This document introduces civic building blocks, a tool to help students learn about structures, policies, and issues in their own community and other places. It uses local examples to explore who has a voice, who makes decisions, and what civic impacts result from issues like public education. Students examine these questions at the local, state/national, and global levels, as well as for different time periods in history. The goal is to help students analyze and learn about other areas and periods by starting with what they know in their own community.

1.
Civic Building Blocks
Help students to use what they know and what they see locally to learn about and better understand structures, policies and issues
in other regions, countries and periods in history. Use repeatedly for different topics and issues or as a warm up. This tool is fluid,
and can be used for discussion, essential questions, research, etc. GenerationNation will continue to build ‐ suggestions welcome!
Infrastructure that makes up any community. Schools, roads, laws, businesses, sewer systems, etc.
Voices, structures and decisions are the people and the processes that influence issues, policies and decisions.
Civic impacts are the outcomes that impact the community – sometimes they are in the cycle of voices and decisions.
Example ‐ Public Education
Use local or current examples to help students think about, analyze, and learn about other areas and periods in history
Local: Who educates K‐12 students in Charlotte‐Mecklenburg? Who makes the laws about the schools? Who decides what is
taught and how schools are funded? Who influences these decisions, and how does it impact the community?
State/national: How is public education structured in other cities and towns in the state? In other states? What is the same,
and what is different? Why?
Global: Do governments in other countries provide education to children and youth? Is it legally mandated? How is it
funded? Who makes the decisions? What is similar to, or different than, how it is done here?
History: How were children educated in (another period in history)? What was different then? What was similar? Why?
Use a template, and repeat with new topics and concepts
Pick a building block
Name a relevant issue
Who has a voice? (or, who doesn’t have a voice and why?)
Who makes decisions?
What are the civic impacts? Short‐term? Long‐term?
How does this relate to what we are learning? (a country, a period in history, a concept, etc.)
Access educational resources and tools about local government and more at www.generationnation.org/learn

2.
Civic Building Blocks
Civic Building Blocks
Civic ImpactsVoices/Systems/
Decisions

3.
Civic Building Blocks
Laws
Schools
Business
Libraries Health
and
Safety
Transit:
Roads,
Airport
Rail, Bus
Utilities:
water,
sewer
Parks and
Envirnmnt
Neighbor
hoods
Civic
building
blocks

4.
Civic Building Blocks
Media
Govts
Officials
Other
Leaders
Children
and
Youth
Legal
System
Business
Citizens
Voices,
systems,
and
decisions

5.
Civic Building Blocks
Citizen
involvemnt
Economic
Develpmnt
Taxes, Jobs
Gov’t
services
Gov’t
budgets
and cuts
Gov’t
decisions
Elections
Public
policies
Court cases
Civic
Impacts