
Resource Type: Educator Guide


Pottawatomie Lighthouse

Mariachi Monarcas de Milwaukee

Airway Beacon

Civics Resources
PBS Civics Resources
Navigate important civics concepts for learners of all ages with trusted resources from PBS. Public media supports educators and learners with high-quality local, state, and national content that introduces community concepts, goes deep into Wisconsin tribal lands, and sparks important discussions about elections. Contributors from PBS KIDS, Student Reporting Labs, PBS News, and more provide just-in-time resources for election seasons and beyond.
What you will find
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Civics Concepts
Discover classroom-ready educational resources for learners exploring communities, media literacy, and ethics.
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Government structures
Access information for teaching about tribal, state, and federal government.
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Election resources
Explore a wide range of news, history, and information literacy resources.
PBS Resources

Early Learning Resources
PBS KIDS helps support PreK-2 learners to participate as active and engaged members of their home, school, and broader communities.
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Elementary Resources
Civics resources for grades 3-5 help elementary learners understand foundational concepts of government, civic engagement, and elections.
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Secondary Resources
These civics resources deepen civic knowledge and understanding for learners in grades 6-12.
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Request a professional learning session
Invite our team to share standards-aligned civics resources from public media with educators in your school or organization.

Featured Resources

City Island
Solve challenges with creative solutions in City Island– a living city where the objects are people with iconic businesses, government institutions, and a diverse citizenry. Grades PreK-2

Wisconsin Biographies “Leaders in Government”
Meet people from Wisconsin’s past who felt a calling to represent their communities, serving as leaders in local, state, or national governments! Grades 3-6

Election Central
Keep up with election news, study the history and process of elections, learn about voting rights, and engage in classroom debates with videos, activities, and lesson plans. Grades 3-12

Civics Collection
Support middle and high school students to acquire civic knowledge, develop civic understanding through applied historical and present-day examples, and engage and participate in civic affairs. Grades 6-12

Wisconsin First Nations
Wisconsin First Nations provides accurate and authentic educational resources for teaching and learning about the Native Nations of Wisconsin. Grades K-12
Newsletter
Affiliations

Quotation
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PBS gave us a path forward for weaving civic engagement lessons with library and classroom lessons in a way that will be positively impactful for our learners. Thank you! It is exactly what we needed.

Circus World

Roberto Hernández: Working for La Comunidad
Tall-Tale Postcards

Educator Resources
Why Climate Wisconsin
Stories in Climate Wisconsin can be the seeds for growing robust climate education experiences in classrooms and community spaces. Explore the quick start chart to see what’s in the collection, and then dig into the educator guides for extension activity ideas, discussion questions, essays, and standards alignment.
Climate Wisconsin Educator Guides
Adaptation & Mitigation: Wisconsin
An animated overview of strategies for addressing climate change with examples of actions that humans can take as individuals and as a society.
Extreme Heat: Milwaukee, WI
Elijah Furquan channels his creativity as a spoken word artist into giving voice to the effects of extreme heat on his urban community.
Farming: Bangor, WI
Kyle Niedfeldt Zenz shares about the challenges pests and disease pose to raising crops on her family’s farm.
Fly Fishing: Viroqua, WI
Peter Cozad, a fly fishing guide, talks about the increasing frequency of severe weather events that are impacting trout streams.
Forestry: Neopit, WI
Marshall Pecore describes the forest’s economic and cultural value to the Menominee and invasive species that now threaten the forest’s health.
Ice Fishing: Madison, WI
Tom and Norma Marchant share about their enjoyment of winter ice fishing season, which is being made shorter by warming temperatures.
Phenology: Baraboo, WI
Nina Leopold Bradley talks about how keeping records of the changing timing of plant and animal life cycles makes climate change visible.
Sugaring: Athens, WI
Kat Becker and Tony Schultz recount the seasonal practice of maple sugaring and how changing conditions impact the sap supply.
Tell us what you think!
Have a question? Inspired to share? Email Us!
education@pbswisconsin.org
Quotation
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“We use Climate Wisconsin videos all the time! Such a great resource, really well done and relevant to our audience.”

Educator Resources
Why The Look Back
Taking a closer look at artifacts from the past can help us tell the stories that have shaped the communities of our state—as well as offer opportunities for us to connect those stories to our own experiences. The Look Back brings the histories of our state to life for learners today through era-forward episodes featuring interesting artifacts, discussion questions, and guides.
Educator Guides
How Did Early Airplane Pilots Navigate Without Modern Tech?: World War I and the Great Depression
Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing in the history of aviation. Explore the navigation tools used during the years leading up to and shortly after the Great Depression.
Bowled Over: Vietnam Era
Roll into recreation in Wisconsin during the Vietnam War era through Earlene Fuller’s story.
Did Kids Really Run Away to Join the Circus?: Early Wisconsin
Step right up to see how the circus came to be in Wisconsin and how transportation innovations, business, and social issues were juggled under the big top.
Dice in the Dairyland: The History of Dungeons and Dragons: Modern Era
Get ready to roll with this adventurous exploration of how a game played around the world started in a small Wisconsin town.
Fit to Print: The Progressive Era and WWI
Read between the lines of The Progressive Era and WWI through the printing of amateur newspapers.
For the Record: World War I and the Great Depression
Tune into the history of the Great Depression through the story of Paramount Records.
An Iron In the Fire: The Fur Trade Era
Spark your thinking about life during the Fur Trade Era through the making and use of a wrought iron toaster.
Not Set In Stone: Early Wisconsin, Civil War, and Reconstruction
Get a different take on Lincoln’s legacy and the freeing of enslaved people through the Emancipation Group sculpture.
On the Move: Modern Era
Get your gears turning about life in the modern era through bicycles and bike making in Wisconsin.
Was Lighthouse Keeper the Most Remote Job in Wisconsin History?: Territory to Statehood
Get on the same wavelength as ship captains during the time before Wisconsin was a state with this towering tale of the Pottawatomie Lighthouse.
Ripe for Change: Postwar Wisconsin
Travel back to the postwar era through the bunk beds that hold the history of migrant farmworkers in Wisconsin.
A Stitch In Time: Territory to Statehood
Sew your way through the time from territory to statehood with Margaret Miekel’s cross-stitch sampler.
How Fake Photos Helped Convince People to Move to the Midwest: Progressive Era and WWI
Craft a new understanding of the myths and realities of life in the midwest over 100 years ago with tall tale postcards.
Time to Shine: Early Explorers
Set your clock to the time of early explorers through the story of the Le Maire Sundial and Compass.
A Trunk Full of History: The New Deal and World War II
Unpack the New Deal and WWII through this Civilian Conservation Corps member’s trunk.
Waterlogged: First Nations
Dive into learning about First Nations in the area thousands of years ago through the dugout canoes recovered from Lake Mendota.
Tell us what you think!
Have a question? Inspired to share? Email Us!
education@pbswisconsin.org
Quotation
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“Social studies is quick to be forgotten because of math and reading, but the length and content of these videos make them perfect for the classroom.”