Download SS10 Civic Mirror Unit

BACKGROUND FACTS

* Social Studies 11 is Massive
In British Columbia, students are not required to take a social studies course in Gr. 12. As a result, the Social Studies 11 is massive in its scope so as to ensure students graduate with a solid understanding of what it means to be Canadian.

* As a Result, It’s Challenging to Teach
Given the size of SS11, and the fact that it is provincially examinable, teaching all of the content and concepts in a way that is meaningful is a challenge to say the least.

* Plus There are Added Difficulties
There is no remedial version of SS11, unlike the English, Math, and Science curricular strands (and no, Civics 11 is just as difficult as SS11); consequently, teaching this high-level course to a diverse range of learners – all of who have to write its provincial exam – is even more challenging, if not downright stressful.

* Also, the SS11 Content is Complex and Abstract
The content and concepts taught in SS11 are abstract and very complex. A case could easily be made that students require a fundamental understanding of Canadian politics, basic economics, and “citizenship” in order to fully grasp many of the SS11 learning outcomes (e.g. the rise of fascism in the 1920s due to economic hardship, the importance and significance of the human rights movement, or the global decision making process in light of resource shortages and overpopulation).

* Prior Courses Don’t Help Develop Requisite Knowledge for SS11
The current social studies curriculum in British Columbia focuses on history from Gr. 7 -10 and, consequently, do not provide students with enough opportunities to develop the requisite knowledge to fully grasp SS11’s high-level concepts given the teaching and learning circumstances outlined above.

PURPOSE OF THE CIVIC MIRROR IN SOCIAL STUDIES 10

* What is the Civic Mirror?
The Civic Mirror is a simulation-based program that turns classrooms into countries and students into citizens, providing students with opportunities to experientially learn about law, government, economics, and responsible citizenship. This curricular proposal suggests that SS10 teachers condense their existing scope and sequences by 5 weeks in order to work through the Civic Mirror program so that their students may better understand the concepts taught in SS11.

* Experiential Understanding = Better Learning Afterward
By the end of the unit students will have an experiential understanding of the purpose and functionality of law, government, and the economy, which will help them better grasp the learning outcomes in SS10 (making up for the lost calendar time) and SS11. In fact, if this became a department-wide social studies initiative, the SS11 Government unit could be covered in an opening review in a week or so, freeing up huge portions of calendar time to cover the monster history unit and the human geography unit.

Worth the Investment in Time
In sum, using the Civic Mirror in SS10 will help students better understand and appreciate everything else they are required to learn about nations, governments, laws, economies, and citizenship in SS10 and SS11. Yes, it may take up a lot of time in Gr. 10, but if you view SS10 and SS11 as one continuous course instead of two separate ones, it’s well worth the investment.

< <   DOWNLOAD BC’S SOCIAL STUDIES 10 + CIVIC MIRROR UNIT OVERVIEW > >

Several teachers have asked whether the Civic Mirror would fit well with U.S. History classes … and the answer is an enthusiastic Yes!

It’s funny, actually, because U.S. history is really the story of nation-building and social, political, and economic experimentation … and that’s exactly what the Civic Mirror gives students a chance to do (albeit at classroom level, but what other level can schools provide).

Nevertheless, because the Civic Mirror is a government simulation, rich with economic features, the fit with U.S. History courses is a natural one.

What follows are teacher-generated ideas on how the Civic Mirror fits with U.S. History courses, and some of them are absolutely brilliant. If you’re not familiar with the Civic Mirror, have the Scope and Sequence handy as you read through them.

Some teachers have paralleled the Formation of the Union with the Create National Identity event. This is cool because it helps students relate to this historical development in a way they just wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

Roughly at this time your students will be given their Citizen Profiles (i.e. $$ and Hidden Agendas). What some teachers have done is challenged their students to find what U.S. historical figures shared similar views and beliefs as those outline in their hidden agendas. For example, Hamilton aligns with the capitalists, Jefferson with the environmentalists (i.e. for his belief in agrarian economies), FDR and his Keynesian economic policies with the socialists, and pro-slavery figures would align with the ‘cultural supremacists.’

The next CM Event is the National Constitution event (and recall that U.S. Civic Mirror uses the U.S. Constitution, with a few modifications). This event lends itself well with the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and the Bill of Rights (1791). What’s cool is because your students now have their own $$ and hidden agendas, they should be - with your coaching - be studying the constitution strategically and with a purpose … trying to find ways to use certain constitutional clauses to their advantage.

The Civic Mirror elections event can be paired with many U.S. historical events, but it’s worth stating that just allowing students to have their own elections will help them make sense and appreciate all the watershed elections they’ll study.

The natural fit for the Hex Auction is Western Expansion and the procurement of land and assets in the frontier states. If you don’t pair it that way, at the very least, you could break out into a mini-lesson on how almost all the power brokers in U.S. history were property owners and financiers … which is cool because (and you can build your lesson around this fact) it will likely be the same in their Civic Mirror countries too!

The nation-building process ends after the Hex Auction and thereafter your students will progress through and repeat the 4 Civic Mirro Game Events: the Government Event, Open Market, Town Hall, and National Court. These events will provide your students with an experiential frame of reference from which they’ll be able to better understand the complex history of U.S. politics, economics, and society.

Be sure to check out the “Reflection & Connection Essay” at the very back of the Instructor’s Manual. This would be a great assignment to use after your students completed their first or second simulated year. Basically the assignment asks them compare an event or development that occurred in their own simulated nation to one that actually occurred in history (in this case U.S. history). Then they need to determine what important “lessons learned” the people learned and how they would be able to help their classmates (or fellow citizens).

Lastly, one teacher had his students record their Civic Mirror country’s history and share their historical notes after the simulation ended. The goal was to show students how the recording of history is largely dependent upon the authors, and how authors are subject to bias.

I hope this helps give you some ideas and confidence to use the program with U.S. Histor

>> DOWNLOAD “ALBERTA’S GR. 9 SOCIAL STUDIES COURSE and THE CIVIC MIRROR” <<

It can often be difficult for teachers to to find quality learning resources for new courses. This may not be the case for Gr. 9 social studies teachers in Alberta, thanks to The Civic Mirror. The fit is outstanding!

The overarching themes and learning opportunities that the Civic Mirror provides students and teachers with are virtually identical to the broad learning objectives of the new SS 9 course:

1. To teach students how citizenship, identity, and quality of life are affected by Canadian political processes, and
2. To teach students how different economic systems and policies positively and negatively affect a citizenry’s quality of life.

If you have any questions or would like to get started, please feel free to contact us!  If this is your first time to the Civic Mirror website, you may want to view the 90 second video overview in the sidebar before learning more.

Although The Civic Mirror does not directly connect to the middle school curriculum for ancient history and/or medieval times, it could most definitely be used to help students  compare and contrast the social, political, and economic systems and structures between  then and now.

The two modules that have been developed for The Civic Mirror are the U.S. and Canadian modules. More modules will be developed in the future, but, for now, this idea could be an exciting option for middle school ancient or medieval history teachers wanting to utilize the Civic Mirror.

COMPARING ANCIENT or MEDIEVAL SOCIETIES WITH MODERN SOCIETY
With this idea, you could stretch the 10 activities outlined in the “Civic Mirror in 10 Days” scope and sequence over a period of 4-10 weeks, matching specific studies of various aspects of ancient or medieval societies with Civic Mirror events in order to allow for modern-day comparisons.

What I like about this is it would get the students thinking about their world today, how it compares/contrasts to ancient or medieval societies, and it would allow students to understand - through experiential reflection - just how far civilization has (and hasn’t) advanced from those times.

What I also like about this idea is that history curricula are usually grounded in the notion that students will better understand the world today by studying the world as it was. This unit idea brings that desired cognitive leap to the foreground, providing students with a better understanding of how society works today (by experiencing a simulated version of it with The Civic Mirror), which will in turn provide them with a better ability to understand the various components of historic societies too.

To illustrate this, we have provided some essential questions that students could be asked about ancient and/or medieval societies before, during, and after their participation in each of The Civic Mirror’s events. Before reading the examples that follow, open up and have handy “Civic Mirror in 10 Days.”

SOCIAL IDENTITY ~ When the students create their simulated country’s identity, you could ask some inquiry questions about who were the ________ people (e.g. Roman, medieval, etc.)? What kind of communities did they live in? Did they view themselves as citizens, like we do, or something different? How is our nation today similar and different to the ancient/medieval society we’re studying? Etc.

CHOOSING LEADERS ~ When students elect their government using the modern democratic procedures outlined in the Civic Mirror Manuals, students could be asked … How were leaders chosen in ancient or medieval society? How are leaders elected today? What method is better, more fair?  Etc.

PROPERTY OWNERSHIP ~ When your students bid to own their country’s property in the Hex Auction (the last pre-game event), you could ask them … Who were the landowners in ancient/medieval society? How did they come to own their land? Was everyone allowed to own land and property? How is this different and similar to your simulated country? To our country today? Etc.

GOVERNANCE ~ When the student politicians work to pass laws and set policies in the Government Event, you could ask … How were laws made and enforced in ancient/medieval ages? Who was allowed to vote and participate? How are things similar/different in our society today? Etc.

LAW & PUNISHMENT ~ When the students are using their own impartial and democratic court in the Civic Mirror, you could ask them … Who determined guilt and innocence in ancient/medieval times? Were their powers limited or unlimited, and what dangers, threats, and/or benefits did the people in those ages face as a result? How are things similar/different today? What’s better? Etc.

CURRICULUM COVERAGE & INTEGRATION IDEAS
If you’re wondering how you could integrate The Civic Mirror into your course and fit all of the required readings into your time line, please read our Teaching with The Civic Mirror Overview for suggestions and ideas.

<< DOWNLOAD INTRO ECONOMICS + CIVIC MIRROR COURSE PACK >>

This course pack shows how close to 100% of the learning outcomes in most “Intro to Economics” courses can be met with The Civic Mirror simulation and any old text.

This course package was developed with the latest teaching and learning methods in mind. Not only will it allow teachers to integrate the cutting-edge Civic Mirror program into their instruction, but it utilizes key features from constructivist learning theory, brain-based learning research, and Understanding By Design performance tasks.

If you have questions please contact us.  TO GET STARTED, click here.

<< DOWNLOAD INTRO ECONOMICS + CIVIC MIRROR COURSE PACK >>

<< DOWNLOAD CIVIC STUDIES 11 WITH THE CIVIC MIRROR COURSE PACK’ >>

This course pack shows how The Civic Mirror simulation and selected readings can be used to cover 100% of BC’s Civic Studies 11 curriculum. It not only sequences the readings, Civic Mirror events, and classroom activities to prepare students for the provincial exam, but it brings the course content to life like nothing else. What other program allows students to practice being active citizens in their own simulated nation with their own parliamentary government, economy, court, and more? It’s experiential, 21st century learning at its finest.

This course pack was developed with the latest teaching and learning methods in mind. Not only will it allow teachers to integrate the cutting-edge Civic Mirror program, but it employs some of the key findings from brain-based learning research and the performance tasks from Understanding By Design.

Finally, this course package does not have to be followed exactly; there’s lots of room for teacher flavour, creativity, tweaks, and modifications.

If you have questions or experience difficulty downloading the course pack, please contact us.

If you’d like to GET STARTED, click here.

And if you’d like to learn more, check out the website … there’s lots of neat stuff happening!

<< DOWNLOAD CIVIC STUDIES 11 WITH THE CIVIC MIRROR COURSE PACK’ >>

<< DOWNLOAD: U.S. Government + Civic Mirror Course Pack >>

This course pack shows how you can build an entire U.S. Government course around The Civic Mirror, the online and face-to-face simulation that turns classrooms into countries and students into citizens. This course package is ideal for teachers looking for fun, exciting, and innovative ways to deliver their course content to students in the 21st century.

The U.S. Government with the Civic Mirror course pack was designed to help teachers meet the National Standards for Civics and Government. This means that it’s useful for almost every state’s government and civics curriculum.

It was also designed to be useful for various grade levels. Teachers of AP U.S. Government & Politics could follow the scope and sequence to a tee, bringing the course material to life unlike anything else while fully preparing them for the AP exam. Conversely, it might also be used by middle school government and civics teachers too.

Finally, this course package does not have to be followed exactly; there is lots of room for teacher flavor, creativity, tweaks, and modifications.

Contact us if you have questions, or click here to start now!

<< DOWNLOAD: U.S. Government + Civic Mirror Course Pack >>