Obtain a method. If you wish to fully teach the subject matter rather than simply covering the practice test questions for the citizenship interview, you will need to obtain a textbook and teaching method. Most middle school textbooks are appropriate for teaching, since they cover the basics.
Lecture the general outline, principal events, characters and significance of each time period beginning with the Age of Discovery. Teach each lesson around themes including colonization, the Revolutionary War, structuring of the U.S. government, expansion, the Civil War, the industrial era and age of immigration, the Great Depression, the world wars, civil rights movement, cold war, Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the war on terror.
Assign reading for homework. History is best learned as a story and it must be followed in a chronological order. Following the lectures, assign reading material from either the textbook or an outside history novel covering the same information in the lecture with more detail.
Incorporate documentaries about periods of U.S. history. Visual media is a great way to bring history to life. There are hundreds of educational documentaries available that focus on virtually every period of U.S. history. Either show the documentaries during your lesson or assign them as homework.
Include at least one lesson on how the U.S. government functions. Aside from history, immigrants are required to have basic knowledge of how the U.S. functions in order to pass the citizenship test. Cover the checks and balances system of the three branches of government and what each branch is responsible for, teach general recognition of the states and their capitals, how representative governance works and details such as when Americans vote, why the U.S. flag has 13 stripes and 50 stars and who takes office if both the president and vice president die.
Review the practice tests and flash cards provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services on its website. If your students' mission is to pass the citizenship civics test, review the practice material with them to make sure you have not left out any key concepts that may be useful for the test.