Minnesota Literacy Council
Citizenship Resources for Instructors
 The following resources are helpful in preparing students for the interview and the test of U.S. history and government.

Free Online Course for Citizenship Tutors
The New Citizenship Tutor Training educates teachers and tutors to assist students in preparing for the new citizenship exam that began on October 1, 2008.

Application Questions
It is just as important to prepare learners for the naturalization interview as it is to prepare for the test of history and government. This is especially true for low-level English speakers. The immigration interviewer will review the N-400 naturalization application with the applicant and may ask each question on the application form to comfirm that this information has not changed. The interviewer is also assessing the applicant's level of English. It is important to be prepared to respond to these questions and be completely honest in responding.

You can find materials to perpare applicants for the N-400 questions here.

Test of U.S. History and Government
Citizenship applicants need to learn U.S. history and government. The new test has 100 questions. Here is a list of the 100 history and government questions from USCIS for the new test.

You may also use these study materials to prepare students for the questions in the interview.

Dictation Sentences
For the new test, applicants will read a question out loud and then will be asked to write a dictation sentence which is the answer to the question that they just read out loud.

Here is a chart from USCIS with vocabulary for the English Reading Test in the new test.

Here is a chart from USCIS with vocabulary for the English Writing Test in the new test.

Interview Tips
This document gives some suggestions on how to prepare low-level English speakers for the naturalization interview. It includes information on conducting mock interviews, taking ownership of the interview by asking questions and showing that you are processing information rather than not understanding the question and writing dictation sentences.

IN THIS SECTION
Citizenship In-Service Workshop
Learn ways to help ESL students prepare for the citizenship test. Citizenship workshops for instructors cover the citizenship interview process, and introduce teaching materials and methods used to help students become new citizens.  To find out more about citizenship in-services check the training calendar at http://www.themlc.org/inservices

In addition, a free citizenship tutor training can be taken online. Click on  http://online.themlc.org for more information.