Spring break is near! Although Texas can't seem to decide what the weather should be from one day to the next, she can't stop spring break!

Thank you for all your hard work thus far this year. You are doing wonderful things!

As always, I am here to help you in any way that might make your path smoother and workload lighter. Please don't hesitate to reach out any time!

~Chelsea

@ChelseaHowells9

chelsea.howells@esc9.net

Curated resources for lessons

Wakelet from #sschat Network

"As the situation surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold, it’s important for everyone to practice news-literate information habits. Understanding where to find credible information about the events in Ukraine and how to avoid being duped into sharing false and misleading information is vital. Here are three tips to help you keep your footing and avoid unintentionally spreading confusion and harm:

1. Be cautious and discerning with what you believe and share
2. Familiarize yourself with Russian disinformation outlets, tactics, and narratives
3. Put yourself in the way of credible information"

Lesson on Russian Disinformation tactics

Source: News Literacy Project - The Sift Feb. 28, 2022

Congratulations to Robert Wilkinson of Barwise Middle School in Wichita Falls ISD AND Ashley Penney of McNiel Middle School in Wichita Falls ISD! Both were accepted to attend the Sphere Summit: The Foundations of Civic Culture in Washington D.C. in July. This includes a full scholarship covering accommodations, meals, materials, resources, and a travel stipend.

If you are interested in applying to attend the summit, please visit https://www.cato.org/sphere/about-sphere for more information!

Kimbra Thomas from Burkburnett ISD shared that she is on the OER Project mailing list to get ideas for projects in her World History classroom. Click here to learn more about World History Project. Thanks Kimbra!

If you have something exciting to share, whether it be in your classroom or something awesome going on in your social studies department, please email me to be featured in the next newsletter!

chelsea.howells@esc9.net

Registration is open now!

Note: It is not too late to register! You can watch recordings of the zooms for credit!

Attention High School Teachers!

Visit Citizenbee.org to learn more about the Texas Citizen Bee Competition. This is a wonderful STAAR review for your students!

Click here to access the rules for our Region 9 Virtual Texas Citizen Bee competition.

Click here to sign up as your school's sponsor (Deadline March 21).

If your student places at state, they can win up to $5000 and you can win up to $1000! Those who progress to the state level have a 1 in 20 chance of winning and an even higher chance of winning a prize!

Click the photo to learn more! Only 1 Elementary and 1 Middle school educator will be chosen from our entire region.

The Assessment Division of TEA has postponed the addition of USCIS questions to the US History EOC. The questions will not be included on the 2022 US History EOC test, except as possible field-test items. (which do not count in students' scores). The new expected timeline for the USCIS questions to be added is Spring 2023.

House Bill 3906 established a “multiple choice cap,” meaning that no more than 75% of points on a STAAR test can be based on multiple choice questions. Texas educators are helping design new question types that reflect classroom test questions and allow students more ways to show their understanding. All possible new question types are being field-tested with students to ensure validity before they are incorporated into the redesigned summative tests beginning in spring 2023.

Click here to see samples of the new item types, like inline choice, hot spot and multi-select. Not all new question types in the samplers will appear on every STAAR test every year.

Click here for a PDF with more details on the new item types.

Preliminary STAAR Grade 8 Social Studies Blueprint (22-23)

Preliminary STAAR U.S. History EOC Blueprint (22-23)

TEA is seeking classroom teachers, instructional coaches, campus and district content specialists, and campus administrators to serve on a variety of assessment-related committees. The involvement of Texas education professionals supports TEA in designing and building the best quality assessments. TEA is accepting applications for the following teacher committees:

• Early passage review meetings
• Educator item review meetings
• Essay rangefinding meetings
• Subject-area advisory groups
• STAAR redesign focus groups

Teacher and instructional specialists or coaches for the following grades and subject areas are encouraged to apply:

• English language arts and reading, grades 3–8 and English I-II
• Mathematics, grades 3–8 and Algebra I
• Science, grades 5 and 8 and Biology
• Social studies, grade 8 and U.S. History
• Spanish language arts and reading, grades 3–5
• Spanish mathematics, grades 3–5
• Spanish science, grade 5

To apply to participate in these committees, educators should complete the Educator Committee Application Form at https://www.txetests.com/edc/.

Message from TEA:

Dear social studies educators,

As you may know, the State Board of Education (SBOE) is in the process of revising the kindergarten-grade 12 social studies TEKS. As part of the review process, the SBOE convenes work groups to make recommendations for revisions to the TEKS. TEA collects applications from educators, parents, and community members who are interested in serving on work groups. There is a special need for work group applicants with experience teaching the following courses:

• Ethnic Studies: African American Studies
• Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies
• Government
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Special Topics in Social Studies
• Social Studies Research Methods
• World Geography

Should you have experience in one of the above courses and wish to participate, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Initial work groups will begin convening as early as this month. The application is available at https://tea.texas.gov/academics/curriculum-standards/teks-review/2021-2022-social-studies-teks-review.

Questions related to the application for the social studies TEKS review and revision process can be directed to teks@tea.texas.gov.

Draft Recommendations for Proposed New Personal Financial Literacy and Economics Course Available

Social studies TEKS review Group A convened for a series of meetings to develop recommendations in response to Senate Bill (SB) 1063 from the 87th Texas Legislative Session, Regular Session, 2021. SB 1063 requires the SBOE to adopt TEKS for a new combined personal financial literacy and economics course that may fulfill a student's graduation requirement for economics.

Work Group A’s recommendations are currently available for review and feedback on the 2021-2022 Social Studies TEKS Review Work Group Drafts web page under the heading Work Group A: Personal Financial Literacy and Economics.

Feedback on work group recommendations will be accepted throughout the review process for the proposed new course. When providing specific comments and recommendations, 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 A Feedback." Please submit comments to TEA at teks@tea.texas.gov.

Students have taken notes for ages. Is note-taking still helpful? Here's how we can get more out of student note-taking.

Source: https://ditchthattextbook.com/note-taking/

Ep. 9 Women's History Month

Join the team as they recognize Women’s History Month. Learn about the origin, contributions of historical figures, and C-SPAN Classroom resources to use with students.

Listen here

Ep. 8 President' Day

With Presidents' Day being recognized in February, join the team as they talk about the history of this day, and share C-SPAN resources that can be used in the classroom.

Listen here

Ep. 7 Black History Month

Tune in to this episode as the Classroom team shares C-SPAN resources that can be used with students throughout February as they recognize Black History Month.

Listen here

TCEA has collected a wealth of resources for Texas History teachers to use in class!

Click here to access free digital resources for Texas History.

Each year, during February, we celebrate the history and cultural contributions of African Americans in the United States. Students learn about the achievements, perspectives, struggles, and experiences of African Americans throughout more than 400 years of American history. The following websites provide a variety of lessons, activities, and instructional materials that can be used to honor African American History Month.

Click here for African American History Month Resources.

Bring history to life for your students with short, free videos that connect past to present. Inspire critical thinking and discussion in your classroom.

From Women’s Suffrage to the ERA

Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s the second wave feminism movement worked to address gender inequality across the United States. While the movement had several important victories, the Equal Rights Amendment was not passed. Was the second wave feminist movement a success nonetheless?

Teaching Tip: There is a solid lesson plan and student activity that accompanies this seven-minute film. They help students examine the Equal Rights Amendment as a primary source, and it encourages students to use this time period as a lens to analyze contemporary movements, including Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, environmental activism and others.

Click here to access the video

Attention 6th, 7th, and 8th grade teachers!

• In order to sign up to be the school sponsor this year, please complete this form: Click Here (Sponsor Registration Deadline: April 8, 2022)
• When you begin to recruit students to participate, please register them on this form: Click Here (Student Registration Deadline: April 13, 2022)
• If you would like FREE materials to run a Bee in a Box Classroom Competition, please complete this form: Click Here

Email chelsea.howells@esc9.net for questions.

Applications are open for Sphere Summit: Teaching Civic Culture Together summer 2022! Sphere Summit, a full‐​scholarship professional development program for grades 5–12 educators, returns as a fully in‐​person experience in Washington, DC, and will run July 10–14 and July 24–28. More information can be found at this website.

Message from TXCSS:

Thank you to our amazing #TXCSS2021 Presenters! We received overwhelmingly positive responses to the conference survey regarding the presenters and the sessions. It just reinforced what we already knew… TXCSS has a wealth of people committed to sharing their passion with our community.

In that regard, we encourage you to join us in #ForgingtheFuture at #TXCSS2022 in Denton, October 14-19, and sharing the awesomeness you use in your classrooms with your students. Please consider submitting a session proposal using the links below. We have a NEW deadline this year! In order to help you get budget approval before this year ends, we are moving the proposal deadline to April 15, 2022. Presenters with accepted proposals will be notified by email no later than May 15, 2022.

Presenter Form: https://forms.gle/ewEkQGTCJas9CYS89

Poster Session Form: https://forms.gle/EhDEDH6ALp8FtcyA7

Questions? Email presenters@txcss.net

We look forward to another year of innovative, empowering sessions!

TXCSS Conference Committee

Check them out below:

2021-2022

Secondary Edition

January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August-September 2021

Elementary Edition

January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August-September 2021

Social Studies Specialist

Region 9 ESC

#GCT #iCivicsEducator #MIE #GridGuide #EdPuzzleCoach

Email: chelsea.howells@esc9.net
Website: https://www.esc9.net/393857_4
Location: 301 Texas 11 Loop, Wichita Falls, TX, USA
Phone: 940-397-8106
Twitter: @ChelseaHowells9