High School U.S. Government
America’s federal, state and local governments affect nearly every aspect of our lives, and understanding how they work is important not just to students’ academic success but to their current and future success as productive members of society as well. Engaging government resources of all kinds can be found on the Web, and this Web guide takes you straight to the best ones for students, teachers and parents.
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Expand All Guide SectionsStudent Resources for High School Government
Investigate your local and national government, find original documents written by historical figures and discover presidential biographies. This section includes some of the best online resources for your U.S. government needs.
Dulcinea's Insight
- When researching the U.S. government, the credibility of your sources is crucial. If you’re going to use sites not included in this Web guide, try to stick to official government sites. Government Web addresses always end with “.gov.”
- All three branches of American government maintain superb Web sites. These are great places to start any research into the House of Representatives, the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court. At each of these sites you’ll find news, history, important documents and even virtual tours of the buildings.
- These Web sites can aid your understanding of government in general. For help and online resources for specific parts of the U.S. government, visit the findingDulcinea Web Guides to Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, Presidential Elections, and Political Parties.
Dulcinea's Picks
For research projects and essays…
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
has a section for high school students containing online resources that can help you with your homework and that big project. You’ll find a variety of government resources including a glossary of terms that you’ll encounter when investigating the U.S. government.
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
(FREE) condenses the best resources available from U.S. federal agencies. The government resources are categorized by major topic, but you may find it more useful to navigate using the left sidebar.
GovSpot.com
is a portal to your state government. Choose your state on the U.S. map to get important information about your state, including a link to the state’s official Web site.
Project Vote Smart
links to resources about all the political parties in the United States. The parties are listed alphabetically with links to each party’s Web site. Whether you’re trying to figure out who to support or looking to start a party chapter at your school, you’ll find what you need here.
The Library of Congress
can help you find the resources you need for that big project. Check out the “Main Reading Room” to search the many resources available. If you’re having trouble, “Ask a Librarian” allows you to e-mail a real person or chat online with a librarian from 2–4 p.m. Eastern Time.
For help with your everyday homework …
Jiskha.com
is the place to go for fast answers and homework help from more than 200 experts who volunteer every day to assist students like you. Simply post your question and one or more Jiskha.com certified teachers will respond, sometimes in as little as an hour. There’s also an extensive directory of helpful articles and links.
Fact Monster
’s “Homework Center” is a great reference for help with U.S. government homework. You’ll get basic information on the three branches of government, elections and state government. There are also some challenge activities listed so you can test your knowledge.
Who knew?
Presidential Baseball
is a Flash-based trivia game that asks you to match up U.S. presidents with baseball players based on similarities in their skills and careers. Each answer is explained, making this a fun way for sports fans to test their knowledge of the national pastime while learning about the personalities and accomplishments of each president.
Teaching Resources for High School Government
There are so many fantastic social studies resources online that, as a teacher, your biggest problem may be choosing which to use in your classroom. Whether you’re teaching the three branches of government or following the election process, you’ll find great government resources using the sites listed below.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Don’t get fooled into paying for resources. Although some pay sites offer dependable content, you’re just as likely to find great stuff somewhere else for free. Museums, government entities and universities all offer excellent resources at no charge, and are often more engaging than pay-site material.
- There are many great resources throughout findingDulcinea.com that can greatly enrich the social studies experience in your classroom. The Beyond the Headlines section puts the day’s political news in a broader context, while the Politics Web Guide highlights the best Web sites for political news, history and activism, and houses individual Web guides to each branch of government and to the 2008 presidential election, among others.
- Help your students understand how to use the Internet as a valuable research tool. The links in this guide can help you lead them to trusted resources. Check out the “Student Resources for High School Government” section of this Web guide to point your students in the right direction for research projects.
Dulcinea's Picks
For lesson plans …
PBS
maintains a top-notch site for educators. Although this site can be intimidating at first glance, it is very functional and easy to use. Choose the grade level and subject matter from the dropdown menus near the top of the page; “Civics” or “Debate” are good choices for government resources.
EDSITEment
is hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities and offers interesting lessons to supplement your curriculum. If you’re the kind of teacher who prefers to go deep on certain issues, this site provides great lessons. It’s easy to use, too, and searchable by grade level and subject if you’re looking for other resources.
The Library of Congress
“Teachers” section covers a range of government topics. Make use of wonderful primary sources such as pictures, artwork and original documents that will get your students thinking like historians. First-time users might want to visit “The Learning Page” to learn how to use the vast resources; veteran users can skip right to the content.
SCORE
(Schools of California Online Resources for Education) provides both unit and lesson plans for American Government categorized by California Content Standard. Don’t worry if you don’t teach in California; the links are topical for anyone teaching government.
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
provides an excellent unit on the U.S. Constitution that includes 18 original documents and audio recordings.
For enrichment activities and curricula …
Justice Learning
, a collaboration between National Public Radio’s “Justice Talking” and The New York Times Learning Network, is aimed at providing the best resources to government and civics teachers. There are several categories to choose from, all of which focus on creating important discussions and critical thinking in your classroom.
The Constitutional Rights Foundation
offers a wide array of resources, including lesson plans and enrichment texts, on constitutional issues designed to help your students discuss the importance of good citizenship. The “Bill of Rights in Action” archive provides free access to printable readings that you can implement directly into your curriculum.
Our Documents
contains the top 100 milestone documents in U.S. History. The “tools for educators” section contains a printable guide to using the documents along with other valuable resources.
Parent Resources for High School Government
In high school, students broaden their ideas about citizenship as they learn the workings of their national and local governments. The resources in this section can help you understand what your teens should be learning, and help you stay engaged in their education as they mature into productive members of society.
Dulcinea's Insight
- One of the best ways to help your teen is to ask the teacher what the class is studying and supplement those subjects at home with help from the sites recommended below.
- High school is a great time to participate politically with your teenagers as they gain a greater understanding of how your national, state and local governments work. For ideas on how to become more active and put their newfound knowledge into practice, browse the findingDulcinea Political Activism Web Guide.
- If you’re homeschooling your children, you may find the “Teaching Resources for High School Government” section of this Web guide more relevant. For many more Web sites that can help you with homeschooling in a variety of ways, see our findingDulcinea Homeschooling Web Guide.
Dulcinea's Picks
For educational standards …
SCORE
(Schools of California Online Resources for Education) provides the best overview of the key concepts your teenager should be learning. This is a great place to start organizing your thoughts about how you want to supplement and enhance your child’s government education. Note, however, that if you browse the rest of the SCORE site you may find the surfing somewhat difficult.
FunBrain
’s “Standards Finder” tells you what students in a particular subject and grade level should be learning. Although this might not line up exactly with what your child is learning in school, it can give you a good idea of what at-home material might be helpful to your child.
To supplement classroom learning …
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
has a section for parents and teachers with curriculum links and additional online resources that can be used to help students integrate social studies into their activities at home. You’ll find the usual variety of government resources categorized by topic; try exploring the younger grades for fun.
The Library of Congress
“Kids and Families” page is a great site to surf together with your teen. Access a wealth of educational material and even play along in a game or two that will challenge your historical knowledge. If your teen is doing research for a project, this site is a great place to start.
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