ERIE, Pa., Sept. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to today’s debates about individuals' rights and an obvious need for more civics education, izzit.org, a highly popular online educator resource for more than 14 years, recently expanded its free U.S. Constitution Education Library to include a new interactive, online mini-course and a teaching unit on the First Amendment.
The First Amendment materials help students learn about the Bill of Rights, its history, what rights the First Amendment protects, and why it is important to know and understand them. Each educational component features video clips, discussion questions, and more.
The First Amendment mini-course and teaching unit were developed from a three-part PBS series about the U.S. Constitution, A More or Less Perfect Union. izzit.org is the exclusive producer and distributor of educational materials developed from the public television series.
“izzit.org is dedicated to helping educators teach subjects that will enable students to become responsible, thoughtful citizens,” said Dean Graziano, vice president. “We make it easy to create a lesson around the First Amendment by including teacher guides, discussion questions, quizzes and more. Plus, it is all at no cost to educators.”
The First Amendment teaching unit is available for free streaming and download. Cost for the DVD is $15. The DVD and streaming versions are closed captioned in English and Italian. The 17-minute video covers numerous educational standards across several subject areas, including U.S. History and Civics for grades 7-12+.
Additional izzit.org civics educational materials include The U.S. Constitution & Black History online mini-course, Becoming Equal Under the Law teaching unit, and nine “Teachable Moments” -- short videos designed to instigate lively classroom discussions on pivotal Supreme Court cases, eminent domain, women’s suffrage and ERA, Magna Carta and more.
izzit.org specializes in creating standards-aligned content that fosters critical thinking and respectful debate among students. In addition to a library of over 125 video-centric education materials, izzit.org offers a free Current Events service, complete with two daily articles, discussion questions, and vocabulary. Each school year, U.S. educators can receive one free DVD from izzit.org’s library and unlimited downloads and streaming.
More than 300,000 U.S. teachers have izzit.org accounts today, and according to over 30,000 recent quizzes taken by middle and high school students, izzit.org videos and the ideas presented within those videos have a documented 76 percent comprehension rate.
Marjory Hawkins
mhawkins@hawkinspr.com