The Time Traveler

We have added SEVEN new strategies to our instructional playbook. They hit all the observation points and can be used with primary documents and DBQ Online.

Click on the hyperlinks below for a quick access. They have also been added to our the Social Studies Instructional Playbook Table of Contents linked below.

• Collaborative Reading Roles: A cooperative reading strategy for engaging students with informational text that chunks reading and allows students to look at it through different lenses.
• Dice Dialogue: Students review key concepts of a unit in small groups allowing teachers to give real time feedback.
• Primary Documents Jigsaw: Students take on different lenses/perspectives when reviewing primary documents in a gallery walk.
• Rainbow Editing: A peer feedback strategy used to help students improve their writing before submission for grading.
• Socratic Smackdown: A combination between Socratic Seminar and Fishbowl Debate, where students earn points based on participation.
• Which one doesn't belong: Students find connections and create arguments over a collection of images.
• Wicked Hydra: An inquiry based strategy, where students create a mind map based on question over a key figure or concepts.

Prosper Connects, our district professional learning day, will be July 31, 2023 at Rock Hill High School. We love to have our incredible Prosper ISD staff share their most impactful classroom practices on this day, so please start thinking about what session(s) you would like to submit.

Reach out to Mandy and Andrea if you want to brainstorm some ideas!

This webinar will focus on the Arab/Israeli conflict and will take place on April 1st from 9:30-11:30AM. It is recommended for the following courses, but open to anyone:

• 6th Grade, World Geography, and AP Human Geography
• World History, AP World, and Humanities

If you would like to register for this webinar, please register through powerschool using this link and register for the zoom session using this link. Once you have attended the webinar, please email Andrea your certificate and she will grant you credit. The webinar is worth 2 hours of CPE and exchange credit.

Thank you to Paul Kueny and Shawna McCartney Day for sharing this opportunity!

For more Professional Development Opportunities, please check out our website. Click Here.

March is Texas History Month! This month is set aside by the Texas legislature to honor and highlight those Texans who helped to shape the history of the state as well as those who are currently shaping Texas. Texas has a very rich history and many colorful people make up the tapestry of our state. March 2nd is Texas Flag Day. It’s a great time of year to celebrate Texas History! Check out some resources here.

In October, High School teachers were able to participate in a field trip to The Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center (NAEC), located at the Dallas Executive Airport. In February, Middle School Social Studies teachers got the chance to attend. Teachers spent the morning exploring the hangar, the Arsenal of Democracy immersive exhibit hall, and the World War II Aviation Nose Art gallery . In the afternoon, teachers participated in a WWII Homefront simulation. Everyone took on the role of an individual who lives in Anytown, USA.

Anytown is a community that represents all towns across the United States in that EVERYONE contributed to the Allied effort to win WWII. The Home Front Experience blends history with science, math, reading, financial literacy, and more. It is a content-integrated approach that embeds TEKS from various subject areas.

All the characters in the Home Front Experience are real or based on real historical figures. Letters mailed and received during the experience are historically accurate with historical figures represented. For example, the town movie theater operator, William Thompkins, served in the Spanish-American War as a Buffalo Soldier and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Characters, both seen and unseen, have a plethora of primary documents or further information about their lives and service for follow-up learning.

It was a super fun day!

The afternoon sessions on February 20th were geared to Dr. Ferguson's observation points and provided strategies that teachers could immediately put in place their classrooms.

Thank you so much to the following facilitators for creating amazing sessions!

• WIN DAYS [What I Need Days–In Class intervention]
• Facilitators: Ryan Denham and Mandy Murphy (RHHS)
• How do you make remediation less painful for you and the kids? How do you individualize remediation for a class of 30? We have some ideas that you can implement with your team to make it better for you and more impactful for your students. [Resources]

• DBQ: An alternate ending
• Facilitator: Kelly Rolan (PHS) and Mandy Neece (C&I)
• Kids roll their eyes every time you mention primary documents or DBQ’s? Come to this session to learn 6 strategies that will give the typical DBQ an ALTERNATIVE ENDING. Workshop at the end so you put the strategies into action. [Resources]

• Discourse and Discussion
• Facilitator: Lauren Javandoost and AJ LaNier (RHHS)
• Have you raised an amazing, thought-provoking question to your students only to be met with crickets? Join us as we dive into some tips and tricks for developing a discussion-rich classroom where students feel comfortable participating and sharing in academic discourse.

• Round Table Discussion: Extensions
• Facilitator: Lauren Houseknecht (PHS)
• Looking to add new activities, resources, or refine ideas for lessons that extend learning and increase discussion and engagement? This opportunity to exchange and discuss will generate multiple take-aways that can be applied to old lessons that need a new spark, or can be easily adapted into a new learning activity for your classroom. [Resources]

• Instructional Strategy: Causation Cards and Timeline with Attitude
• Facilitator: Mandy Neece (C&I)
• Are students struggling finding connections between events or evaluating lasting legacies? Causation Cards and Timeline with Attitude are great strategies geared to get all students engaged and debating with their peers. [activities were featured in February's Smore] Workshop time at the end to put the activity into action! [Presentation]

• Inclusion Teaching - Making it flawless or at least not painful!
• Facilitator: Jessie Jones and Taylour Reeder (RHHS)
• If you teach in an inclusion class (as a general education OR special education teacher) it can be a challenge! This will help to come away with some basic information, and helpful tips and tricks to ensure success for everyone in the classroom! [Resources]

• Add Ethnic Studies into every course!
• Facilitator: Shelly Patterson (PHS)
• Making the most of your Ethnic Studies TEKS.

• US History STAAR Redesign
• Facilitator: Ryan Denham and Sam Cates
• Gain insight on strategies to prepare students for the changes to STAAR.

Please make sure to get all resources vetted by Andrea if they are not already linked in the UFD.

Check Them Out Below:

• February 2023, January 2023; December 2022; November 2022; October 2022; September 2022; August 2022

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

Miranda and Mandy