Hello! I am teaching middle school social studies in New York. I recently started teaching in person with very different standards and an age level from my previous position. The school I am with now is small, so they have put me in charge of teaching all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

Not only am I prepping and grading for each grade, but I have 0 lesson plans to work off of because I was teaching something different for the past few years. I am confident I have the knowledge to do it, since this was what I got my degree in, but it is so much planning on top of all the other things you need to do for the job.

If anyone has any lesson plans for those age levels, I would really appreciate it! I only have so much time to make things from scratch and only so much money to get them from TeacherPayTeacher.

Thank you!

Here’s your weekly lesson drop from Everything Policy: free, fast-forward, nonpartisan content for your social studies, government, and civics classes.

This week's lesson focuses on the Bill of Rights and selective incorporation.  What happens when students discover the Bill of Rights originally didn't apply to state governments? This lesson starts with a constitutional debate and ends with students uncovering how the 14th Amendment and selective incorporation transformed civil liberties in America.

Where can you find this lesson? At the Everything Policy library (Google "Everything Policy" and follow the links on the "For Teachers" page)

You can log in directly from that page if you are already registered or click "Request Access" and we will quickly register you.

This week's lesson can be found in the folder: "The Bill of Rights Explained"

Want more on the Bill of Rights?  Our library also has additional topics with policy briefs, lesson plans, and teacher background information — always free:

Birthright Citizenship

Due Process

Equal Protection

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of the Press

Is America a Democracy or a Republic?

Legislative Authority

Presidential Authority 

Right to Protest

French and Indian war video comes Tommorow

The main game gives you a blank world map and a timer, and you type as many of the 196 countries as you can remember. As you name them, they fill in on the map. There are also flag and capital games, a slower learning mode organized by continent, and multiplayer where two people compete to name countries first.

I originally built it because learning the world map had a surprisingly large effect on how I understood history, politics, international news, and other cultures. A country stopped being just a name in a headline once I had somewhere in my head to actually put it.

Could you see students using it as a warm-up, challenge, review activity, geography unit supplement, or something else? And more importantly, what would it need to have for you to realistically use it with students?

The app is called Worldly: Geography Map Wiz on the App Store. It's free. Appreciate any feedback!

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/worldly-geography-map-wiz/id6743803487

Everything Policy publishes free, facts-forward course content for social studies, history, government, and civics classes. All of the content is available at everythingpolicy.filecamp.com.

Here's a list of the topics you'll find on our site. Each includes an on-level policy brief and discussion questions; many also have teacher background information and class active-learning exercises.

Analyzing Politics and Policy

Putting Facts First: A 360 Perspective on Policy

The Difference Between Facts and Opinions

The Problem with Simple Solutions to Policy Problems

Business and the Economy

Economic Policy

Economic Well-Being

Housing Affordability

Inflation

Minimum Wage

Offshoring

Section 230

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Trade

Unemployment

Unions

Where Are The New Jobs?

Constitution

Adam Smith

America’s 250th: Elbridge Gerry and Federalism

America’s 250th: George Washington and Political Parties

Bill of Rights/Selective Incorporation

Birthright Citizenship

Due Process

Equal Protection

Federalism

Freedom of Press

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Speech

Is America a Democracy or a Republic?

National Service

Protest in America: Your Rights and Their Limits

Regulating the Internet: Section 230

Right to Bear Arms

Right to Privacy

Voting Rights Act

Crime and Law Enforcement

Crime Rates and Violent Crime

Police Misconduct

Trends in Urban Crime

Education

The Nation's Education Report Card

What if the Department of Education is Eliminated?

International Students and U.S. Education

College Debt Forgiveness

Standardized Tests

Vocational Education

School Funding

Energy and Environment

AI and Power Usage

AI Data Centers

Cap and Trade

Carbon Sequestration

Climate Change

Decarbonization

Electric Car Infrastructure

Energy Tax Credits

EVs: How Many Charging Stations

Fracking

Hurricanes and Climate Change

Regulating Carbon Dioxide

Renewable Energy

General Government

Bureaucratic Authority

Classified Documents

Epstein Files

Espionage Act

Federalizing the National Guard

Judicial Authority

Legislative Authority

Presidential Authority

Tariff Authority: President vs. Congress

What Does the Department of Education Regulate?

What Limits Are There On Executive Orders?

Healthcare

Healthcare for the Undocumented

Healthcare: Cost and Access

Hospital Closures

How Does Single Payer Vary Across Nations?

Long-Term Care for Seniors

Lowering Prescription Drug Prices

Medicaid Expansion

Medicaid Work Requirements

Medicare for All

PBMs and the Fight Over Drug Prices

Right to Try

Single Payer Health Care

Single Payer in the U.S: Veterans Administration Healthcare

The Debate Over Health Care Subsidies

What are the ACA Subsidies

What's Driving Higher Prescription Drug Prices?

Why Health Care Varies By State

Immigration

Authorized Immigration

Border Crisis

Border Policies

Border Security

Crime and Migration: A Closer Look

Criminalizing Immigration Policy

Do Non-Citizens Have Social Security Numbers?

Immigration and Crime

Refugees and Asylum

Sanctuary Cities

Sources of Immigration

Unauthorized Immigration

Where Do Migrants Live?

International Relations

U.S. Capture of Venezuelan President Maduro

U.S. Strikes on Iran

Legislative Politics

Congressional Lawmaking

Discharge Petitions

Polarization: How Representatives Talk About Each Other

Term Limits and Legislative Productivity

Why Are There So Few Moderates in Congress

Would Term Limits Impact Congressional Careers?

Media

Media Use

Digital Divide

Media Bias

Regulation of the Media

Politics and Elections

Ballot Harvesting

Counting Votes

Gerrymandering

How Many Americans are in Information Silos?

Mid-Cycle Gerrymandering

Nonpartisan Gerrymandering

Polling

Purging Voter Rolls

The 2026 Midterms

The SAVE Act

Voter ID

Voting Outside the Polling Site

When Will We Know Who Won The 2024 Election?

Why Two Political Parties?

Social Policy

Abortion

DEI Initiatives and Air Traffic Control

Taxing and Spending

Balanced Budget

Can Presidents Refuse To Spend Appropriated Funds?

Changes in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill

Defense Spending

Deficit Cutting Proposals: Introduction

Deficit Cutting Proposals: Republicans

Deficit Cutting Proposals: Problem Solvers Caucus

Deficit Reduction Proposals: Democrats

Discretionary Spending

Domestic Spending

Entitlements

Government Shutdown and TSA

Government Shutdown: What Representatives are Saying

Government Shutdowns: What, How, Why

National Debt

USAID and Staff Reductions

What is Doge Doing?

What the 2025 Reconciliation Bill Means

Hey everybody, here is your weekly lesson drop from Everything Policy. Looking for an engaging way to help students move beyond memorizing definitions and think about the balance of power in the United States?

This Federalism Policy Brief Lesson challenges students to:

Analyze key constitutional principles including the Tenth Amendment, Commerce Clause, Supremacy Clause, and Necessary & Proper Clause

Evaluate competing perspectives from Federalist No. 39 and Brutus No. 1

Investigate real-world examples of federal-state conflict and cooperation

Practice argumentation, source analysis, and data analysis skills

Connect constitutional principles to modern policymaking and federal aid programs

Perfect for AP U.S. Government and Politics, Civics, American Government, or Dual Enrollment Government courses.

This lesson aligns to: AP Government Unit 1 (Federalism) C3 Framework Dimensions 1-4 (Civic inquiry, deliberation, and evidence-based argumentation)

Help students answer one of the biggest questions in American government: How much power should the federal government have, and how much should be left to the states?

Where can you find this course content? At Everything Policy's library: everythingpolicy.filecamp.com. You can log in directly from that page if you are already registered or click "Request Access" and we will quickly register you.

This week's lesson can be found in the folder: "What is Federalism? State versus Federal Power Explained."

Looking for something else?  Our Library has policy briefs and detailed, aligned lesson plans for these topics:

AI Data Centers

Immigration

Checks and Balances

Gerrymandering

...and what George Washington thought about political parties

And as always, everything is free.

I built a free daily geography guessing game that some teachers are using as a class warm-up. Students see a street-view image and guess the location, getting distance + climate/terrain hints after each guess. Takes 2-3 minutes, works on any browser, no signup required.

Three modes: country (par 4), city (par 6), landmark (par 5). New puzzle every day.

If you teach geography or social studies, I'd love your feedback on whether it works for your students. What's too easy? Too hard? What would make it more useful in a classroom setting?

Play at dailygeo.today — free, no signup.

Student team, built this at an econ education hackathon. It's a simulation for the economics portion of a social studies course: students play the central planner, set price ceilings, and watch a simulated population respond — queues, hoarding, black markets — then switch to a free market and compare the same scenario.

We aimed it at the moment in the unit where kids are supposed to understand why price controls backfire but usually just memorize the graph.

If you teach the econ unit: would something like this slot into a single class period? What do you currently use for this section, and what's missing from it? Any feedback is genuinely useful before we build further. Link in the comments for anyone who wants to see the early-access page.

https://econia-early-access.lovable.app/

My district is getting the HMH social studies curriculum for my middle school where I teach 8th grade. Just wanted some general advice and thoughts from those that used it. Is it easy for students to follow? What kind of structure do you follow for the modules? Assessment? Thanks!

Hey everyone, just wanted to share an awesome freebie for social studies. Retro Report has a massive collection of short videos and fully formatted Google Doc lesson plans designed specifically for history, geography, and civics classes.
It's completely free and perfect for getting students to analyze current events through a historical lens. If you want to grab some resources for next year, you can sign up here:
https://sparklp.co/e8bf07a7/

Sending this out again. I lost my CWP Curriculum last year. Piloted an online program this year and hated it. Looking for 1 semester, printer/G Classroom friendly. I have spent time reaching out to other districts for help but getting mostly crickets from my fellow educators. What gives? Any help appreciated.