Civics education is "on the books" in all 50 states, yet civic illiteracy is widespread. Only one third of 12th graders are able to explain the significance of the Declaration of Independence, and fewer than half of 8th graders know the purpose of the Bill of Rights. This instructional guide explores the foundations of civics education--and the reasons for its demise--with commentary from civics education leaders and scholars across the nation. Questions for eliciting civics discussion are provided for all grade levels, along with detailed civic action and service projects and reading plans. Best practices and grant writing options are included. The author argues for a return to early 20th century civics education and details the traditional and present-day role of America's libraries in developing a civic-minded populace. School and public librarians are urged to utilize trade books and carefully evaluated websites to integrate civics within educational and youth services offerings.

Drawing on stories from successful programs and research, this book shows librarians how to provide students with the practical information they need for a bright future. Chapters cover career readiness, financial literacy, and civic responsibility at each grade level. From preschool through high school, students are preparing for their future. As they move through grade levels, they choose courses, research potential careers, learn about managing money, and recognize the responsibilities of being active citizens. At each step of the way, librarians can collaborate with teachers to help students to learn how to live in a world they can only imagine. School librarians are positioned to make a positive impact on students' lives when it matters most. Focusing on preparation for life after high school, this book cites research and provides anecdotes of successful programs as examples of how school librarians, in collaboration with counselors, community members, public libraries, and teachers, can develop collections and offer programming to show students the importance of finishing high school. Chapters also explain how to help students to find the college or university that fits with their educational interests and won't cause them to incur enormous debt. Included in every chapter are activities, resources, and lesson plans around topics at each grade level for librarians to co-teach with teachers, counselors, and other school staff.

Focusing on adult patrons ages 19 through senior citizens, this book explains how libraries can best serve this portion of their community's population at different life stages and foster experiences that are "worth the trip"—whether actual or virtual. Adult library patrons are busier than ever before—working, taking classes and studying for advanced degrees, caring for children, helping their aging parents, taking care of their homes or rental properties, planning and nurturing careers, managing investments and retirement funds, and inevitably retiring. Each of these endeavors can require highly specific learning and education. Throughout their lives, adults continue to have different information needs that the library and its services can fill. Designing Adult Services: Strategies for Better Serving Your Community discusses the many ways libraries can serve adults of various ages and at different life stages, covering online services, collection development, programming, and lifelong learning. This guide's unique approach simplifies the processes of designing and carrying out a successful adult services program for adult library users in all the various stages of life. The book is organized by age groups, with the respective information needs and life challenges. Each chapter suggests programs, services, and collection development strategies for the life stages. Public library administrators and managers as well as adult services librarians in public libraries will find this guide a must-read.

Citizenship is a wide-ranging subject that can be taught in its own right, or through other curriculum subjects and activities. This book is intended for students training to teach Citizenship as a first or second subject, and will also be immensely helpful to experienced teachers who have opted to take responsibility for this exciting subject. Written in a clear and practical way, yet underpinned by a sound theoretical background, the book covers key themes in Citizenship education, including: Citizenship in the National Curriculum Citizenship and pastoral care special educational needs developing schemes of work ways of teaching and learning assessment, monitoring and recording resources and useful contacts professional development. With key objectives and tasks for each chapter, this book will help teachers to improve their understanding of Citizenship education and to help their pupils understand their roles as citizens. It may be read in conjunction with the companion core textbook, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School, 3rd edition.

Busy elementary librarians need help applying the new AASL Standards Framework, especially in collaboration with social studies teachers seeking to apply the social studies standards framework. This book shows a path forward for both. This book will be a tremendous help to the busy elementary school librarian who is working with busy elementary social studies teachers. As they are designing and co-teaching library-based lessons based on the Social Studies Standards Framework, the English Literacy Common Core Standards, and the new American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards Learners Framework, these reproducible lessons will enhance planning and implementation. You'll get ready-to-use lessons as well as model lessons to adapt to the needs of your own curriculum and students. All standards are applied—with needed handouts—and other tools and current lists of recommended resources are provided. Lessons are coordinated to common elementary social studies curricula at indicated grade levels but can be adapted as template lessons as needed. Current resource lists aid librarians in collection development to support new and current standards.

American political culture runs through civics classrooms, and the degraded dialogue and scorched-earth partisanship that has defined modern American politics is an indicator that all is not well in our nation’s schools. Teaching Civics in Unstable Times: Guidelines for Defining “We” in American Democracy offers a fresh, expansive view of what civic education can look like in K-12 classrooms, and presents three strategies to help teachers, curriculum writers, and administrators turn their schools into laboratories for democracy that train young people for the moral and intellectual challenges of democratic citizenship. This book defines “democracy” as a way of life that is characterized by frequent public engagement, stubborn open-mindedness, and rigorous debate. Our democratic government depends on our citizens leading a democratic life, and civic education’s chief priority is to teach young people how to do so. Civic curriculum has spent decades obsessing over names and dates that fail to give students a sense of their vaunted place in our governing system. This book presentsthree strategiesfor teaching civics that invest young people in our shared, grand experiment in self-government and prepares them to lead our nation towards a politics that is more compassionate, inclusive, and inspired.

"Contributors explore methods of incorporating primary source materials into classroom instruction to promote civic engagement"--

This handbook showcases extraordinary educational responses in exceptional times. The scholarly text discusses valuable innovations for teaching and learning in times of COVID-19 and beyond. It examines effective teaching models and methods, technology innovations and enhancements, strategies for engagement of learners, unique approaches to teacher education and leadership, and important mental health and counseling models and supports. The unique solutions here implement and adapt effective digital technologies to support learners and teachers in critical times – for example, to name but a few: Florida State University’s Innovation Hub and interdisciplinary project-based approach; remote synchronous delivery (RSD) and blended learning approaches used in Yorkville University’s Bachelor of Interior Design, General Studies, and Business programs; University of California’s strategies for making resources affordable to students; resilient online assessment measures recommended from Qatar University; strategies in teacher education from the University of Toronto/OISE to develop equity in the classroom; simulation use in health care education; gamification strategies; innovations in online second language learning and software for new Canadian immigrants and refugees; effective RSD and online delivery of directing and acting courses by the Toronto Film School, Canada; academic literacy teaching in Colombia; inventive international programs between Japan and Taiwan, Japan and the USA, and Italy and the USA; and, imaginative teaching and assessment methods developed for online Kindergarten – Post-Secondary learners and teachers. Authors share unique global perspectives from a network of educators and researchers from more than thirty locations, schools, and post-secondary institutions worldwide. Educators, administrators, policymakers, and instructional designers will draw insights and guidelines from this text to sustain education during and beyond the COVID-19 era.