
Graphic organizers and other instructional resources to foster the skills and dispositions of an informed citizen.
Argument Organizer
Teaching Tool
Using the “chicken-foot” thesis graphic organizer, students (1) organize evidence, (2) write claims, and (3) build an argument.
Thesis Generator Worksheet
Teaching Tool
Students can organize thesis statements using claims and evidence. (Also see Argument – Claim – Evidence Organizer for an alternative approach).
Question Formulation Technique
Teaching Tool
Sample Question Formulation Technique (QFT) exercise, using citizenship as the Q-Focus. QFT was developed by the Right Question Institute (RQI).
Learning Exercises
Connect content to civic questions through Taking Informed Action exercises.
Ancient China
Learning Exercise Examples
This document displays a range of civic exercises connected to an Ancient China inquiry. The list illustrates different levels of complexity and classroom time.
Chemistry: Dangers of Radon
Learning Exercise Examples
This document displays a range of civic exercises connected to a chemistry inquiry on radon. The list illustrates different levels of complexity and classroom time.
Civic Inquiries
Inquiry materials to structure investigations into modern civic questions.
Civic Inquiry
Students examine issues facing their community, what can (or should) be done about the issue, and evaluate the local candidates’ platforms to address these issues.
Civic Inquiries
A variety of different inquiries related to democracy, voting rights, civil rights, as well as women’s rights and the Suffrage Movement.
Civic Inquiries
Explore the C3 Teachers website’s Inquiry Design Model (IDM) resources. The Hub pages and database contain over 300 inquiries.