This page supplements the informational resources found on the Census home page. It provides teaching materials that have been created to help adults (or children) understand the importance of the Census, how to participate in it, and the questions it raises about data accuracy and security. NELRC is developing additional lessons and sharing census-focused texts from the “Stand Up and Be Counted” issue of The Change Agent.

Census Basics: What, Why, and How

• The Change Agent Census Packet (PDF) of (mostly) student writings about the census, with accompanying teaching activities.
• The Change Agent instructional units
  • Lesson packet #19: Become a 2020 Census Ambassador and Census Outreach Planning and Tracking Grid
  • Lesson packet #20: Help Someone Understand the Census (beginner, intermediate and advanced versions)
  • Lesson packet #21: How to Fill Out the Questionnaire: Practice for ESOL Students
  • Lesson packet #22: Avoid Hoaxes, Scams, and Rumors during the 2020 Census (intermediate)
• Census Practice Forms
  • Online Practice Questionnaire (This replica was created based on information from an official Census Bureau video. The website is secure and your answers are not stored anywhere, though you can print them after you are finished if you want to keep a record.)
  • Paper Practice Questionnaire (4-page fillable PDF)
  • Informational Copy of the questionnaire from the Census Bureau(8-page non-fillable PDF)

Math Activities

• Census-contextualized math activities from CUNY instructors Eric Appleton and Mark Trushkowsky. Find the full PDF here and more CUNY resources at literacy.cuny.edu.
  • History of the Census:
    • The First Census
    • Slavery and the 1790 Census
    • U.S. Population Growth
  • The Census and Political Representation
  • Where Does the Money Go?
  • Who Participates in the Census?
  • How the Census Works

  ESOL Activities

  • ESOL lessons adapted from material developed by the Campbell Adult and Community Education program. Supplement any of these activities with practice filling out a sample paper census form.
    • Low beginner
      • Census facts
      • Reasons to complete the census
      • Counting a family
    • High Beginner
      • Gomez household Q&A
      • Practice Dialogue
    • Low Intermediate
      • Reading activities
      • Vocabulary practice
      • Who to count
      • Case study info gap
    • High Intermediate
      • Census vocabulary and dictation
      • Census concerns
      • Making counter-arguments
      • Census.gov online
    • Multi-level
      • Household examples
      • Discussion questions
      • Mingle Q&A

    Using Census Data

    • Census Bureau activities for adult ESOL (and useful for ABE/ASE as well)
      • Celebrating Diversity (using data to examine changes in immigration over time). Intermediate level. Teacher notes and Student worksheet
      • What’s Next? (using Census data to compare cities). Advanced level. Teacher notes and Student worksheet
      • Apportionment (how the Census determines apportionment of House seats). Advanced level. Teacher notes and Student worksheet
      • Census and My Community (The Census and how it works). Intermediate level. Teacher notes and Student worksheet
    • The Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools resources have some adult education links and some activities using census data