Civics in the First Circuit

For Teachers

Additional resources:

Educational Resources
The U.S. Courts' hub for classroom-ready simulations and interactive approaches to court basics.

Educational Activities
A library of ready-to-use classroom, courtroom, and distance-learning activities, including simulations tied to the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments and to landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Mendez v. Westminster.

Civics Renewal Network
A consortium of more than 40 nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations — including the Library of Congress, National Archives, iCivics, and the U.S. Courts — offering thousands of free, high-quality civics and social studies materials searchable by grade, subject, and standard.

The Federal Courts: Civics Education (Federal Judges' Association)
An FJA initiative to promote public understanding of the Constitution, judicial independence, and the rule of law; includes a circuit-by-circuit community outreach resource manual and a guide to the federal magistrate judges system.

iCivics Learning Toolkits for Educators & Families
Free games, lesson plans, and toolkits from iCivics — founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor — used by an estimated 145,000 teachers and 9 million students nationwide.

DocsTeach (National Archives)
A free online tool for teaching with primary source documents — letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, and videos spanning American history. Educators can build custom document-based activities (sequencing, mapping, compare-and-contrast, and more) or borrow ready-made ones from other teachers.

Annenberg Classroom
A free, comprehensive multimedia curriculum on the Constitution from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania — over 65 award-winning videos, games, lesson plans, interactive timelines, and downloadable books. Particularly strong on the judicial branch: dedicated units on Article III, judicial independence, and landmark cases (Miranda v. Arizona, Brown v. Board of Education, Mapp v. Ohio, and more), including recorded "Conversations on the Constitution" with sitting and retired Supreme Court justices.

The Role of U.S. Courts of Appeals
A "teach three, each three" activity where students rotate through roles as appellate attorneys and judges using real, teen-relevant circuit court cases; includes a downloadable full activity package.

Teaching Federal Judicial History
The Federal Judicial Center's history portal — timelines, spotlight articles, courthouse galleries, and the multi-volume "Debates on the Federal Judiciary" documentary history series.

Inside the Federal Courts
A free seven-part eLearning course covering what federal courts do, how they're organized, how cases move through them, and who does what — originally built to train court employees, now open to the public.

Teaching Famous Federal Trials
Teaching materials — case summaries, PowerPoint lectures, and student handouts — on 17 historic federal trials, from the Amistad and Susan B. Anthony's voting-rights trial to the Chicago Seven and the Pentagon Papers case.

FAQs about Federal Judges
Background on how federal judgeships are created, how judges are chosen, and judicial compensation and milestones, plus a link to the searchable Biographical Directory of Judges (1789–present).

Federal Courts Civics Education & Courtroom Programs Videos: Get informed. Get involved. Get inspired. Learn about civics topics and initiatives to involve and teach students about the federal courts.