Resources

New York State Seal of Civic Readiness 

• Generation Citizen's NYS Seal of Civic Readiness Toolkit: A practical guide for building a Seal of Civic Readiness program in your district or school 
• Facing History and Ourselves
  • A Civics Elective for schools offering NY State Seal of Civic Readiness: Civic Agency and the Pursuit of Democracy 
    A Research Project for the NY State Seal of Civic Readiness: The Facing History Civic Knowledge Research Project

Media Literacy

• Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University School of Journalism
  • Digital Resource Center for educators 
  • Free online news literacy course through Coursera
• Ioana Literat's resource page, Associate Professor of Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Infographic on Lateral Reading developed by school library media specialist Kelly Wetherbee. 
• The Media and Social Change Lab (MASC) at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Project Look Sharp, the media literacy organization, has over 500 free lessons for integrating critical thinking about media messages into the teaching of core subject area content and standards at all grade levels and subjects as well as free PD materials for integrating media analysis throughout the curriculum. 

Discussing Controversial Issues in the Classroom

• Education for Sustainable Democracy podcast hosted by Dr. Brett Levy, Associate Professor of Educational Theory and Practice, SUNY Albany
• Podcast feed: esdpodcast.buzzsprout.com
• Facing History and Ourselves suggested educator resources: 
  • • Fostering Civil Discourse: How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter?
    • From Reflection to Action: a Choosing to Participate Toolkit
    • Teaching Current Events: Democracy and Civic Engagement 
    •  10 Questions for Young Changemakers

Youth Engagement

• Citizens Committee for Children of New York. YouthAction NYC is their after-school program for high school students interested in learning to be effective advocates for the issues they care about and  advocate on behalf of themselves, their schools and their communities. Participants learn how to gather information, document what they learn, and then effectively communicate this information to their communities and elected officials.
• DoSomething, as one of the largest nonprofits exclusively for young people and social change, DoSomething has activated millions of young people in every U.S. area code and 189 countries to take action to improve their communities. 
• Generation Citizen offers an online, free self-paced training through an online professional development platform, Kick Start Action Civics, for educators to build foundational knowledge of the Action Civics pedagogy. Action Civics is a hands-on, experiential approach to civics education, in which young people learn about democracy by actively working to address issues in their own communities. Generation Citizen trains teachers, amplifies youth voices, provides curriculum, and advocates for policy solutions that advance this essential education across New York and the country.
• Inquiring Minds Institute KidCivics Videos. KidCivics is a video series designed by kids to help children and adults understand how children can thrive during their time in school. They use Socratic debate and cooperative dialogue strategies to help students probe, problem-solve and create new knowledge.
• Mikva Challenge develops youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society. 
• New York Youth Civics Initiative, discover paid internships, engaging events, exciting programs and interactive workshops by the youth-led groups that are a part of the solution.
• Next Generation Politics produces The Round Table, the weekly for-GenZ, by-GenZ podcast that offers a platform for conversation and engagement of civically-minded young people from across the country. The Round Table models civil dialogue across various divides--socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, political, and regional-- seeking to challenge norms and represent all kinds of diversity, especially of perspective and ideas. 
• The Puerto Rican Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute.  The Institute's purpose is to foster the leadership skills of Hispanic students and to introduce them to New York State's legislative process.
• YVote's Youth Civic Hub, a one-stop clearinghouse of civic programming, opportunities, and resources, and an updatable calendar of civic events and opportunities.

Civic Learning in Elementary School/Early Education  

• Inquiring Minds partners with educators, parents and young students to create democratic tools, processes and programs that improve student engagement, self reliance and civic development offered for free. 
  • KidCivics Videos. KidCivics is a video series designed by kids to help children and adults understand how children can thrive during their time in school. They use Socratic debate and cooperative dialogue strategies to help students probe, problem-solve and create new knowledge.
• iCivics page for learning resources for elementary students
• Mikva Challenge Action Civics Curricula

Other Resources  

• Flunking Democracy: Schools, Courts, and Civic Participation by Michael A. Rebell examines the history and current status of civic education and proposes policies and strategies to reinvigorate the ability of schools to prepare students for civic participation.
• Teaching Civic Literacy Projects: Student Engagement with Social Problems Grades 4-12, by Dr. Shira Epstein, offers a framework for an overall civic literacy project that includes civic action.