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Law-related Education

We the People

Free effective curriculum!

You can take advantage of these free, proven textbooks

Teach your students about history and the Constitution

Teachers nationwide are seeing the improved civics knowledge and skills of their students with free textbooks funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

We the People: The Citizen and The Constitution is a comprehensive civics, history, and social studies curriculum for upper elementary, middle, and high school students.

While learning about their nation, this innovative and interactive curriculum offers your students the opportunity to develop and use the following skills:

  • Critical thinking
  • Problem solving
  • Presentation
  • Teamwork

Statewide and National Mock Congressional Hearing Competitions

Students are also given the opportunity to participate in an annual state mock congressional hearing competition in January. Your students can showcase their understanding of historical, political, and constitutional issues before a panel of judges. The winning class advances to the national competition in Washington D.C in April!

This curriculum has authentic assessment and curriculum correlations to Wisconsin Academic Standards.—click here to find out more.

Sample Chapters

Textbooks for the We the People program have been designed for elementary, middle, and high school levels. They can be used as a supplemental text or for a full semester of study. Each year, the State Bar of Wisconsin is able to distribute 25 sets of free textbooks in each of the eight congressional districts in Wisconsin. A set includes a Teacher’s Guide and 30 student books.

The design of the instructional program, including the opportunity for the mock congressional hearing activity, are what make this program popular with both teachers and students.

Interactive and engaging, the curriculum includes:

  • Problem-solving activities
  • Critical thinking exercises
  • Cooperative learning techniques

Elementary School
Middle School
High School

We the People: The Citizen and The Constitution is a national program directed by the Center for Civic Education and funded by the United States Department of Education by act of Congress. The curriculum meets many of the standards required for Wisconsin K-12. Since 1987, these textbooks have been used by more than 28 million students and 90 thousand educators nationwide.

30% higher scores...

when you use FREE We the People textbooks!

Students using the We the People: The Citizen and The Constitution curriculum “scored 30% higher overall…compared to their high school peers, and 36% higher than university/college students on a comprehensive test of political knowledge.”

December 2007 study by the Educational Testing Service

Mock Trial: “It made me more disciplined and increased my social skills.”  - Mock Trial student

For more information on law-related programs, please email Marsha Varvil-Weld at mvarvil-weld@wisbar.org, or call (608) 250-6191.