My name is Jessica Torres and I serve as the ESC Region 12 Social Studies content specialist as well as the Continuous Improvement Liaison. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide resources specific to social studies content, general instructional tools, resources, updates, and professional development opportunities that are beneficial to all.

From James Clear's newsletter - When was the last time you felt a sense of wonder and awe? What can that experience teach you about how to spend your time?

As always, if you ever need assistance or have a question, please do not hesitate to contact me via email (jtorres@esc12.net) or social media (@owl_b_torresedu).

Many of you may have seen versions of new standards floating around social media. Remember, social studies TEKS are under TEKS review and will have several different drafts and proposals created, nothing is finalized or even recommended at this point. Educators, parents, and the community have the opportunity to provide feedback during this process. Keep up with all of the updates to the revisions process HERE.

Social studies TEKS review feedback will be accepted in response to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) work group drafts throughout the review and revision process. Comments on drafts will help to inform future work groups' recommendations.

When providing specific comments and recommendations for a work group, please identify the work group in the subject line of the email. For example, in the subject line, please indicate "Social Studies TEKS Review Work Group C Feedback." Please submit comments to TEA at teks@tea.texas.gov.

Work Group C: Working Documents

Work Group C met in February and March 2022 to begin developing recommendations for revisions to the TEKS for Grade 8 and selected high school courses. Work Group C’s drafts are working documents and not yet final. Recommendations for changes to the TEKS are still under consideration by the work group and subject to change. The work group will reconvene at a later date to finalize its draft recommendations. Click on the item to download the PDF.

Grade 8 (U.S. History to 1877) (PDF, 1,376KB)
U.S. History Studies Since 1877 (PDF, 1,438KB)
World History Studies (PDF, 1,428KB)
World Geography Studies (PDF, 1,235KB)
U.S. Government (PDF, 781KB)
Psychology and Sociology (PDF, 1,406KB)
Special Topics in Social Studies (PDF, 1,351KB)

https://tea.texas.gov/academics/curriculum-standards/teks-review/social-studies-teks-review-work-group-drafts

If we are looking at Frequency Distribution by TEKS Clusters according to Lead4Ward, these are the three key areas that have appeared with the most frequency on STAAR within the past 4 years.

8th grade

⭐ 1. Constitution

⭐ 2. Industrialization

⭐ 3. Exploration and Colonization

US History

⭐ 1. 1990's-21st Century

⭐ 2. Gilded Age

⭐ 3. Civil War/Cold War/World War I (all relatively close in #s - look closely at what your students struggled with the most)

Questions to ask yourself about these topics:

• What did my data look like for these units?
• What specific concepts confused students the most?
• Are there mnemonic devices for any of these units I need to review?
• Have I used STAAR released questions specific to these units?

Remember, you cannot reteach everything prior to STAAR. Prioritize what will have the most impact on your students and make the review engaging!! Please feel free to email me if I can be of assistance as you plan.

It’s almost that time of year! Beginning on May 2, Advanced Placement exams will commence. AP U.S. Government and Politics lead the charge, with others including Environmental Science, Human Geography and United States History following later in the week. If your students are eager to use video resources to review for their exams, consider pointing them to our collections. We will highlight others next week.

🏛️ AP U.S. Government and Politics

For students looking to prepare for the SCOTUS Comparison FRQ, check out:

• The Battle for Votes: Gerrymandering, which includes discussion of Shaw v. Reno.
• Presidents v. Press: How the Pentagon Papers Leak Set Up First Amendment Showdowns, which examines New York Times v. United States.

To help students review concepts connected to voting rights highlighted in Units 3 and 5, view the following videos:

• Suffrage for Black Women.
• Dr. Martin Luther King at Gee’s Bend.
• Campaigns and Elections: The 2000 Election.

🇺🇸 AP U.S. History

While it’s fresh in your students’ memory, have them reexamine our collection on the Cold War. It includes a seven-part series created in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and a collection focusing on the Cold War in Latin America. These videos will help students contextualize events and ideas from Units 8 and 9.

For more on political party conventions over time, ranging from the 1830 to 2004, this collection will aid your students in connecting changing political parties with broader political, social and economic themes throughout modern U.S. history. These videos will be helpful for students looking to solidify their skills in Contextualization and Making Connections.

• Election of 1860: Slavery Splits the Democrats.

• 1912 Republican Convention: TR Starts the Bull Moose Party

• 1968 Democratic National Convention: The Mess in Chicago.

The Cold War

Check out primary sources on: the Berlin Wall, atomic weapons, fallout shelters, HUAC, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race, and Reagan and Gorbachev.

Teach with activities on: cultural diplomacy, containment in Korea, Nixon's trip to China, and the space race and détente.

If students are to advocate for a better Earth, they need to learn about the problems and possible solutions first. Use these curated resources to teach your students about climate change, pollution, and the importance of Earth Day.

This 10-minute video helps clarify why the U.S. military chose to spray Agent Orange over millions of acres of Vietnam, and vividly illustrates how that decision continues to produce medical consequences for American and Vietnamese citizens.

💡 Teaching Tip: This video is useful as a starting point for any discussion about the ongoing effects of the Vietnam War and the environmental effects of historical conflicts. Students can draw a direct line between decisions made 50 years ago and problems that people are facing today.

According to The Historical Marker Database, there are more than 157,000 markers in the United States, but many have not received cleaning or care for years. That’s where National Historic Marker Day steps in! This service-oriented event brings people and communities together to maintain their markers by cleaning them and providing an opportunity to celebrate and preserve history. Learn how you and your students can volunteer and make a difference in your community on April 29, 2022.

Are you a language arts or journalism high school teacher working at a school that primarily serves underrepresented students? The Ida B. Wells society is now receiving applications for its High School Investigative Partnership Program, which provides hands-on investigative journalism training to high school students.

Teachers receive a stipend and a program framework that will help them integrate students’ investigative projects into their course curriculum. Throughout the academic year 2022-23, students will participate in coaching sessions with local journalists and monthly seminars conducted by experts at award-winning news organizations like ProPublica, the Associated Press and Reveal. Teachers must apply on behalf of students.

🗓️ Deadline: May 6 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

✍️ Apply here.

June 20 - 24 at Baylor University

The Jack Miller Center invites you to a professional development program the week of June 20-24 at Baylor University!

The Zavala Summer Civics Institute is an opportunity to study fundamental texts in the American political tradition with Baylor University professors. The Institute is designed to help increase your familiarity with key primary sources for use in your classroom. The more exposure students have to primary sources, the richer and fuller their knowledge of America's history and political system will be.

Sessions will explore the ratification debates, separation of powers, and federalism as well as controversial issues such as race and the Constitution and the expansion of rights.

The institute is entirely cost-free for teachers. All materials are included and breakfast and lunch will be provided daily. All participants will receive a certificate of completion and a $400 stipend.

See a tentative agenda for the program here.

This summer virtual workshop series in July will explore how to use National Archives resources and programs to teach civic knowledge and skills. During each two-hour interactive session, educators will engage with primary sources and partake in collaborative group work and discussion. Workshops are available for both elementary and secondary educators.

Learn more and register.

I am so excited to be part of the #sschat moderator team! I would love to have you join us for a great conversation via Twitter each Monday evening. Need help getting started with Twitter chats, reach out to me and I'll walk you through the steps. All of the Twitter chats are archived for future reference using Wakelet. Check them out here ->> https://sschat.org/archives/

Check them out here:

Volume 1 (2018-2019) Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10

Volume 2 (2019-2020) Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10 Issue 11 Issue 12 Issue 13

Volume 3 (2020-2021) Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10 Issue 11 Issue 12

Volume 4 (2021-2022) Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8

Special Editions: Celebrate Black History - Celebrate Women's History - 9/11 Remembered - Holocaust Remembrance Week - Memorial Day - Constitution Day - Juneteenth

Instructional Leadership/Continuous Improvement Liaison

Social Studies Content Specialist

ESC Region 12

o: 254-297-1284

Email: jtorres@esc12.net
Website: https://www.esc12.net/page/ge_socialstudies
Location: ESC Region 12, West Loop 340, Waco, TX, USA
Phone: 254-366-3856
Twitter: @owl_b_torresedu