Middle School Civics Curriculum for Charter School Teachers
Civics teachers at a charter middle school who need a government course ready before the first week can use Civics Complete – Middle School. Its 50+ resources for grades 6–8 cover rights and responsibilities, founding documents, separation of powers, checks and balances, and federal, state and local government, and the files arrive by download right after purchase.
Open the civics curriculum →Civics Complete – Middle School is a no-prep civics curriculum for grades 6–8 with 50+ resources, from $149.90. Students study the purpose of government, democracy and the rule of law, constitutions and founding documents, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the levels of government, using laws, court cases, infographics and political cartoons to build evidence-based civic arguments. It suits charter teachers starting a course quickly. Compare it with your state's civics requirements, as alignment is not guaranteed.
The curriculum
Civics Complete – Middle School, Grades 6–8
Start with the full curriculum. The other resources below are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
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The real problem
Teaching civics when your school writes its own rules
Charter schools are a civics lesson in themselves. They run under a charter, answer to an authorizer and a board, and often set policies a district school would inherit from above. Your students may ask why their school has different rules from their cousin's, and that is a good starting point. The difficulty is everything else. Civics is often a one-semester or one-year course squeezed in beside history, and at a small charter the person teaching it may be the only social studies teacher in the building. You need founding documents explained at a middle school reading level, a way to make separation of powers concrete, and practice reading court cases and political cartoons without the class sliding into partisan arguments. Families watch civics closely, so the materials must be balanced and sourced, not your personal opinion in slide form. Building that from scratch means hunting down constitutional excerpts, finding cartoons that are clear without being inflammatory, and designing tasks that ask students to argue with evidence. On a short hiring timeline, there is rarely time to do it carefully.
Why it fits
How the civics curriculum fits your situation
It gives you a structured, source-based government course you can explain to families and administrators with confidence.
- Founding documents and constitutions are taught directly, so students read the sources rather than summaries.
- Separation of powers and checks and balances get their own lessons, the core of most middle school civics.
- Federal, state and local government material helps students see where their own school fits in.
- Court cases, laws and political cartoons give you primary sources for structured, evidence-based discussion.
- Civic arguments with evidence keep debate focused on reasoning instead of personal opinion.
- Rights and responsibilities lessons connect the course to students' daily lives at school.
Getting started
Opening the civics course in two weeks
Here is one possible order for the opening weeks. It is a suggestion, not a schedule built into the product.
- Choose semester or full yearOnce downloaded, decide whether civics runs a semester or a year and divide the civic thinking and government content to fit. A shorter course needs fewer units taught well, not all of them rushed.
- Ask why we have governmentBegin with the purpose of government lesson. Have students think about what their school would be like with no rules, then connect that to the reasons communities set up governments.
- Read a founding document togetherIn week one, take a short excerpt from a constitution or founding document and read it slowly as a class. Students learn that civics means working from the text itself.
- Map out the three branchesIn week two, teach separation of powers and checks and balances with a chart or infographic task. Students trace how one branch can limit another using a concrete example.
- Practice a civic argumentClose the stretch with a short evidence-based argument on a rights question. Set norms for respectful disagreement first, so later discussions of court cases stay on track.
Which version
Selecting a civics version
The core curriculum, 50+ resources for $149.90, covers civic thinking and government and democracy for grades 6–8. The $189.90 option includes Teach-Life-Balance, a digital course with a planner, guides and templates for reducing teacher workload. Choose it if civics is one of several preps. Since civics teachers at small charters often teach world history or geography as well, it makes sense to pair this with World History Complete or Geography Complete – Middle School; the code TEACHMORE15 gives 15% off when you buy two or more curricula.
Honest limits
What this civics course does not include
It does not track current elections, legislation or news, so any current events you bring in are your own choice and responsibility. It is written for U.S. middle school classrooms, but state civics requirements and any required civics tests vary, so check the course against them. If another teacher at your school will use it, send Teach Lessons a short message beforehand. If the curriculum does not work for your class, you can exchange it for store credit of equal value within 7 days. It is store credit, not cash.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this civics curriculum endorsed by our state or charter authorizer?
No. It is not approved, endorsed or adopted by any state, charter authorizer or standards body, and alignment is not guaranteed. It is written for U.S. middle school civics and covers civic thinking, the purpose of government, democracy and rule of law, founding documents, branches and levels of government. Check it against your state's civics framework and any required tests before relying on it.
How does it handle politically sensitive topics?
Lessons are built around sources such as constitutions, laws, court cases, charts and political cartoons, and students make civic arguments using evidence. That structure keeps discussion focused on reasoning and text. How you run current-event discussions is up to you and your school's policies, since current news is not part of the material.
Does it cover state and local government, or only federal?
It covers federal, state and local government. That is useful at a charter, where students can explore how their school relates to the state, the local community and its own board. Details specific to your state may need a short supplement, since the curriculum is written for classrooms across the U.S.
Can I teach it in one semester?
Yes, if you choose the units carefully. Units can be taught as a full sequence or individually, and the material is flexible for short lessons and review. For a semester, many teachers would focus on founding documents, separation of powers, checks and balances, and rights and responsibilities.
Is there related material on ethics or geography?
The XXL Ethics Bundle for grades 7–10 ($89.99) is a separate product that pairs well with rights and responsibilities discussions, especially if your charter has an advisory or character program. Geography Complete – Middle School is another Complete Curriculum with the same structure as this one. Neither is required to teach civics; the core course stands on its own.
Our advisory teachers want the rights and responsibilities lessons. Can they use them?
Charters often fold civic topics into advisory, so this comes up. Use by other staff in your school is possible, but message Teach Lessons briefly before handing anything over, and ask there about the school paying if that is the plan. The licence covers instructional use; posting the lessons on a public site or giving them to a partner school is not allowed.
Teach government from the source documents up
Open the product page to see what the civics curriculum includes, pick a version and download it right away.
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