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.

It is the beginning of my fourth year and I am so excited! Every year offers us opportunities to grow and change as educators, and this year will be no different. I am here to help you in any way that you may need, including finding resources, supporting initiatives that you take on, and providing feedback and coaching. 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).

An early morning fire on Tuesday, July 27th, 2021 rendered the campus unusable for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. As is custom for teachers, they store their lifetime collection of teaching supplies, decorations, and curriculum in their classrooms over the summer or come early in preparation for the new school year. The fire devastated the teachers’ classrooms. For those wanting to monetarily help teachers rebuild their classrooms, a list of the teachers’ wishlists (Amazon, Scholastic, etc.) can be found here.

I would highly encourage everyone to use the Thinking Like Historian units from TEKS RS or the beginning days of your curriculum to really instill in students the importance of using primary sources and the processes your specific class will be taking throughout the year. Often I find that this unit is skipped to move straight into the content. While our intentions behind this may be good, this unit is an opportunity to set expectations that relate to critical thinking skills associated with historical inquiry.

As you begin planning for your next unit, don’t forget that LRE has content modules available to assist you with planning your units of study. They use existing Law-Related Education materials to support teaching the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for 7th grade Texas History, 8th grade and high school U.S. History, and high school U.S. Government.

The content modules are designed to help supplement instruction. They are available free of charge on our website. You can access them on the lesson plan pages for the appropriate grade level.

Random Connections

Put a photo of something seemingly random on the board that has ties to the lesson of the day. Pair it with a question to get students thinking about how the photo might connect to the content.

For example, an image of pies paired with the question "Have you ever purchased something from a bake sale? Why?" Briefly (30 seconds or two shares) discuss student answers.

As class starts, display the image of Georgia Gilmore and the links to both a video and NPR article about Georgia Gilmore. Students can choose to watch the video or read the article, but both must be done.

Video - bit.ly/2VcH1Zn

Article - n.pr/375lODx

**Although natural inclination will be to connect this to the Civil Rights Movement (which it definitely can be), push yourself to think about other themes this could support in different classrooms.

^^If you need a good resource for images, I use Unsplash.com for free, quality images.

Lead4Ward provides FREE frequency distribution charts to help teachers when planning and prioritizing instruction for the year. Here are this year's charts along with a document that focuses on how to use the information.

Frequency Distribution by TEKS Cluster

Frequency Distribution by SE

Now What? Document

Are you a Supreme Court fanatic waiting for an opportunity to examine pivotal decisions affecting civil rights and liberties in our nation? If so, join us for our next Oyez Update Webinar.

In these one-hour webinars, LRE Scholars will dig into the facts and implications of new U.S. Supreme Court cases to help educators make connections to the important foundational cases that our students are responsible for learning. Teachers will have an opportunity for Q and A with our scholars. Additionally, teachers will receive classroom strategies to use with their students. These sessions will be particularly relevant to teachers of AP Government and Politics.

August 31, 2021 6- 7 PM (CDT)

Focus Cases: Jones v Mississippi and Torres v Madrid

Registration will remain open until the webinar. Register here.

Come get to know the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in our first-ever K-5 educators’ professional development. Receive the tools, resources, and confidence you need to teach your students the importance of empathy, acceptance, and kindness through historical Upstanders. Participants will have the unique opportunity to hear from Brad Meltzer, author of the Ordinary People Change the World book series, and Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum PBS series, which helps kids build character, kindness, and compassion, one real historical hero at a time. Register here --> https://dhhrm.formstack.com/forms/2021_espd

Teaching about American Indians in Texas

Mondays • September 13 through October 4, 2021 • 5:00–6:30 pm CT

This webinar series will offer teachers new windows into the history of American Indians in Texas and a collection of curriculum materials geared toward bringing innovative perspectives into the classroom. Team taught by a historian and two master teachers, the institute will focus on the long arc of American Indian presence in Texas from the pre-contact era through the “Indian Wars” of the 1870s.

Teaching America’s Founding Documents

Wednesdays • September 15–October 13, 2021 • 5:00–6:15 pm CT

Each weekly webinar will cover one of the America’s founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Washington’s Farewell Address. Each session will focus on both the context of the featured document (how it came to be and its impact/significance) and its actual contents (the most important things for teachers to know and share with their students).

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

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