Social Studies & Civics Resources

CILIA-T stands for Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support. It’s an open-access, 16-module, CCRS/ELP/Northstar-aligned curriculum that integrates knowledge-building in civics, U.S. history, and government with academic English language and digital skills instruction and critical thinking. CILIA-T cultivates a classroom environment where adult learners can share and build on their immense personal experience as global citizens in partnership with their classmates. The target audience includes intermediate-advanced ELLs, pre-GED, and GED learners.

The Citizenship Kit provides teachers and volunteer tutors with all of the materials that necessary to help learners prepare for all portions of the citizenship interview, as well as activity ideas to challenge learners and keep them engaged as they study one-on-one with a tutor. Additional citizenship instructional resources are available as well.

#IamABE is a 3-lesson, standards-aligned curriculum, developed at three different levels, geared towards Adult Basic Education students. Designed to be easily implemented in any classroom, lessons and materials are available at the beginning, intermediate, and Advanced/GED levels. Lessons range from understanding First Amendment rights, to voicing one's political opinions on social media. This project-based curriculum builds towards launching a social media campaign to elevate student voices.

iCivics is a free, non-partisan, one-stop website for all topics related to civic knowledge.  It includes curriculum units and downloadable lesson plans for government-related topics such as the Constitution, the three branches, and civil rights. Other units focus on citizenship, core literacy skills, and persuasive writing. The lessons are written for middle to high school leveled students. iCivics also offers a variety of online educational games that emphasize social studies skills and topics.

The Minnesota Historical Society's education site offers free classroom-ready resources along with other supplemental curriculum materials on topics of Minnesota and American history. Many of the secondary and elementary ready-to-go classroom activities engage students in primary source analysis, while others focus on students' reading, writing, and research skills. In addition to classroom lessons, the site provides ideas for teaching Native American history and culture, guidance on taking field trips to historic sites and museums around the state of Minnesota, and a regularly updated list of teacher professional development opportunities.