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Florida Joint Center for Citizenship

Civic learning resources for teachers & students, brought to you by the Lou Frey Institute and the Bob Graham Center.

The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is a partnership between the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida and the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida.

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Summer Announcement from LFI

Hello users! We want to thank you for choosing our site to find your teaching materials! Please be patient with us over the summer. We’re revamping a number of pages, so some materials might be offline for a time. We’re working hard to have everything back up by the start of the school year for you! If there’s anything you need specifically, please reach out to stephen.masyada@ucf.edu.
Don’t forget to check back regularly for updates!

Civics in Real Life

What’s New!

We’ve recently added new pages to our website to support the teaching of The Declaration of Independence turning 250, required instruction/holidays/observances, media literacy, and a new micro-grant opportunity! Visit the links to explore the pages.

The Declaration Turns 250!
Required Instruction & Observances
Checkology from the News Literacy Project
silhouette of people beside usa flag
Civic Engagement & Education Microgrants

Testimonials

  • Thank you for the Civics lesson plan and benchmark resources you provide to us. 
    I teach in a title 1 school and we have consistently used elements of your resources to incorporate into our lessons throughout the year. We also use resources from G2AG textbook, TCI textbook, and those found in CPalms. 
    This past year, we revised all our lessons and practice tests for the new and updated standards. 
    Most helpful to our needs are the FJCC benchmark aligned EOC practice questions of varying DOK and stimuli. We also use your lessons (not in their entirety, as they tend to be at a higher level than our students) as part of the resource set. We also find the various vocabulary resources helpful. 
    We have also used to the Civics 360 practice questions and readings as well and look forward to their updates for all the new changes. 
    Thanks for all your efforts. 
    Brent
    Palm Beach County
  • As a Civics teacher having finished her 9th year teaching Civics, I have relied entirely on the FJCC and Loy Frey Institute for their Civics curriculum, lesson plans, Civics360, and the Civics in Real Life lessons. The guidance that the FJCC/Lou Frey Institute gives allows Civics teachers across the State to know how to most effectively teach this Florida State tested course. The professional development offered by the FJCC/Lou Frey Institute is invaluable for Civics teachers and allows us to know how to not just teach what the state benchmarks require for us to teach, but to have a deeper understanding ourselves of the material and concept. Thank you for providing all of this to the teachers of Civics in the state of Florida. 
    Shannon
    Pinellas County
  • Thanks to your PDs and FJCC, I don’t know how I would have made sense out of Civics. To be honest, FDOE in-services were ok and our District wasn’t much better. Your platforms have made a difference and I use them extensively. 
    Civics is as important as math, science, and ela. I’ve taught them all and I truly believe in the motto, learned from the YMCA, “Democracy must be learned by every generation.” 
    It would be a crime to cut your budget. The proofs in the pudding, our good scores on EOCs are in large part due to FJCC. 
    Thanks so much for putting your heart into Civics for Florida students.
    Robert
    Walton County
  • I regularly weave these resources into my daily curriculum. My students find them especially helpful and they really enjoy how the benchmarks are connected to current events. 
    I cannot imagine teaching Civics in the state without these valuable resources for teachers and students. To lose them would be a loss for our students, especially now that Florida has added the Civics test one more time before graduating from high school. I believe our results speak to the importance of continued resources for teachers in the state, especially those new to the Civics curriculum. 
    Dianne
    Bay County 
  • I will continue to supplement my instruction with information I receive from the Lou Frey institute because it is contemporary, tried and true. 
    The resources provided are the tools teachers need to teach, with fidelity, confidence and safely, in a world that is changing (threatening our teaching licenses) everyday. I appreciate the clearinghouse of resources that the Lou Frey Institute and FJCC provide. 
    Bonnie
    Nyu
  • First year civics teacher here (26 years of teaching, but 1st year in civics). Once we met with someone from the state and they told us about the FJCC site, I used pretty much only the FJCC resources for my lessons with our TCI book as a reading resource. My pass rate for the first year was 85%! My scores were better than the 7 year Civics veteran teaching it! I love the details of the plans, the vocabulary, and all the resources.
    Wendi
    Orange County
  • We use the LFI resources to plan as a department weekly. We use the lesson plans to guide instruction, vocabulary and assessments. 
    I would be truly be adrift without your resources. I have used them faithfully at title one and more affluent schools. They are tailor made for our students to be successful on the state EOC and as engaged citizens we so desperately need. 
    I truly hope you are able to continue the great work of the Lou Frey Institute. 
    Anne
    Collier County
  • The FJCC lessons help guide me, and provide excerpts of primary sources as well as gallery walk ideas, vocabulary activities and classwork to check for student understanding. Thank you for providing this valuable resource for my classroom! I use it almost every day. 
    Traci
    Marion County
  • Your resources are the best! 
    I appreciate these resources tremendously. 
    Amy
    Broward County 
  • I just wanted to you let you know that I find the resources and PD provided by the Lou Frey Institute and FJCC extremely useful!!! 
    I use the lessons plans, videos, and activities all the time. 
    Ariell
    Broward County