Civics

The essential concepts of government and citizens' civic behavior can be observed through a variety of lenses. Interdisciplinary instruction in civics combines literacy and numeracy skills with concepts from across political sciences to create a broad knowledge base from which students can draw as they approach civic challenges.

• Center for Civic Education — provides a detailed rationale for the importance of civic education.
• Six Proven Practices for Effective Civic Learning — a guidebook created by the Education Commission of the States in partnership with the National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement.
• Teaching Civics — an ever-growing repository of current, professionally vetted, unbiased civics, law-related education, and government lesson plans and materials, including resources from the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation.
• Annenberg Classroom — free classroom resources for teaching the Constitution, including over 65 videos, lessons, games, and downloadable books.

The pedagogy of civics is varied and crosses content area boundaries. Civics is an area of action-oriented instruction in which project-based learning drives proficiency.

• Civics in the Elementary Classroom — an Edutopia article with ideas for integrating civics into elementary school.
• Civic Online Reasoning (Stanford History Education Group) — assessments that help students judge the credibility of digital information about social and political issues.
• The Living Room Candidate — more than 300 commercials from every presidential election since 1952.
• Admaker — an online editing tool that allows students to remix a historic campaign ad or make a new one.

The Maine DOE and numerous educational and civic organizations provide professional learning for K-12 teachers.

• Work with our Teacher-Fellow, Breanna Krupski, on innovative civics programming by and for classroom teachers.
• Celebrating Rural Maine — a program that provides resources and exemplars focused on inquiry and community partnerships.

This section provides information and links to professional and partner organizations, teacher tools, and classroom resources for teachers and students.

Professional & Partner Organizations

• National Council for the Social Studies — resources for social studies education, including civics, linked to national standards.
• Maine Council for the Social Studies — Maine's representative to the NCSS, with resources specifically for Maine educators.
• Maine Civics Network — a source for local programs and partnerships related to civics education in Maine.

Teacher Tools

• Maine Learning Results Social Studies – Civics & Government: Maine's standards for civics.
• The Center on Representative Government — a nonpartisan educational institution that develops and provides materials on civics and government at no cost.
• The Center for Civic Education — dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles.
• Civics Renewal Network — a consortium of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations offering high-quality, no-cost learning materials searchable by subject, grade, resource type, standards, and teaching strategy.

Civics on the Road is a traveling educational initiative designed to engage students in hands-on civic learning. Through a partnership with the Maine Department of the Secretary of State and the Maine Semiquincentennial Commission, the Maine DOE Interdisciplinary Instruction team is bringing an immersive mobile learning experience to one school per month across the state throughout the 2026-2027 school year. Students will explore civic identity, practice historical decision-making, and recognize the power of participation, leaving with a deeper understanding of democratic values and their own civic potential.

Sign-Up Information

Schools interested in hosting Civics on the Road can fill out this form. For more information, contact Geoffrey Wingard at Geoffrey.Wingard@maine.gov.

Teacher Tools

Civics on the Road Educator Guide — for teachers at host schools, with materials to prepare students for their time with Maine DOE staff and volunteers and to help them vote with confidence and context on the guiding question.

The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP), established in 1962 by U.S. Senate Resolution, is a unique educational experience for outstanding high school students. Each year, two student leaders from each state, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity spend a week in Washington, D.C., experiencing their national government in action.

Student delegates hear major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, and officials from federal agencies, and participate in a meeting with a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Each delegate is awarded a $10,000 college scholarship. All transportation, hotel, and meal expenses are provided by the Hearst Foundations.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Preserve America, and the History Channel annually recognize outstanding American history teachers at the state and national levels. Nominees may be any full-time educator of grades K–12 who teaches American history as a separate subject or through social studies, reading, language arts, or other subjects.

• State winners receive a $1,000 prize and an archive of classroom resources.
• One national winner receives a $10,000 prize.