Citizenship and Online Resources - PBS Rocks!

US Citizenship Activity Pack


Yesterday, July 4th, the USA celebrated the 235th anniversary of its independence with parades, ceremonies, picnics, and fireworks.  One of the ceremonies that impressed me was a recognition ceremony honoring America's newest citizens, people from all over the world who gained US citizenship. 

Today, as I reviewed new PBS resources, I discovered their excellent collection of citizenship resources from the founding fathers to 21st century civic engagement and activities for students of all ages.  The activity tab also includes the link to the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) website.  

Teachers and students can easily learn what it takes to pass the naturalization test and the components for becoming a US citizen.  Here is the link to the online Naturalization Self Test.  You can test your knowledge of American history and government. 

These are the components of the test.

PBS keeps it simple for teachers to use their resources.  You can copy their activity packs to almost 2 dozen web tools and they provide the embed code.  If you haven't explored the multitude of resources on the PBS website, I encourage you to check them out.  Start with the citizenship resources. 

Lastly, it you know a new US citizen, take a minute to congratulate them on their accomplishment.

Leave a comment, if you use or have a way to use these resources. 

Audiobooks with Lit2Go

Lit2Go is a growing audiobook website that is an online service from Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse.  With Lit2Go you can download files to an mp3 player, listen to a book or poem on your computer, print a story, and view text on their webpage.  If you have iTunes available, you can also download selections to your iTunes library.
What keeps it simple for busy teachers?  You can browse by author, title, subject, and by reading level/grade level.  

The FETC people at the University of Southern Florida state that they are adding to the site on a regular basis so it is the type of site that you will want to bookmark and return to regularly. 

Many kids have an mp3 devise or phones that support mp3 files to this is a site that teachers should share with students and parents.  It's free and another way for students to access, listen and read literature and poetry.  The search interface and options are clean and easy to understand.  Lit2Go could also be used to teach research skills, something that all students need to develop. 

I'm a fan of searching by reading level.  I think it saves time and allows teachers to explore new literature that is appropriate for their age/grade level and to make reading recommendations that will ensure student success. 

Here are the "C" books and poems  that are currently available. 



Check out the features and content on Lit2Go and see if it is a resource that will work for you.
Enjoy!