In this video, Dr. Erica Hodgin and Ms. Mildred Garcia Gomez presented on the importance of student voice for the iCivics Civics, Service, and Leadership (iCSL) program.

Leading researchers, district leaders, teachers, and students discuss the importance of high quality civic discussions. Civic discussion and deliberation leads to improved communication, critical thinking skills, civic knowledge, and a higher chance of future civic engagement.

In this video, students deliberate suffrage at age 16 through an approach called Structured Academic Controversy. Students read and analyze text, develop respectful group discussion skills, practice building consensus, and write informal policy statements.

In part 1 of this video, teachers, students, and district leaders reflect on ways to ensure civic discussion and deliberation is student-centered. In part 2, students also reflect, discuss, and communicate what they have learned about a complex issue they researched through small group and large group collaborative discussions. 

Learn how you can support young people to navigate civics and politics in the digital age and how you can prepare your students to become thoughtful and effective participants in our democracy.

In this video, students begin to write a commentary about an issue they care about, which they will later publish via radio and/or social media.

In this video, ninth grade students create digital stories that illustrate their American identity and reflect on the American creed of today.

Use Twitter as a formative assessment tool.

In this video, students brainstorm ideas for writing through three simple prompts.

Activists, educators and organizers reflect on the opportunities and challenges when using digital media in struggles for social justice.

Watch this video to learn more about what civic engagement is and to find out how teachers in Oakland Unified School District are integrating civic learning throughout the district.

Watch this video to see how ninth grade teacher Matt Colley’s students work in small groups to research and plan an action project focused on a contemporary problem.

Watch this video to see how twelfth grade teacher Chela Delgado guides her students to design an infographic that visually displays the key aspects of the issue they researched, the root cause, and a theory of change.

Listen to teachers and students talk about the benefits of blogging in the classroom and how it promotes productive online dialogue, provides students with an authentic audience, and develops young people’s civic voice.

To learn more about HOW to integrate blogging into your classroom, listen to three veteran teachers -- Jason Muniz, Johanna Paraiso, and Nina Portugal -- discuss their approaches and what they have learned over the years.

Students were selected from across Oakland Unified School District to receive awards for their community-focused research and action projects that exemplified community readiness.

In this video, David Jablonsky works with his high school history class to deconstruct different types of misinformation related to the 2020 elections. 

In this video, youth participating in the Free Spirit Media after school program in Chicago use photo essays and social media to voice their concerns about issues in their communities.