Free Resources for Civic Learning Week: March 10-14

Jessica Solberg, Program Specialist - Education

• Published on February 27, 2025

Now in its third year, Civic Learning Week unites students, educators, policymakers, and private sector leaders to energize the movement for civic education across the nation in an effort to sustain and strengthen our constitutional democracy. IdahoPTV Education and PBS LearningMedia offer free, media-rich civics resources for pre-K to grade 12 students, teachers, and homeschool parents. Materials are created by educators for educators.

CIV ED: A Guide to Idaho Politics and Civic Engagement

In CIV ED: A Guide to Idaho Politics and Civic Engagement (grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12), IdahoPTV explores public participation in the state government, how bills become Idaho law, Idaho's Constitution, taxes and the state budget, and the role of media in Idaho.

Civics Collection

The award-winning Civics Collection teaches civic knowledge and understanding through applied examples from U.S. history and skills such as analyzing civic engagement and engaging in civil discourse. Browse the wide range of videos and classroom materials for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 by topic or by skill.

You, Me & Community

You, Me & Community features classroom activities that introduce young learners in grades preK-2, and 3-5 to the basic concepts of civics and government, economics, geography, and history.

City Island

City Island is an animated series and collection of classroom activities and resources that introduce preK-grade 2 children to all the different members of the community (firefighters, police, mail carriers, construction crews) and help kids understand how they make the city run. The stories emphasize conflict resolution, cooperation, and city planning. In addition to civics, the series touches on other related aspects of the Social Studies framework, such as geography and economics.

Above the Noise

Above the Noise: Voting and Democracy is a collection of 6- to 10-minute videos and classroom activities for educators of students grades 6-8 and 9-12. Host Myles Bess takes viewers along on his journey to cut through the hype surrounding controversial topics in the news to find out what's really going on. Each video comes with supports for middle and high school classrooms, including a lesson plan, viewing guide, and sentence frames for diverse learners that encourage student voice and foster civil conversation about complex topics. Includes videos and lessons on media and technology, social issues, health and well-being, and more.

PBS LearningMedia Tutorials

For information on how to get started on the FREE PBS LearningMedia platform, check out these free tutorials or contact the IdahoPTV Education team at 208-373-7220.

Educators: Join award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein on Wednesday, March 12, at 5 p.m. MT for a special conversation on the upcoming documentary series The American Revolution.

As part of Civic Learning Week, Burns and Botstein will join in conversation with teachers to discuss how film and video can bring fresh insight to our founding story and how civic learning can come alive for students in the classroom.