The Time Traveler

What an incredible day of learning! We want to spotlight the amazing teachers who made February 14th extraordinary. From initial planning conversations to the final presentations, you brought such energy and practical wisdom to every session! Your willingness to share your expertise with colleagues allows us to offer such diverse learning opportunities for our department!!

Let's celebrate our Historical Thinking Task Force superstars: LaTonya Battles, Brendan Clary, Rachael Cummings, Connor Galloway, Brittany Johnston, Katie Lumpkin, AJ LaNier, Abbey Masek, Cathy Natale, Brian Savage, John Smetzer, Jen Stewart, Stephanie Thomas, and Spencer Wynne. Your ready-to-use activities and thoughtful tips were fantastic.

To our brilliant presenters - Ashlee Armstrong, Nicki Charriere, John Hutti, Nigel Mitcham, Shelby Mooney, and Taylor Sanborn - your sessions on engagement, retesting, and discourse were game-changers!

We were also fortunate to learn from our guest presenters Kelly Bellar and Brandon Brewster, GT Coordinator Jasmine Patel, and tech expert Michelle Maple.

Looking forward to seeing these amazing ideas come to life in classrooms across our district!

Thank you for your participation during our Professional Development day on February 14!

All presentation slides and resources from the breakout sessions are now linked in the agenda. Feel free to revisit any materials that sparked your interest or explore content from sessions you weren't able to attend.

We hope the day provided valuable insights and strategies you can implement in your classroom. If you have any follow-up questions or would like support while implementing the information you learned, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Can you believe we're already halfway through the year? (Some of you may be thinking "ONLY halfway??" 🤣) The impact you're making on your students is far greater than you may realize - you're changing not just minds, but lives. We are grateful to support you on this challenging path. You've got this! We believe in you!

“The aim is to get the students actively involved in seeking evidence: their role is not simply to do tasks as decided by teachers, but to actively manage and understand their learning gains. This includes evaluating their own progress, being more responsible for their learning, and being involved with peers in learning together about gains in learning.” John Hattie

Teams across the district are using the Social Studies Playbook to get students engaged in the content and talking with their peers. Click on the buttons below to see strategies in action!

The 'Then and Now' instructional strategy pre-assesses student knowledge of a topic then, after instruction, allows them to revise and edit their original definition or list. This is a great way for students to monitor their own learning during a lesson cycle.

"Contextualization is arguably one of the most fundamental historical thinking skills. When studying history, contextualization is constantly performed informally as one generates background information to mentally situate the topic being analyzed so that the resulting analysis is informed regarding place and time of occurrence. Contextualization can also be written more formally to set the stage, or provide background, for written analysis. In both cases, contextualization is generating topically and thematically relevant information, including big themes and relevant details, to a subject and then connecting the information through the highlighting of its significance."

Try using this real-world example to help students grasp the concept of contextualization when introducing the skill:

"While most cakes tend to celebrate major life events, birthday cakes tend to be more understated than wedding cakes due to the importance of the event, the fact that a wedding often happens only one time as opposed to every year, and the number of people to be served from it is decidedly greater."

- Starting and Ending with Thinking in Social Studies

Black History Month celebrates the essential contributions and achievements of Black Americans throughout our nation's history. Started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926, it has grown from a week-long celebration into a vital month-long observance each February. As educators, we honor this time by highlighting Black excellence across all fields – from civil rights and politics to science and the arts – while recommitting ourselves to teaching these important stories throughout the year.

Teaching with DBQs Series:

• 3/27 - Teaching with DBQs 104: Evaluating DBQs and Using Data to Drive Inquiry Instruction

In order for hours to count towards Exchange Hour Credit, they must occur outside of school hours.

Humanities Texas:

• February 24 – February 28 - Presents Teaching the Civil War (@ Region 10) (**also need to complete application on HTX site)

Uncover the Picture
Have a complex visual? Want to quickly engage students at the beginning of the lesson? Try the Uncover the Picture strategy from Teaching Science to English Learners (p.16) by Stephen Fleenor and Tina Beene. Here’s how it works:

1. Cover up most of the visual with rectangles, and ask students to write or share verbally what they notice and/or wonder from what they can see.
2. Remove one or more rectangles and again ask students to share what they notice and/or wonder.
3. Remove all of the rectangles and ask students to share what surprises them and/or what they wonder.

This process builds suspense and makes students focus on key parts of the visual, which builds their ability to make inferences from complex visuals.
Not sure how to do this, technically? See these tutorial videos explaining how to do it in Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides.

In 2026, the United States will mark our Semiquincentennial: the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Today’s young people are the leaders, innovators, and thinkers who will shape the next 250 years — and it’s important their voices are heard as we commemorate this historic milestone.

America’s Field Trip is a contest that invites students across the country in grades 3–12 to be part of America’s 250th anniversary by sharing their perspectives on what America means to them — with the opportunity to earn an unforgettable field trip experience at some of the nation’s most iconic historic and cultural landmarks.

Students are asked to submit writing or original artwork in response to the contest’s prompt: “What does America mean to you?”

Click here to learn more

Check Them Out Below:

• December 2024, October 2024, September 2024, August 2024

If you need ANYTHING, please do not hesitate to reach out! We are here to support YOU!

Secondary Social Studies C&I