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iCivics Massachusetts

Welcome Massachusetts Teachers!

iCivics presents a curriculum solution for Massachusetts civics teachers, with effective and engaging digital resources for your classroom and students. Check out the Massachusetts Scope and Sequence and our new lesson plans created with the Massachusetts content, practice and literacy standards in mind.

Grade 8

  • Guide to the Grade 8 Civics Course and Resources - All Topics (1 - 7)

    (with clickable resource links to view lesson plans)

  • Purchase iCivics’ State & Local Government Student Workbook

    This full-color student workbook provides readings and activities to support teaching Massachusetts state and local government, topic 6 in the grade 8 standards. The workbook will provide you with everything you need to teach the principles of state and local government, including its structure, function and role in students’ lives.

Resources for Civics Projects

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Civics Project Guidebook supports educators in developing student-led civics projects required under the state civics law. The Guidebook outlines key components of the student-led civics projects including the six stages of student-led civics projects, considerations for district implementation, planning and assessment resources, and case studies for use in professional development.


  • Civics Projects: A Workbook for Civic Engagement

    This full-color student workbook was designed to help you meet the new expectation in Massachusetts that all students in the eighth grade and high school will engage with student-led, non-partisan civics projects. It provides ready-made activities that teachers can easily use in both face-to-face and remote learning environments.



Multiple Grades

Curriculum Unit

Media Literacy
Civil Rights
Supreme Court Cases
Media and InfluenceThis unit is designed to teach students about media influence on politics and society. Students learn how the media and interest groups influence discussions that take place in the “public sphere” and ultimately influence the government. They also identify and apply the seven types of propaganda to see how messages are designed to influence us individually.  The unit challenges students to take a…VIEW LESSON PLAN >>
News LiteracyThe universe of information we live in is a complicated web of messages with a mind-blowing array of sources, biases, and agendas. Help your students develop the mad news literacy skills they need with the resources in our hot-off-the-press News Literacy unit. Designed for the high school classroom, this unit teaches students to recognize high-standards journalism so they can make informed…VIEW LESSON PLAN >>
Pushing Towards Civil RightsThe push towards civil rights in the United States has been longstanding and is ever-evolving. While not encompassing, our civil rights unit covers the expansion and abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, and the expansion of rights through court cases and laws. For more coverage, check out additional cases in our Landmark Library.   Topics at a…VIEW LESSON PLAN >>
Landmark LibraryThis library of mini-lessons targets a variety of landmark cases from the United States Supreme Court. Each mini-lesson includes a one-page reading and one page of activities. The mini-lessons are designed for students to complete independently without the need for teacher direction. However, they also make great teacher-directed lessons and class discussion-starters.  Not sure which cases you…VIEW LESSON PLAN >>