Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Meet the Author -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Why Civics, and What Does Civics Education Mean Today? -- A Friday Snapshot -- Our Joy and Burden as History Teachers -- Defining "Civics" in Our Time -- Common Topics in Civics Education Today -- The Middle School Mind -- Creating Citizens, Chapter by Chapter -- Chapter 1 Fitting Current Events into an Already-Packed History Curriculum -- 1."The Possibilities of Teaching Thematically -- 2."Working With and Around the Standards -- 3."Getting a Lift from "Layering"--Can Layering Go Too Far? -- Reflections and Actions -- Chapter 2 Staying Nonpartisan and Fostering Balanced Discussions -- 1."Making Philosophical Questions Part of Normal Classroom Discussions -- 2."Create a Unit on a Controversial Issue with Sources from Both Sides -- 3."Ask Students to Shift Their Perspective, Then and Now -- A Coda: When Staying Nonpartisan Feels Just Too Difficult -- Reflections and Actions -- Chapter 3 Helping Students Find Their Stake in the News -- 1."Engaging the Whole Family in the News -- 2."Vocabulary as a Key to Unlock the News -- 3."Which Articles Lead to Rich Class Discussions? Ask the Students -- 4."Reflecting on Following the News: The Metacognition of Current Events -- 5."Sprinkling Humor Throughout -- When the News Becomes Messy -- Reflections and Actions -- Chapter 4 Teaching Civic Literacy Through Primary Sources, Then and Now -- 1."It's Easy to Forget How Hard Primary Sources Can Be: Strategies for Success -- 2."Assessing What We Value: Include Primary Sources on Tests -- 3."Assessing What We Value: Design Projects Around Primary Sources -- 4."An Interlude: The Power of the Memorized Line -- Reflections and Actions -- Chapter 5 Encouraging Students to Invest in Analytical Writing