Join the EAD Rural Hub as they welcome Vanessa Otero, creator of the Media Bias Chart and CEO of Ad Fontes Media, for a FREE online webinar titled, Search Smart: Teaching Students to Analyze Online Information. Discover effective strategies to help students critically evaluate online sources, identify bias, and navigate today's complex information landscape with confidence.

August 5 at 5 PM CDT

Registration and more information on entire series in this flyer.



Motivating Agency, Sustaining the Republic

Monday, September 22

8:00 AM – 2:30 PM

NIU Conference Center

1120 E. Diehl Rd.

Naperville, IL 60563

Breakout Sessions Include:

• AI for Research and Writing: Or How I Learned to Embrace AI Without Fearing Plagiarism and Losing My Mind
• Bridging Divides Through Civil Discourse: Empowering Students to Find Common Ground
• Can the President Do That? Resources for Teaching About Executive Power
• Civic Harmony: Navigating Multiple Perspectives in our American Constitutional Democracy
• Civic Virtue and Civil Society: Fostering Informed and Active Citizenship
• Civics Resources for Dialogue and Inquiry
• Legal Precedent in Unprecedented Times
• Methods for Engaging Multilingual Learners in Civic Inquiry
• Model UN: A Civic Learning Powerhouse
• Q&A on the Role of the Courts in Our System of Checks and Balances
• Religious Upstanders in Nazi Germany
• SCOTUS Preview
• Unlock Your Students' Civic Superpowers
• What’s in the Mix for 2026? Looking to the Midterms

For more information and registration links, click HERE.



The Case Method Institute’s exceptional professional development programs introduce high school history, government, and civics teachers to the Case Method and the History of American Democracy Case collection developed by CMI’s Founder, Professor David Moss of Harvard Business School. Teachers who complete the PD gain access to 22 cases (originally developed for Harvard undergraduates), detailed teaching materials, and ongoing individualized support from our staff. Teachers have used the program successfully in every type of school and classroom, and everything is provided entirely free of charge. 

Teachers who use the Case Method have called it a “game-changer” and a “transformational experience" and report meaningful gains in students’ critical thinking, evidence-based argumentation, and civic interest and engagement. 

Interested teachers can apply here for either of the following programs: 

Live Zoom-based workshop 

The summer session will take place on Wednesday, August 13, from 11am to 5pm ET. This interactive workshop features a live case discussion led by Professor Moss and a Q&A panel with experienced partner teachers. To prepare for the live session, participants will complete approximately 5 hours of self-paced pre-work. 

Asynchronous program 

Available year-round, this fully self-paced option can be started at any time and typically takes 10-12 hours to complete. It is the quickest way to get started with the case method! Upon completion, participants are invited to join an optional live teacher panel discussion.  

If you would like to learn more before applying or sharing, you can find details on the opportunity in this program overview, and explore further here: 

• Video: About the Case Method Institute 
• Video: Hear About the Case Method in the Classroom 
• Website: The "History of American Democracy" cases 

Not ready to apply right now? Sign up for HCM mailing list to get notified about future opportunities. 

Retro Report is making changes to their website to improve your experience. Here are a few of the latest updates:

• New curriculum-aligned subject pages make it easier to discover free lessons and resources. Take a spin around pages for U.S. History, Civics and Government, and Environmental Science.
• New subjects in our library include Economics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Race, Culture, and Society. Explore and share with teacher friends.
• Optimized video and lesson plan pages show the most relevant related materials. Transcripts have been optimized for printing. See an example here. 
• Lesson procedure previews are available. Here’s an example.



Tuesday, August 19, 2025 

7:30 – 9:00 PM EDT

Live Online via Zoom

Details & Registration

As a new school year begins, challenging conversations will inevitably arise in your classroom. Sphere is excited to support you in navigating these moments by sharing civil discourse tools you can implement in your educational environment. In this webinar, we will share practical tips, tricks, and tools to help you start the year strong by establishing classroom norms and routines that foster healthy habits of conversation. You will hear from Sphere’s director, content development team, and the Sphere on the Road team about various ways you can meaningfully implement civil discourse in your classroom and school community to create opportunities for students to engage in productive conversations throughout the entire year.

This webinar will consist of two parts. The first part will provide context, content, and guidance on ways to use Sphere’s civil discourse resources. The second part will include deeper dives into conversations about the resources Sphere offers in specific disciplines.

Attendees will leave with tangible, practical tools and content ready for classroom application, as well as the confidence to implement civil discourse in their school. Please note that as this is a hands‐​on session featuring breakout conversations, a recording of the event will not be available.

• This session will be presented via Zoom.
• All Sphere alumni and interested educators for grades 5–12 are eligible to attend.
• Earn professional development for attending.

A recent report from More in Common reveals a critical disconnect: while most Americans believe they're good listeners, many—particularly those who feel excluded in their communities—don’t feel heard. Gen Z stands out as the generation least likely to engage across differences, yet they show the strongest desire to grow in this area. Nearly half of all Americans say they want to become better listeners to build deeper understanding and stronger relationships.

For educators, this presents a powerful opportunity: to nurture listening as a vital skill for connection, empathy, and bridging divides—starting in the classroom.

READ MORE



K-12 classroom educators have been using deliberation to increase students’ civic knowledge, build their civic skills, and provide an outlet for exercising civic dispositions for the past several decades. If you’re a teacher preparing for the new year, check out these resources from NIFI and the NIFI network for engaging your students in meaningful deliberation on historic and contemporary issues. 

LEARN MORE



Each month of the 2025-2026 school year, LFI/FJCC, along with our partners at C-SPAN Classroom, will be hosting 1-hour webinars on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7 PM EST. These webinars will focus on one of the themes from our new Declaration Turns 250 lessons!

This month’s webinar will be on August 14 at 7 PM EST. Participants will walk through how to use the new resources and offer implementation suggestions. 

C-SPAN Classroom and various content experts & scholars will join the webinar series as the months continue. 

Register for the August 14 webinar



Barriers to voting are a key focus of CIRCLE’s work. We have previously studied the differences in barriers to voting by race and education, as well as issued recommendations for increasing youth voter turnout among underrepresented groups.

In this new analysis, we highlight how those barriers shaped participation in the 2024 election in an attempt to understand the voting experience of various youth and how to support them in future elections. Key findings include:

• 1 in 3 Lacked Time or Information to Vote: 31% of youth who didn't vote said they were too busy, had conflicts or commitments, or didn't have enough information.
• Financial Struggles are a Barrier: Youth who missed registration deadlines or ran out of time were twice as likely to have trouble making ends meet.
• Black Youth Are Less Likely to Vote Absentee: Just 25% of Black youth voted by mail, pointing to inequities in access to convenient voting methods.

Read More on Barriers to Youth Voting in 2024



United We Teach: The Social Studies Classroom as a Laboratory for Civic Trust”

2025 Illinois Council for the Social Studies Fall Conference

Harper College, Palatine, Illinois

Friday, October 17, 2025

The Illinois Council for the Social Studies invites session proposals for the ICSS Fall 2025 Conference, held on the campus of Harper College, Palatine, Illinois, on Friday, October 17, 2025.



CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL



Artificial intelligence is already shaping how students consume information — and how they determine what’s true. This back-to-school season, empower your students to spot AI-generated content and think critically about the information they encounter with free classroom resources from the News Literacy Project.

The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, supports all Illinois educators — whether middle or high school, science, ELA or social studies — with free resources to develop students’ foundational news literacy skills. NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom features interactive lessons, infographics, and classroom-ready activities that explore news media bias, misinformation, and AI’s influence on social media algorithms.

To get started, explore NLP’s Back-to-School Toolkit, which includes the News Literacy Starter Pack, “AI or Not?” lesson plan, and engaging resources like Daily Do Nows and the “6 Things to Know About AI” infographic. All materials are free — simply register for and log in to Checkology to access the full collection. (And new this year: Checkology is now available on Clever for seamless district-wide integration!)

Checkology’s summer maintenance period ends Aug. 5 and all features described here will be available starting Aug. 5. 

Lincoln Presidential Foundation is proud to partner with Made By Us, The New York Historical, and history museums across the country for “On Our 250th,” inviting you to share your wish for the nation ahead of its 250th anniversary next year. Though the in-person Wish Wall ended along with Civic Season on July 4^th, the online version will remain up year-round at OnOur250th.org!

Leave Your Online Wish Here!



The Illinois civics Hub is a proud partner of America's 100 Docs, the history versus history showdown that puts our most historically significant records in your hands

and gives you the opportunity to help determine which of those records was the most impactful in shaping the America we know today.

Now, all Americans have a chance to participate in America's 100 Docs – a game that invites you to vote on our nation’s top records from the holdings of the National Archives. The game serves as an unofficial kickoff to the big 250th anniversary celebrations in July of 2026. Your votes will help determine the top 16 documents that make it to a final voting challenge in early 2026, when only ONE will be voted as America’s most significant document.

This online game provides a fresh and exciting way to learn history while having fun along the way. Whether you are a history buff, patriot, gamer, or lover of democracy, America's 100 Docs puts the power of history in your hands.

Join us: be part of history, and part of the action – visit 100docs.vote to play today!



Walk into the classroom this fall feeling inspired. iCivics free webinars fill your teaching toolkit with innovative resources and fresh ideas directly from iCivics curriculum experts. You'll also connect with a community of fellow educators to start the year strong.

iCivics has a session tailored just for you, whether you're an elementary teacher, a middle or high school educator, or an administrator. Find your perfect fit and leave feeling confident and ready for the year ahead.

Explore Webinars

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, celebrate Constitution Day with BRI! Our Constitution Day resources will include segments for Middle and High School U.S. History, Government and Civics, and Elementary Social Studies.

New videos and viewing guides will premiere in the weeks before Constitution Day followed by four new videos that will premiere exclusively on Sept. 17.

Sign Up for Constitution Day Resources

Facing History & Ourselves invites you and your educators to join us this summer! Below are our in-person professional learning opportunities. For questions, please email Chicago@facinghistory.org. 

Identity and Community: An Introduction to 6th Grade Social Studies

August 7, 2025

9:00am - 3:00pm 

Erikson Institute, 451 N La Salle Chicago, Il

About the workshop: This Facing History curriculum and professional learning will support educators as they engage students in thinking critically about issues of identity and community in history and in their own lives. The activities in the unit have been designed to develop a sense of community and belonging that promotes learning and encourages students to share ideas, take risks, and help each other. 

Who should take this workshop: 6th grade social studies and humanities teachers from Chicago Public Schools and middle school humanities teachers from outside CPS

Register Here