iCivics is committed to providing high-quality and effective civic learning materials that are accessible—and engaging—for English and multilingual learners. With Spanish-language versions of our most popular games and leveled English Language (EL) supports throughout both the games and ancillary materials, we are working to help every student understand our system of government and be inspired to participate in it!
Landmark EL/ML Supreme Court Decision
A major moment in English and multilingual learner history was when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Lau v. Nichols (1974), requiring public schools to provide language supports to English and multilingual learners (ELs/MLs). Check out our mini-lesson about the case to learn more about this landmark decision and its impact on students throughout the nation.
Do I Have a Right?
Play Time: 30+ min
Run a law firm and test your knowledge of constitutional rights.
Bilingual students speak about Do I Have A Right?
Win the White House
Play Time: 30+ min
Run your own presidential campaign!
Tráiler en español
Branches of Power
Play Time: 30+ min
Learn to control all three branches of the U.S. government!
Tráiler en español
Court Quest
Play Time: 15-30 min
Navigate our Court System and guide citizens to the right place
Tráiler en español
Features
- Each game offers the option to play in Spanish or English; English-language voiceover; glossary; gameplay scaffolds
- Embedded & printable content guides
- Accompanying Extension Packs with game-specific expansion activities and tips
- Available on the web and as Apps to play on tablets.
Which games have supports for ELs/MLs?
- Argument Wars / Guerra de argumentos
- Branches of Power / Los tres poderes
- Cast Your Vote / ¡A votar!
- Convene the Council / Convocar al Consejo
- Counties Work / Condados en acción and Counties Work: Texas
- Court Quest / Trayecto tribunal
- Do I Have a Right? / ¿Tengo algún derecho?
- Immigration Nation / Nación de inmigración
- LawCraft / Taller de leyes
- Win the White House / Camino a la Casa Blanca
What other ELL resources are available?
Use Kami for more accessibility
We have teamed up with Kami, the leading digital classroom app to offer more flexibility to use our lessons digitally. With Kami, ELs/MLs can highlight, annotate, and mark-up iCivics lessons. There is also a text-to-speech feature to read the text aloud as well as a built-in dictionary. And, students and teachers can leave each other video, voice, or screen capture comments to explain or share feedback.
Check out this blog: Making iCivics Lessons Accessible and English Learner (EL) Student-Friendly with Kami
Award!
We were honored to receive the 2019 President’s Award from the TESOL (Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages) Association. Honorees of the award are individuals or organizations outside of the English language teaching field that have demonstrated a commitment to English language instruction and education.
More on iCivics and ELL:
- iCivics in Dual Language Teaching: How to Utilize iCivics Resources to Engage English and Multilingual Learners, Verónica Schmidt-Gómez, MEd
- Meeting the Needs of EVERY iCivics Student, Ada Bélanger
- ¡Vamos a jugar! (Let’s play!), Ana Tellado-Schiff
- Common Sense Latino: ¿Tengo algún derecho?
- Justice Sotomayor’s great idea for teaching civics to English-language learners, Alexandra Campbell Howe, NBC News
- To Help ELLs Study the Constitution, iCivics Unveils Spanish-Language Civil Rights Game, Corey Mitchell, Education Week
- iCivics Updates “Win the White House Game”, including support for ELLs, Larry Ferlazzo