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The Connected Classroom

“Information on and from Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis' Learning Division”

Tag Archives: social studies

Thursday, May 23, 2013 Online Resources from American Heritage Society

The American Heritage Society is providing online resources for teaching English Language Arts and U.S. History. The Society is building the system with a grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, which is making a major commitment to developing tools that teachers need to help students meet the expectations of new College and Career-ready academic standards.  According to the Society, “Heritage Education will link thousands of quality nonfiction resources to Common Core standards, providing easy-to-use guidelines about what high school students need for success. This extraordinarily rich archive includes thousands of historical essays by the preeminent historians of the last half century.”

Key Features:

  • Thousands of primary historical documents from leading museums and archives across the U.S.
  • Over 5,000 American Heritage Magazine essays written by leading historians over the last 60 years
  • 300 bundles of essays linked with primary sources, CCSS, and instructional strategies
  • Resources grouped by Lexile measures, Historical Era, ELA Themes

In addition, the Heritage Education project is seeking teachers, schools and school districts to participate in a pilot program in Fall 2013. They are looking for ELA and U.S. History teachers who teach high school students. They’ve extended the application deadline until May 31, learn more: heritageeducation.org/more-information.

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Thursday, March 21, 2013 Upcoming Webinar Series offered by Facing History and Ourselves

facing history logoExplore Facing History themes & topics in live, interactive, facilitated online learning events. Features such as two-way audio, multi-point video, interactive whiteboard, application and desktop sharing, rich media, and breakout rooms allow Facing History staff & scholars to engage with participants with the benefits of a traditional classroom in a virtual setting. All sessions are recorded for those who cannot attend the live event.

Here’s the available spring line up of free webinars:

Choices in Little Rock Web Tour | Tuesday, March 26 · 8 p.m. EDT
Join Facing History Program Associate for Technology K.C. Kourtz and participants of our “Choices in Little Rock” online course on a guided tour of facinghistory.org. Discover new resources and learn where to find the resources explored in the “Choices in Little Rock” course, that will help bring American civil rights history to your classroom.

Holocaust and Human Behavior Web Tour | Monday, April 1 · 8 p.m. EDT
Join Facing History Program Associate for Technology K.C. Kourtz and participants in the “Holocaust and Human Behavior” online course on a guided tour of facinghistory.org. Discover new resources and learn where to find resources explored in the “Holocaust and Human Behavior” course, that will help bring the history of the Holocaust to your classroom.

Survivor Testimony in the Classroom | Thursday, April 4 · 8 p.m. EDT
Join Facing History Program Associate for Technology K.C. Kourtz for a tour of Facing History’s online survivor testimony pages and learn how to use these resources with students. Participants will discover materials and strategies for preparing students for a survivor classroom visit.

Choices in Little Rock and the Common Core State Standards |
Wednesday, April 10 · 8 p.m. EDT
Join Facing History Program Associate Daniel Braunfeld as he explores with online course participants how “Choices in Little Rock” resources and teaching strategies align with the Common Core State Standards.

Holocaust and Human Behavior and the Common Core State Standards | Thursday, April 11 · 8 p.m. EDT
Join Facing History Senior Program Associate Jocelyn Stanton as she explores with online seminar participants how “Holocaust and Human Behavior” resources and teaching strategies align with the Common Core State Standards.

According to its website, Facing History engages nearly two million students annually through its network of more than 29,000 educators around the world and reaches the public and the broader educational market through community events and extensive online resources.

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Thursday, January 31, 2013 Gateway to the Core of Learning – National Council for Social Studies Conference

Social Studies educators, come meet in St. Louis this fall for the world’s largest & most comprehensive social studies professional development conference, the 93rd annual National Council for Social Studies Conference. With the theme Gateway to the Core of Learning, the conference will feature many sessions designed to help districts, schools, and teachers integrate common core literacy standards into social studies classrooms, and highlight ways to work with other academic disciplines to incorporate the standards. The conference will also include more than 500 sessions and speakers covering the breadth of social studies subjects across all grade levels. For every social studies educator working with Common Core, literacy, and social studies standards, the NCSS Conference is the place to be! In addition, the 2013 call for proposals now open;  submission deadline February 25.

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With the conference theme, “Gateway to the Core of Learning,” there is room for a variety of proposals across all grade levels and subjects. Integrating key literacy skills and innovative social studies curriculum is a challenge facing school administrators, curriculum developers, and teacher across America. Sub-Themes include:

• Common Core: Content Area Reading, Writing, and Social Studies
• Global Competencies, Global Perspectives, Global Marketplace
• Sustainable Social Studies
• Sports in History
• Music, Popular Culture, and the Study of History
• Social Justice

Additional information on themes, presentation types, and selection criteria plus a quick tutorial on how to write a winning proposal can be found on the NCSS website www.socialstudies.org. The conference is November 22-24.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 Teacher Summer PD – Thomas Jefferson: Personality, Character and Public Life

Thomas Jefferson | Flickr The three-week institute Thomas Jefferson: Personality, Character and Public Life, offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities, will take place at Boston University from July 8 to 26, 2013.  Speakers include R. B. Bernstein, Peter Hatch, Joanne Freeman, Jan Lewis, and Peter Onuf. The institute will seek to deepen our understanding of one of the most important figures in American history, a figure who is fascinating, influential, inspiring, and embattled.

Focusing on Jefferson’s personality and character and connecting them to his public career will be the theme of the first week, followed by an examination of  his views on religion, his role as a family man, and his correspondence with John Adams. In the final week, the Institute turns to slavery, science, and money.

The application and further information (like the stipend for teachers is $2,700; itinerary and speaker bios) is at the institute’s website.

During the three weeks, participants will also ponder some larger questions:

  • Is the intimate life knowable?
  • Does it connect to the public man or woman?
  • Do we each fashion our own version of Jefferson to reflect our values and needs?
  • What is Jefferson’s legacy?

Discussion will include pedagogical questions:

  • What role should biography and primary sources play in history instruction?
  • How does teaching biographies fit with state standards and high stakes testing?
  • How do we teach intimate information about famous Americans to young people?
  • How can teachers be honest and realistic yet still inspire students and encourage citizenship?

Learn more by visiting thomasjeffersonpersonalitycharacterandpubliclife.org.

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012 Constitutional Academy from Bill of Rights Institute this July for Students

The Bill of Rights Institute’s Constitutional Academy Summer Program takes place in July, and the institute is inviting outstanding students apply. The Constitutional Academy is for students who want to learn from college professors and policy experts about how government, economics, and current events connect.  Students who have just completed their sophomore, keyjunior, or senior year of high school will spend July 15-20, 2013 in Washington, D.C., unlocking American history by digging into the Founding documents.

Scholarships are available for students who qualify, and there is no need to fill out a separate application for the scholarship.  Each student who is accepted will be automatically considered for scholarships.Students with scholarships will have the costs of meals, lodging, site visits, and programming covered by the Bill of Rights Institute.  Students will be responsible for travel costs to and from Washington, D.C. For students who do not qualify for scholarships, the cost for the week is $750 plus travel costs to and from D.C. The current agenda is as follows:

Monday, July 15, 2013
• Arrival & check-in
• Welcome & introductions

Tuesday, July 16 – Friday, July 19, 2013
• Lectures and discussions with constitutional scholars
• Activities and discussions to explore constitutional principles with subject-matter experts
• Group project & presentation
• National Mall monument and historic sites tours
• College & career information

Saturday, July 20, 2013
• Check-out & departure

The application deadline is May 1, 2013, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so encourage students to apply today! If you have any questions, contact Academy@BillofRightsInstitute.org.

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Tuesday, December 4, 2012 State History Bowl & History Bee in St. Louis

flickr creative commons studentsMehlville School District’s Oakville High School will host the regional/(state) history bowl competition on Saturday, January 26. Each state bowl will qualify a number of teams to participate in the National History Bowl to be held in Washington D.C. on April 27, 2013. The National History Bowl uses a quiz bowl style format to run their tournaments.

Schools may register multiple teams for the regional bowl, and can register underclassmen as a JV or Varsity team. Beginning this year, middle school teams can register and participate as well. The registration deadline for the regional bowl in St. Louis at Oakville High School competition is January 24, 2013. In addition, the state History Bee will be held in conjunction with the regional History Bowl on January 26, 2013, all in the Mehlville School District.

Again, the regional/(state) competition will qualify (in this case individuals) for participation in the National History Bee to be held in Washington D.C. on April 28, 2013. Please note that the national level history bowl for middle schools will be held on a different weekend then the high school nationals.

Regional/(State) Registration info:
The base fee for the bowl is $75 per team.  There are some small discounts available, like if teams bring their own buzzers. Learn more at historybowl.com/registration. The fee for the bee is $15 per student: hs.historybee.com/registration.

For questions about the event on January 26 at Oakville High School, contact Rodney Gerdes.

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Monday, May 7, 2012 Free PD on June 7th at The Holocaust Museum & Learning Center in St. Louis

The Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, Gateway Media Literacy Partners (Cooperating School Districts is an institutional member of GMLP), The Missouri Council for Social Studies, and Big Picture Instructional Design present a free professional development workshop on the film The Last Survivor. The purpose of The Last Survivor is for viewers to learn from past mistakes, and to reflect upon how they respond to similar issues today. The film follows the survivors of four genocides and mass atrocities-  The Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, and Congo. It is a story dignity and hope.

The free event on June 7th takes place at The Holocaust Museum & Learning Center at 12 Millstone Campus Drive in St. Louis, Missouri. From 3-6:30 p.m., participants are invited to screen the film and discuss it amongst the group. In addition, a Holocaust Survivor will be in attendance and will take questions from the audience. Classroom-ready materials will be shared. Also, participants will also receive a copy of the documentary itself.

While this event- in just one month- has no cost, but space is limited, so you must register if you’d like to attend. The film screening & discussion, along with the materials distributed, are focused for educators who teach 7th grade and up (but any educator who is interested can register). Send any inquiries about the film itself or screening here.

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Friday, April 13, 2012 The Last Survivor Professional Development Workshop

Hosted by The Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, Gateway Media Literacy Partners (Cooperating School Districts is an institutional member of GMLP), The Missouri Council for Social Studies, and Big Picture Instructional Design is a free professional development workshop on the film The Last Survivor on June 7th. The film follows the survivors of four genocides and mass atrocities-  The Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, and Congo. The purpose of the film is for viewers to learning from the mistakes of the past in order to inform how we, an an international community, respond to similar issues today.

The event in June takes place at The Holocaust Museum & Learning Center at 12 Millstone Campus Drive in St. Louis, Missouri. From 3-6:30 p.m., participants are invited to screen the film and discuss it amongst the group. In addition, a Holocaust Survivor will be in attendance and will take questions from the audience. Lastly, classroom-ready materials will be shared with the educators.

While this event is free, space is limited (only 100 people can attend), so you must register if you’d like to attend. The film screening & discussion, along with the materials distributed, are focused for educators who teach 7th grade and up. Send any inquiries about the film itself or screening here.

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010 Thanksgiving-Themed Videoconferences

Happy Thanksgiving! There are many options for teachers interested in connecting their students to content providers to discuss Thanksgiving-themed topics. Here’s a short list of videoconferences to consider- perhaps for next year- be sure to take some time to digest it all-

• For first and second graders, join The Mariner’s Museum in Sailing into Thanksgiving- learning about life on board the Mayflower and how the ship moved, about the Pilgrims and their life in America, and what inspired the Pilgrims to celebrate the first Thanksgiving.

• Also for first and second graders,  Spending Time with a Pilgrim from East Central Ohio Educational Service Center will engage your classroom in the life of a pilgrim, covering the reasons for leaving England, the harsh first winter, and the friendships that were developed with the Native Americans.

• Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center offers two videoconferences this time of year perfect for Thanksgiving studies: Living in a New Land for prekindergarten through second grade students looks at why the Pilgrims chose to come to the new world, and the settlement they made in the American wilderness. Coming to America! is for third, fourth and fifth grade students and explores the first English settlements in America: Jamestown and Plymouth.

• You may want to consider Holiday Customs and Traditions for your prekindergarten through third grade students. This program, from EarlyWorks Museum, examines Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions in America. What happened in history that began each holiday’s traditions?

• Finally, for a great classroom-to-classroom idea, check out Janine Lim’s recent blog post on her schools’ Turkey Trade collaborations.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 NEW CLASS: Tracking Student Learning with VoiceThread

Tracking Student Learning with VoiceThread
Date: June 17 from  8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Cost: $138 CSD member; $214 non-member  (One Graduate Credit Available)
Location: Cooperating School Districts, 1460 Craig Rd
voiceethread screenshot
A VoiceThread is a free, online, collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 4 ways – using voice, text, audio file, or video.  VoiceThread can be used for assessment, foreign language, field trips, art, language arts, social studies, math and science.  In the VoiceThread environment, students and teachers can safely share their voices on the global stage.  In this class, participants will create a project using photos and audio commenting using VoiceThread to document student learning across several content areas.  Learn how this multi-media free resource can be used in your classroom!

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