Building Your Skills as a Citizen

Our "Building Your Skills as a Citizen" series is based on the five civic dispositions of the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics Framework. According to NAEP, these civic dispositions refer "to the traits of private and public character essential to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy." These civic dispositions contribute to the healthy functioning of the American political system.

The five civic dispositions are:

1. becoming an independent member of society;
2. assuming the personal, political, and economic responsibilities of a citizen;
3. respecting individual worth and human dignity;
4. participating in civic affairs in an informed, thoughtful, and effective manner; and
5. promoting the healthy functioning of American constitutional democracy.

By learning more about each of these dispositions, you can become better prepared to enact your civic duties daily, and better support the attitudes and actions of all Americans.

This series was made possible by the support of T-Mobile.

Each episode below contains a video, quiz, and script. 60-Second Civics makes a great warmup activity for your classroom.

Here is an easy and fun way to get your students started each morning:

1. Select an episode from the list below each day for one week.
2. Play the video for your class by projecting it on the board.
3. Ask students to answer the Daily Civics question as a class.
4. Debrief the activity by asking students why the correct answer is true.

The first civic disposition stresses the importance of becoming an independent member of society. A fundamental aspect of this is the acceptance of responsibility for one's own actions without relying on the imposition of external controls. Learn more in this episode!

Being a citizen of the United States means fulfilling certain personal, political, and economic responsibilities. Learn what these include and how you can take on these responsibilities in this episode!

One key to fulfilling your responsibilities as an American citizen is to respect the value and human dignity of all people. This means treating other people with respect. Learn ways to accomplish this in episode three!

A fundamental aspect of citizenship is participating in the civic affairs of the community and the nation. However, participation alone is not enough. It's important to participate in an informed, thoughtful, and effective manner. How do you do this? Find out in this episode!

Of all the duties of citizens, perhaps none is more important than doing your part to ensure the healthy functioning of American constitutional democracy. What can you do to support the survival of our constitutional democracy? Find out today!

We hope you've enjoyed the Building Your Skills as a Citizen series from 60-Second Civics. Feel free to check out our YouTube playlist for a playable list of all episodes in the series.