PDE Social Studies

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January 2025 | Volume V, Number 1

 

 

Hello Everyone!

From Facing History and Ourselves

Our newest Ideas This Week is a collection of Facing History’s top attended professional learning opportunities of 2024. This year-end wrap up features nine online learning opportunities grouped into categories to help you find the PD that most resonates with your needs. These free and impactful webinars are tailor-made for busy educator schedules.

The Bill of Rights Institute – Elementary Games

The Bill of Rights Institute debuted new Elementary hands-on, classroom games It’s About Time and Trails West at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Boston. These games complement a new 3rd through 5th grade curriculum that runs from the Colonial Era through Reconstruction. All of the lessons, slide shows, and videos are downloadable for free.

America’s Field Trip

America's Field Trip is back! Students in grades 3-12 are invited to participate in this year's contest by sharing their perspective about what America means to them. Winners will receive an unforgettable field trip experience to one of our nation's most iconic, historic, or cultural sites. Written or original artwork answering the question "What does America mean to you" are now being accepted; the deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. (ET) on April 16, 2025.

Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation Grant

The Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation is an organization that provides grants for educators to teach anti-hate initiatives, respect, and kindness to students nationwide through Holocaust education. The grant allows educators to teach their students about the Holocaust – empowering them to learn how the lessons of the past can lead to kindness, respect, and inclusion in our society today. Each grant is capped at $1,000. The grant can be used to purchase educational materials, such as books for the classroom; help fund experiences, such as subsidizing the cost of transportation to a museum; help cover speaker fees for survivor speakers; or to bring programming into the school, such as traveling museum exhibits. The grant application portal is now open! Teachers who teach 4th to 12th grade are eligible to apply.

To be added to their list and be notified when the grant portal opens, please email [email protected]

2024 Climate Literacy Guide

The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) just published its new 2024 Climate Literacy Guide.

The guide aims to promote greater climate literacy by providing this educational and communication framework of principles and concepts. This guide is written with educators, communicators, and decision-makers in mind. It may be helpful in structuring curricula; assessing gains in people’s knowledge and understanding; stimulating dialogue among people with different interests, skills, and perspectives; and informing climate-related decisions and policies.

American Historical Association Online News and Upcoming Events

Throughout the year, the AHA hosts many online events for both members and the public. The AHA’s online events offer opportunities to learn about current events, develop professional skills, meet other historians, and more.

From Echoes and Reflections

Continue to Deepen Your Knowledge. To support educators in further study and learning on teaching about the Holocaust and antisemitism, Echoes & Reflections offers a variety of practical guidelines and research.

Resources to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

MLK Jr. Day falls on January 20, 2025. This day serves as a reminder of Dr. King's contributions to the civil rights movement and his tireless efforts toward equality and justice for all. Below are links to teaching resources to commemorate his legacy this month and beyond.

 

New from iCivics

Help students discover the spirit of generosity! Have students join the Private i History Detectives team to explore historical acts of generosity and discover how they can practice this civic virtue in and outside of the classroom. How Can Generosity Help Me Be a Good Citizen? includes three lessons that prompt lower-elementary students to practice generosity together while refining inquiry skills.

By analyzing photographs, writings, and artwork from the world wars and fundraising efforts for the Statue of Liberty, young learners will uncover the lasting impact of giving back.

Get started with the first lesson: How Do People Practice Generosity?

Students learn about different methods of extending generosity, such as giving time to others. By considering thought-provoking questions, students will better understand ways of giving back and how acts of generosity can make a difference.

Apply for the Sphere Summit

Sphere Summit is a full scholarship professional development program for grades 5–12 educators and administrators. Summits are a fully in-person experience in Washington, DC, and will run June 29–July 3 and July 14–18. Benefits include room and board, 20+ hours of professional development, classroom resources, and a $500 travel stipend upon completion of the program.

New this year, each Summit has a unique theme. The Summit I theme is “Freedom, Rights, and America’s 250th” while Summit II centers on “Cultivating Curiosity, Openness, and Civil Discourse in Every Classroom.”

Each Summit offers distinct programming to meet the needs of both middle and high school educators and administrators, as well as educators teaching either on grade level or advanced courses like AP or IB.

New from the Right Question Institute - Free webinar on Jan. 30: the QFT and the rural experience

Join the Right Question Institute for an afternoon with two of their partners in the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium. Regina Holland, from the Rural Experience in America program, and Jaime Beal, from the Maine Department of Education, will talk about impactful place-based community projects that use primary source documents and student questions to dig into local history and the rural experience. You'll walk away with ideas and tools for replicating similar projects in your classroom, course, or organization.

From the News Hour Classroom

News Hour Classroom is excited to announce the launch of the Invention Network, a community of educators dedicated to bringing community-driven, project-based learning to their students. The Invention Network will be made up of educators and practitioners in middle and high schools across a range of subject areas, and include PD sessions, a newsletter, a NEW series of lesson plans and more, all dedicated to helping students innovate creative solutions to the challenges of the day.

Sign up here if you'd like to be part of the Network and included on their newsletter list, where they will share special opportunities, resources and teacher profiles.

From the Bill of Rights Institute

The Bill of Rights Institute is thrilled to announce the launch of Government and Politics: Civics for the American Experiment  a core resource designed for on-level high school and AP government courses. This resource is a dynamic guide for informed citizenry. It addresses the role of government within civil society, examining the workings of the U.S. government and the power we hold in shaping it. This text seeks to answer the question: How can a system of self-governance support American ideals?

How is this resource designed?

  • It engages students in the theory and practice of governance, exploring the what, why, and how of the American government.
  • It is available as printable texts OR a fully-digital resource which is sharable via links or through any LMS.
  • It consists of document versions and question sets for both AP and on-level students.
  • It contains primary source activities, thought-provoking essays, case studies, and critical debates.
  • It includes immersive table-top games that engage students directly with founding principles and government operations.
  • Its genially-based, inter-active graphics give students an approachable way to explore complex topics and reinforce their learning about complex topics.

The Woodson Center Curriculum

The Woodson Center’s K-12 black history and character curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

InquirED Spring PD Opportunities

Join the National Council for the Social Studies and inquirED for their spring webinar series, Deeper Learning in Social Studies.

Each webinar focuses on strategies, tools, and research-based practices to engage students, deepen their knowledge, and help them form meaningful connections in social studies.  Explore their upcoming webinars and register today!

From the 9/11 Memorial and Museum

9/11 Timeline Film

A brief film outlining the six key times that mark the 9/11 attacks:

https://www.911memorial.org/digital-learning-experience-911-timeline-video

9/11 Primer

Features six thematic modules and provides educators and online learners with foundational information about the World Trade Center and the Twin Towers, the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath, and the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site:

https://www.911memorial.org/learn/resources/911-primer

Anniversary Digital Learning Experience

Each year, the Museum creates a 30-minute documentary film (available on-demand) that highlights first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath. On the anniversary, participants can also connect with Museum staff through an interactive live chat.

ttps://www.911memorial.org/DLE

DLE Stories Archive

Browse a collection of first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath recorded as a part of the annual Anniversary Digital Learning Experience. You can sort videos by speaker type and accessibility options. Each video also includes discussion questions leveled by grade.

https://www.911memorial.org/learn/students-and-teachers/webinar-stories

Lesson Plans

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum offers interactive lesson plans for students in grades 3 to 12 that address the 9/11 attacks, their ongoing repercussions, and the history of the World Trade Center.

https://www.911memorial.org/learn/students-and-teachers/lesson-plans

 

Thank you for subscribing to the SAS Social Studies PLC and for all you do every day for the students in Pennsylvania!

Don McCrone
[email protected]

NOTE:  Sites identified here have been reviewed by the content advisor; however, educators are advised to preview for appropriateness for their respective classrooms.

Visit the PDE Social Studies Archive