Schools and Teachers Needed for iCivics Pilot Project

Do you want to help students this summer learn more about citizenship? iCivics needs your help!

iCivics is working in conjunction with GlassLab and Filament Games to upgrade a popular game called Argument Wars. Middle and high school students and teachers are needed to improve the learning that occurs within the game’s cases.

iCivics is looking for 6th through12th grade students to play four games and then complete a short online survey. Their teachers – you! – would be volunteering on June 16 through July 3 to supervise the students testing out the new version of Argument Wars and provide feedback from what they also learned from the game. All pilot testing takes place online.

Contact Alison Atwater at alison.atwater@icivics.org by June 6 to learn more about this terrific program.

The Civics Challenge – A National Essay Contest

Attention, teachers in the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^thgrades:

You have an opportunity to let your students become civics champions. How? By having them join the national civics essay competition.

The National Center for State Courts invites third-to fifth-graders to submit a 100-word essay on “What is Civics Education and Why Is It Important?“ The winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card and copies of the educational graphic novel, Justice Case Files: The Case of the Broken Controller,for his or her grade. The winning entry will also be featured in future NCSC publications.

Entries can be hand-written or typed. Find out how to enter at www.ncsc.org/contest/. Come on students. Let’s show the nation that Ohio knows its stuff!

Essays are due by February 20. 

iCivics Teachers Council Needs You

How would you like to be a part of a national effort to create free, innovative educational materials to reverse our young peoples’ declining civic knowledge and participation?

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s iCivics program is accepting applicants for its Teachers Council, to help with teacher engagement and product development.

In four years, iCivics has produced many educational video games as well as vibrant teaching materials that have been used in classrooms in all 50 states. It offers the nation’s most comprehensive, standards-aligned civics curriculum that is available freely on the Web.

By becoming a member of the council, you’ll receive many benefits, including:

• A letter of commendation from Justice O'Connor sent directly to your administration.
• A press release in your local community upon acceptance to the Council. 
• Access to an all expenses paid meeting in Washington, D.C. with fellow Council Members, iCivics staff, education and technology leaders, and Justice O'Connor as her schedule permits.
• And much, much more.

How to apply:

• Read the instructions / FAQs, then download the fillable PDF application.
• Attach the completed application and the 3 other required documents (outlined in the instructions) to teacherscouncil@icivics.org by October 18 at 5 p.m. EST. 
• Share this link with your teacher friends!

Teachers and anyone passionate about serving teachers may apply, including nonprofit directors, library and media specialists, and curriculum specialists. Instructions and the application are available online, with the application due by October 18 at 5 p.m. EST.

Once Again, An Open Invitation

I have the distinct pleasure of working in one of Ohio’s most stunningly beautiful buildings. With its architectural and artistic details, the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center, nestled along the banks of the Scioto River in downtown Columbus, is truly a gem.

Every year, we have thousands of visitors who tour the building and discover interesting facts about its 80-year history. Part of the tour includes a stop in the Visitor Education Center, where interactive exhibits explain the role of our courts and illustrate important cases and issues. One of my favorite stops is the mock trial courtroom where visitors can place themselves in the roles of judge, jury, plaintiff, and defendant.

We welcome those that we serve, this is your Supreme Court, after all. You can schedule your visit Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., by calling 614.387.9223 or e-mailing courttours@sc.ohio.gov.


Watch this new video to get an idea of what you’ll see during the tour and how one school in Cincinnati is always the first to visit each school year.

Teens Can Sink Teeth into Halloween-Themed Case

Periodically, I try to let teachers know of online materials that may assist them in social studies classes, particularly those materials that relate to the judiciary. Here is an interesting idea from the U.S. courts website, and it’s timely given that Halloween is just around the corner.

An interactive educational program on the First Amendment and social media designed for high school students uses a real case about the U.S. Supreme Court’s school newspaper censorship decision (Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier) and applies it to a fictional student vampire club.

The Fangtastics go to court when high school administrators drive a stake through the heart of their online postings. Was it a case of protected critical satire or dangerous cult activity?

In the classroom, instructors may choose an Oxford-style debate or a full-fledged courtroom drama to examine opposing sides of the social media/free speech issue. It’s all in fun, especially as Halloween approaches. For more on social media and the First Amendment – and where vampires stand on the issues – take a look at these resources.

Additional reality-based courtroom simulations on a variety of topics of interest to high school students are also available.

More Help for Civics Teachers

Once again, I would like to highlight a new link – Constitution Classroom – that has become available for teachers who plan social studies classes at the middle and high school levels. The Ohio State Bar Foundation has created a number of tools to help teachers plan programs around the constitution.

The 2010 Fellows class, all practicing members of the Ohio bar, prepared PowerPoint segments on a variety of constitutional topics.

The topics include:

• Free Speech, Religion, Press, Assembly, Petition – We’re Number One! Search and Seizure – A Reasonable Test

• Due Process – Respecting Our Rights

• Three Branches of Government – A Constitutional Blueprint

Each topic also has case materials for mock trials and other information to help with several lesson plans.

Constitution Classroom can be found here: www.osbf.net/what-we-do/constitutionclassroom/

The attorneys who prepared this site hope that it will help promote classroom conversations. Let them know if their work was useful.