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Tips and best practices

Utilize supports provided by DPI and your school district

- Talk with your district social studies or curriculum specialists - they are there for you!
- If your district creates curriculum and pacing guides, use them
- Use the NC Standards for each grade level and supporting documents
- Get involved in the NC Council for the Social Studies

Prioritize the time already allotted in your schedule for social studies
Consider using a lesson one day, and a follow up activity the next - and build from there
If you find an activity you like and works for your class, for example letter writing or problem-solving an issue, adapt it to various civics topics and use it again and again
Use warm ups, writing prompts, group discussions, and projects to find time to weave in more civic learning

Connect content and discussions to your school, community, and local governments
Ask students how government impacted them today - there are examples all around, all day long
Encourage students to think about their own civic roles - how would they solve a civic issue? what's their idea for their school or community? what would they do if elected into office? will they vote at age 18?

Focus on development of knowledge and skills, not the political content
Encourage student learning focused on real-life examples and experiences - for example, if students are learning about local government, they might research their local government's website, come up with an idea for a community improvement or solution to an issue, and contact the mayor to share it
In an election, students can learn about the offices on the ballot, how those offices connect to or impact your community and/kids, and analyze the candidates
Help students to learn how to problem-solve issues - a great opportunity to be creative, use different kinds of knowledge, and work in teams and as leaders - not use issues to highlight differences or trigger arguments
Be aware of any district policies involving political activity or inviting officials to your school (linked examples are from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools - all districts create their own local policies)

Math: count election results, calculate percentages and decimals and convey civic knowledge
Writing: write a newspaper editorial or article, write a letter to the mayor, or write about your idea to solve a community problem
Reading: research candidates running for office in this election, use the local government website to find out the roles of local government, build informational literacy by reading NC's voter registration form, read a school board agenda or a legislative bill being proposed in the NC General Assembly
Science: problem-solve a civic issue connected to science, map out a new greenway in your community, figure out how where to build a new road or bridge - and how government and citizens can collaborate to make it happen
Art: create a campaign poster, develop a new logo or motto for your city, make a video to present your idea for transforming your school and community for the better

- NC Civics Coalition resources and information about civics in NC
- NC Civic Health Index provides data about civic involvement among NC residents, and outlines the important role of civic education
- Educating for American Democracy provides guidance and an inquiry framework that states, local school districts, and educators can use to transform teaching of history and civics to meet the needs of a diverse 21st century K–12 student body
- CivXNow is a a national cross-partisan coalition of over 345 organizations - including GenerationNation and NC Civics Coalition - focused on improving our nation’s K-12 in and out-of-school civic education

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