Sunday, May 11, 2014

Connecting Students To Their Federal Government

The power of Social Media is in the ability to connect people with each other. Below is a list of some of the various social media accounts for the US Federal Government. Most of these are the official accounts, but I have also added a few outside accounts that are worth following to connect you and your students to their Federal Government. If you are interested in how Social Media impacts government interactions with its citizens, check out Twitter's Government Twitter Feed: @gov as well as their website.

These resources would be great for teachers to stay up to date with current events they can bring back to their classroom, resources for students to connect to these government agencies and what they do, participate in Q&A with these agencies, and much more.

The Legislative Branch:

Follow current bills going through the US Congress follow On Twitter: @congressdotgov 

To find social media information about your current Representative or Senator go to:  http://beta.congress.gov/members

The Executive Branch:

The President of the United States

The US State Department

The US Department of Defense (The Pentagon Channel)

The US Department of Labor

The US Department of Education

The US Department of Transportation

The US Department of Homeland Security

The US Department of Energy

The US Department of Justice

The US Department of the Treasury 

The US Department of Agriculture

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Other Agencies:

Did I miss an agency? Check out the USA.gov Federal Directory to find the agency you are looking for. You can also follow the USA.gov YouTube Channel, Twitter Page @USAgov, &  Facebook Page.

For younger kids, you might want to check out Kids.gov website and these Social Media Accounts:

The Judicial Branch (US Supreme Court):

Of the three branches of government, the Judicial Branch has the fewest official accounts that I could find. However, here are are some Blogs, Twitter Feeds, and Apps to help you stay current with news coming from the Highest Court In The Land

  • SCOTUS Blog: Has articles and links to current cases being heard and analysis of the latest decisions. 
  • SCOTUSblog On Twitter: @SCOTUSBlog
  • ISCOTUSnow IOS and Android App from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law 
  • OYEZ Project on Twitter: @oyez
Did I miss anything? Do you have ideas on ways to use wield the power of Social Media with your students? I would love to hear about them in the comments section below.



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