Looking for an engaging civics classroom activity that takes advantage of peer learning? Learn about the Peer-to-Peer Classroom Exchange program.
The Peer-to-Peer Classroom Exchange is a civics teaching activity created by the National Constitution Center. The program's participants are middle and high school students who get matched with other participating classrooms across the United States to engage in a virtual discussion about various constitutional topics via video conferencing. The dialogue, facilitated by National Constitution Center scholars, federal judges and master teachers, is designed to teach constitutional principles and civil discourse skills using Interactive Constitution.
Interactive Constitution is a non-partisan tool - which includes resources for teachers - aimed at helping learners engage with the text of the constitution, with the option to examine the text through the lenses of select pairs of scholars, who have each been assigned a clause in the constitution to interpret. Their interpretations are published as statements containing the scholars' areas of agreement as well as differing views on the history and meaning of the particular constitutional clause assigned to them.
In order to participate in the Peer-to-Peer Classroom Exchange, educators are required to submit a sign up form and prepare their class by using the lesson plans provided prior to engaging with the classroom they end up getting paired with.
