Good afternoon, friends in Civics and Social Studies! I just wanted to share with you a really interesting upcoming webinar for members of the Florida Council for the Social Studies. Our friends at FCSS will be joined by Brett Burkey of the Florida Council on Economic Education to discuss the Great Migration and the Roots of Wealth Inequality. You can download the flyer below or simply head over to the Florida Council for the Social Studies website to register!
Good morning, friends! It gives me great pleasure to share with you two upcoming webinars.
First, on April 28th, we will be hosting three experts in Holocaust education to preview a new series of lessons that can be used to teach the Holocaust in the 6-12 classroom. We are grateful for Dr. Fine, Professor Carter, and Ms. Adkinson for their hard work on these lessons and their willingness to share them during the webinar!
You can access the flier to register here.
Our second webinar, this one in May, brings back great friend of the Institute, Dr. Charlie Flanagan!
You can access the flier to register for THIS one here!
If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot us an email and let us know! Hope that you can join us!
Good morning, friends in Civics. This came across my desk from our friends in FDOE.
The department has opened Rule 6A-1.09401, Florida Administrative Code, for rule development to
adopt or revise several content areas of student academic standards. These include Civics and Government (revised), Holocaust Education (new), Character Education (new), B.E.S.T. English Language Arts (ELA) standards (technical and minor revisions that will not affect implementation), and Access Points – Alternate Academic Achievement Standards for the B.E.S.T. ELA and Mathematics standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Drafts of the proposed revisions will be posted the week of April 5, 2021, at http://www.fldoe.org/standardsreview/.
A rule development workshop will be held on Friday, April 9, 2021, at 11:00 am EDT. To register for the workshop, please visit https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4060571620471297807.
There will also be an online public comment survey for Civics and Government, Holocaust Education, and Character Education standards. The department encourages all stakeholders to participate in the review process through the online surveys, which will be open when the draft standards are posted through April 23, 2021.
• Civics and Government survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6176659/CivicsStandards1.
• Holocaust Education survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6240586/HolocaustEdStandards1.
• Character Education survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6240369/CharacterEdStandards1.
We encourage you to share these public comment opportunities with local stakeholders to help maximize the number of Floridians contributing to this critical process. If you have additional questions, please contact Michael DiPierro in the Bureau of Standards and Instructional Support at 850-245-9773 or by email at Michael.DiPierro@fldoe.org.
We here at LFI/FJCC encourage you to take some time and plan on attending this workshop if you can; at a minimum, be sure to provide feedback on the new Holocaust and Character Education Standards and the revised K-12 Civics benchmarks! If you have questions about this meeting or these standards, please shoot your questions to Mike DiPierro at FDOE.
Good afternoon, friends in Civics! I am happy to share with you today some new activities that have been added to Civics360. These were developed by two excellent civics educators in Orange County Public Schools, Lindsey Russell and Michelle Preiser, and edited by our own Val McVey. We are grateful for their willingness to develop more support resources for our Civics360 platform!
The new resources are for 2.8 (Political Parties):
2.9 (Constitutional Qualifications for Office):
Work on additional improvements and resources for Civics360 are ongoing. Of course, if you have any questions about this platform, the resources (including word versions or answer keys) or anything else, please email us!
Good afternoon, friends in Civics. Are you looking for some free self paced professional development in civics education? Consider enrolling in our The Civics Classroom Course Series! A certificate of completion, for 5 hours of professional development, will be issued for each course successfully completed. While the first course, The Prepared Classroom, is especially designed for Florida civics teachers, the courses are free and open to all civics and government educators throughout the country.
Are you already enrolled in any of these courses? That’s great! We have had over 200 people complete these courses succesfully! While we want to definitely encourage you to take your time in completing these courses (we understand your schedule!), please be aware that as of April 01, 2021 we will be removing participants who have not visited/taken part in their courses since last summer. You are of course free to re-enroll should you be removed. We believe that these can make a difference and support your professional learning and your students.
You can download the above flier here: Civics_Classroom.
This course series provides educators with online, self-paced, professional learning that develops the knowledge and skills necessary to help students achieve their roles as participants in civic life. Each course will take approximately five hours to complete. While it is recommended that participants complete the courses in order, it is NOT required.
The awarding of a certificate for each course in this series is based on successful completion of the pre and post tests, module quizzes, post course survey, and a passing final grade in the course. Certificates are emailed by staff of the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship at the Lou Frey Institute within two weeks of course completion.
A Prepared Classroom provides teachers with an understanding of:
Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/JXYKR7. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: JXYKR7.
A Cognitively Complex Classroom provides teachers with an understanding of:
Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/R3L74M. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: R3L74M.
A Cohesive Classroom provides teachers with an understanding of:
Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at any time by clicking here https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/YFE7HR. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: YFE7HR.
(THIS COURSE WAS DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES!) A Constitutional Classroom will provide teachers with an understanding of:
Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at any time by clicking here https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/BKAM74. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: BKAM74.
Questions about The Civics Classroom? Contact Us!
We also have a course specially designed for government classes around the state of Florida’s Civic Literacy Assessment for high school.
The High School Government Classroom: Building Critical Knowledge course will provide teachers with pedagogy, content, and resources for:
Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/EXNT4C. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: EXNT4C.
And there is our High School US History PD, developed in collaboration with the National Archives.
The High School US History: Civil War and Reconstruction course will provide teachers with pedagogy, content, and resources for:
Enrollment Information: Self-enroll in this course at https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/AMPACA. Or, sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: AMPACA.
Questions about these courses or any other professional development? Drop me a line and tell us how we can support you!
Do you have good experience in marketing and social media and are looking for a good part time job (10-15 hours a week, potentially more if the situation requires it) that can use and build your experience? Do you care about civic education? We would love to have you join the Lou Frey Institute. Take a look, please! And if you have any questions, always happy to talk more!
Here’s what we are looking for:
| Job Description: | The Marketing Outreach Professional provides leadership and support on strategy, communications, media relations, and ongoing process improvement for the marketing and implementation of Lou Frey Institute and Florida Joint Center for Citizenship programs and activities. This position will collaborate with relevant LFI staff in developing communication and outreach strategies for ongoing LFI programs while supporting community relations efforts of Institute leadership while also analyzing the effectiveness of relevant strategies. Responsibilities include: Implement new strategies to improve social media performance and engagement Assist in managing multiple social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin Track and monitor outcomes and statistics for website, social media, and e-communication Support organization initiatives with mass communications through social media Develop a social media content calendar and makes content web updates Assist with writing, developing, and strategizing online content Review communications from leadership to make sure messages are transparent and authentic Monitor Institute reputation Assist in marketing plan preparation, including budget and short and long-term strategy Apply various social media tactics in creating brand awareness and generating inbound traffic that strengthens company’s social media presence Produce marketing copy for our website |
Take a look and think about working with a small and dedicated team to meet the needs of civic education in Florida and beyond!
Exciting news, friends! In the Spring of 2017, The Lou Frey Institute (LFI) and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida (BGCCF) established a partnership, designed to help implement and support the creation of a Civic Action Project (CAP) Program in BGCCF’s After School Zone for middle school students. This program was adapted for middle schools and after-school environments from the original Civics Action Project first developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Since the launch of this effort, over 100 middle school students have participated in the CAP program, where they identify a community issue or problem of interest to them, research it, and propose a detailed plan for how to address it. In support of these students and their facilitators is the Institute’s Civics Instructional Specialist, Chris Spinale. Participating students attend a Civic Education Showcase on the UCF campus where they present their projects and findings to community stakeholders and policy makers.
Because of the hard work of BGCCF staff, site facilitators, CAP teachers, and their club members, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida’s Civic Action Project Program for the After School Zone was named the recipient of the 2020 Best Overall Program Impact Excellence Award for the State of Florida by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Florida Area Council.
CAP took home the prize for the State of Florida as the overall standout program among all the Boys & Girls Club programs in the state. Kelvin Curry, Director of Middle School Programs for BGCCF, thanked LFI for its partnership and all it has afforded their club members.
Both LFI and BGCCF are committed to continuing the hard work of cultivating a citizenry that is informed, engaged, and active. Questions about the program can be directed to LFI Interim Director Steve Masyada (Stephen.masyada@ucf.edu) or Civics Instructional Specialist Chris Spinale (Christopher.spinale@ucf.edu).
Good morning, friends in Civics! As you likely know if you are at all familiar with our work, the Lou Frey Institute is constantly looking to improve our work and ensure that our resources are the best that they can be. As the state has begun introducing new/revised benchmarks for K-12 civics (to be released for public comment soon) and ELA (the BEST Standards), we want to start revisions on existing materials and the development of new materials sooner rather than later. However, we want to prioritize what teachers feel they need most, and in pursuit of that, we have crafted a short survey for elementary grade band teachers to help us in our initial stages. This survey will simply ask you to prioritize the types of resources you would like us to address at the K-5 level, and also asks whether you might be interested in a compensated opportunity to be involved in the work. So if you have a few minutes and teach K-5 in Florida, please let us know how we can help you. Complete our short survey, and share with others who might have interest.
It’s that time of year again, where we start preparing our kids for the upcoming Civics End of Course Assessment here in Florida. So here are some decent resources from across the internet that you might find useful. Of course, we must always keep in mind that any review should begin with making sure your kids are familiar with the Civics Test Item Specifications, because it tells you, and them, exactly what they need to know.
But let’s start our review resource tour with the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship at the Lou Frey Institute‘s own pride and joy.
Civics360 is a free, interactive civics review tool to help Florida students improve their understanding of civics. It provides a flexible approach to instruction and review, and features:
You can sign up for Civics360 here. It’s always free, but registration IS required!
Florida Students Civics Tutorials
We have written about these tutorials before, and they are the first resource I recommend for both instruction and review. They are excellent for a flipped classroom model as well. If you are planning on using them as a review resource, I recommend assigning students only the parts of the tutorials they need, and it would be more effective to perhaps set these up in learning stations across the classroom. You could require that students screen-capture or write down responses to the assessment elements in order to ensure completion and comprehension. (Please note that the site initially loads slowly for some reason!)
Florida Virtual School Resources
The recorded review sessions, available for free at the bottom of the FLVS page, do a good job covering elements of each of the four reporting categories that will be assessed on the EOC. Because they are about 2 hours long, you will want to preview each one and determine where you might want students to focus their attention. They may also provide you with a model for your own approach to classroom-based reviews. I especially appreciate how an effort is made to integrate assessment elements.
You will also want to check out the FLVS Civics EOC Practice test, which may be of use to you, though as with anything, you should decided how effective or appropriate it will be for your kids. Again, however, this shouldn’t be the first time that students are being exposed to these types and styles of items. Answers to the practice test items are available here. Note that answers are actually explained as well, which is an excellent element of review. I would suggest actually having students explain WRONG answers. If they can tell you why an answer is wrong, they should have a much easier time of figuring out why an answer might be right!
We wrote about this review model before, and it may be one that you find useful as well. It worked well for Randall Middle School, and it is a positive way to mix things up a little for both you and your students. We explored this model in great detail in this post, and I encourage you to take a look and see if it is something you might like to do.
TEACHER WEBSITES
Mr. Kula, social studies teacher at Westpine Middle School in Broward County, has compiled a number of quality content rich and illustrated study guides for the Civics EOC that could be useful for you. While they don’t cover every benchmark, what IS there is effective, and broken down by topic. These would be appropriate for students to use in conjunction with a written review or in small groups using an ‘expert group’ teaching model.
Mrs. Hirsch, a teacher at Fruit Cove Middle School in St. John’s County, has gathered a number of excellent tools for EOC review. The EOC Content Review sheets that she has provided are well done and engaging, and definitely worth sharing with your own students:
Q1 Civics What You Need to Know
Q2 Civics What You Need to Know
Legislative Branch Content Review
Executive Branch Content Review
Judicial Branch Content Review
Civics Assessment Strategy Guide
Here is an EXCELLENT and short powerpoint covering strategies for the EOC.
Ruckel Middle School Civics Flashcards
Ruckel Middle School, in Okaloosa County, has developed a tool using Quizlet that provides students with flashcards for review. These might be useful as a bellringer or exit slip activity as you wrap up content this year and start to transition to in depth review.
Mr. Raymond’s Civics videos seem pretty popular, and you might want to check out the four videos that review content for the Florida Civics EOCA.
You can head over to Kahoot and find some decent content oriented civics review games!
Florida Citizen Review, Reteach, and Remediation Webinar
You might want to take a look at the webinar we did a couple of years ago on review, reteach, and remediation in preparation for the EOCA. You can find the resources from this webinar here.
Shenandoah Magnet Middle School
Shenandoah Magnet Middle School has kindly provided an excellent compilation of review worksheets and study guides!
These are just a few of the quality review resources that you might find beneficial. If you have any additional resources to share, please shoot me an email or leave it in the comments! And don’t forget that we continue to offer our teacher professional development series on the ins and outs of civics instruction and effective classrooms!
Good morning, friends in social studies and civics! Back in December, we here at the Institute launched a new webinar series linked, somewhat loosely. to our Civics in Real Life series. Did you miss any of them? Check out the upcoming March webinar with Dr. Kenicia Wright, and then scroll down to see what you may have missed! You can also view all of our archived webinars on our dedicated schooltube channel!
Coming in March! Representation Matters: A Discussion of the Effects of Diversity in American Politics and Education in the United States, with Dr. Kenicia Wright
Register for Dr. Wright’s webinar here! Want the flyer? Click here!
The 1920 Ocoee Election Day Massacre, with Dr. Robert Cassanello
You can view this webinar here.
Presidential Inaugurations and Why They Matter, with Dr. Terri Fine
You can view this webinar here.
Using the SOURCES Framework to Examine Blockbusting, with Dr. Scott M. Waring and Dr. Tina M. Ellsworth
You can view this webinar here.
If you have questions about the webinars, or would like any of the referenced resources, please contact us!