I'm a VOICE: Ask Me (Violence-Prevention Outcomes in Civic Education)

This innovative seven-unit supplementary curriculum for grades 4-5 teaches about U.S. history and government using mediation, law-related education, and service learning as primary teaching strategies. The curriculum was piloted in Chicago and Elgin, Illinois. On a knowledge test about the three branches of government, the Bill of Rights, and the Preamble to the Constitution, students in the pilot did three times as well as students studying the same content in the control groups. The curriculum reinforces reading, writing, and critical thinking skills and promotes responsible civic involvement.