KCSS Fall 2015 Update
Kansas Council for the Social Studies
Save the Date! It's a Capitol Idea
The annual Kansas Social Studies conference is scheduled for November 2, 2015. The conference will be held in the state capitol building in Topeka and is co-sponsored by the KCSS, the Kansas Department of Education, and the Kansas Council for History Education. Titled A Capitol Idea: Integrating History and ELA, the conference will focus on the integration of historical thinking and literacy skills as well as high-quality quality formative and summative assessments that can measure those skills.
Don Gifford, KSDE social studies consultant, will share the latest on the state social studies assessment.. They'll be all sorts of classroom teachers and specialists sharing the best ways to blend historical thinking and literacy.
Registration is now open and space is limited at the Capitol. Head over to the conference website to get started.
Submit a conference session proposal
KCSS Teacher of the Year Nominations Now Open
We are excited to announce the renewal of the KCSS Judy Cromwell Excellence in Teaching Awards. Judy Cromwell taught social studies in the Topeka area for over 38 years. She was a long-time member of KCSS and served on the board for 28 years. Judy was known for her strong support for classroom teachers, her delicious buffalo chip cookies, and for leading summer trips around the state with teachers. The Excellence in Teaching Award is named in her honor.
Intended to reward and encourage high quality instruction in the social studies, KCSS will select one Excellence in Teaching winner in each of the grade levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Winners will receive free Kansas social studies conference registration, a framed certificate, and a $500 cash award.
Nominations are now being accepted until October 12th. Nominees must be currently teaching social studies at least half-time and have three years teaching experience. Start the selection process by downloading the complete nomination packet. (Teachers are allowed to apply on their own behalf.)
Awesome in-service opportunity!
Visual resources
Literacy ideas
Document analysis
Secondary Resource: Zoom In
Zoom In is a free, web-based platform that helps students build literacy and historical thinking skills through “deep dives” into primary and secondary sources.
Zoom In’s online learning environment features 18 content-rich U.S. history units that supplement your regular instruction and help you use technology to support students’ mastery of both content and skills required by the most recent state and national social studies standards:
- Reading documents closely and critically
- Identifying author’s point of view and purpose
- Engaging in higher-order, text-based discussions
- Writing explanatory and argumentative essays grounded in evidence
In a nutshell?
You and Zoom In provide a historical problem for kids to solve – such as “How did the tactics of César Chávez and the United Farm Workers union involve the public in the fight for fair working conditions for farmworkers?”
Kids use Zoom In’s scaffolding tools to access, evaluate, and collect evidence. They then use the embedded writing tool to organize their evidence to create a written response to the prompt. Throughout the process, you provide support by accessing their work, leaving comments, giving suggestions, and sharing ideas.
Elementary Resources: Read Kansas cards
Read Kansas! offers ready-to-use materials for you and your students. These lessons help students build reading skills as they learn about their state. Each lesson is designed to use informative text to develop critical thinking skills. The inclusion of primary source materials helps students learn to source materials, see multiple perspectives, and interpret complex text. The lessons contain attractive student materials and a complete lesson plan, including the assessment.
A correlation between the new Kansas College and Career Ready Standards (KCCRS) and the 2013 Kansas History, Government, and Social Studies Standards is included within each lesson.
KCSS digital world
And don't forget the KCSS web site - we've posted News, Resources, and are starting to upload a variety of Instructional Videos
We're working hard to find the best way to share resources and tools to make your life a little easier. Let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you!