SAISD Social Studies Newsletter
October 11, 2019
EPIC Saturday is Coming Up on Saturday, October 19
Close Reading in Social Studies
Calling all Social Studies teachers: Want to learn more about the Close Reading Strategy found in our Instructional Framework? Attendees will learn about the Five Attributes found in Close Reading lessons, when to apply each attribute, determining objectives for Close Reading assignments, building pre-reading background knowledge and practice with primary sources and other history based readings.
Goal Setting: Student Success and Teacher Growth
In this session participants will learn the importance of providing students the opportunity to take ownership of their learning by setting goals. Participants will watch a video that demonstrates this in action in a classroom. Participants will also be provided with various tools to assist students and teachers in tracking the progress of their students from unit to unit. This session will show how goal setting can be aligned to TTESS domains, as well as, ways to use Unify in collecting data. Finally participants will be introduced to a post-test reflection activity that provides feedback to the students and the teacher and is an engaging way to target your most missed concepts.
New to Active Classroom? Let's Get Started
Now that you have Active Classroom, how do you use it? What can it do? Get the basics and more in this 2-hour session. A fully charged device is required for this session. Audience: 6-12 Social Studies Teachers.
10:45 AM-12:45 PM Sessions
Active Classroom: Literacy Supports and Strategies for Social Studies
Begin literacy learning with historical images to build context before students dive deeper into the content with primary sources and complex text. Active Classroom’s text to speech tools, highlighting tools, and translator can help students who struggle make sense of complex text. A charged laptop is required for this session. Audience: Grades 6-12 Social Studies teachers.
San Antonio Museum of Art Field Trip Opportunity for 6th Grade World Cultures Students
A generous donation from the estate of a former SAISD educator has provided funding for the creation of a unique experience exclusively for SAISD Sixth Grade World Cultures students. The SAISD Social Studies Department and the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) have collaborated to create a field trip experience for students to explore the SAMA and to analyze how the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome influenced other cultures worldwide.
During this museum experience, students will build an understanding of cultural diffusion using works of art in several different galleries of the museum. Students will examine at least four works of Greek and Roman art and analyze how the characteristics of these pieces can be seen in artwork in other galleries throughout the museum. Students will exercise critical-thinking skills and build cross-cultural connections in order to understand the lasting influence of Greek and Roman Art. The field trip will conclude with a hands-on art activity to synthesize the experience for students.
The SAMA can accommodate groups between fifteen and ninety students for this field trip. All costs for this field trip, including transportation costs, will be paid by the Social Studies Department using the donor funds. This experience was designed specifically to align with the TEKS for the sixth grade World Cultures course, and funding will only be provided for sixth graders.
More information regarding this opportunity, including an agenda for the museum visit, is available here. Campuses must schedule field trip dates with the San Antonio Museum of Art at least two weeks in advance using this link. Please contact Patrick Pyle, Director of Social Studies, to obtain the budget code to use for buses when scheduling this field trip. The SAMA will be invoicing the Social Studies Department directly for each campus field trip.
October 14 Has Been Designated as Indigenous Peoples Day in San Antonio
Here are some additional resources for Indigenous Peoples Day:
Reconsider Columbus Day from Teaching Tolerance
Should Columbus Day Be Replaced with Indigenous Peoples Day? from The New York Times
First Semester Grade Level and Content Professional Learning Network Pull Out Days
The Social Studies Department will pay for substitutes for the dates below. Teachers must have the permission of their principal to attend.
High School US History PLN
Thursday, November 7, 8:00 AM-4:00 PM, Burnet Leanring Center Room 33
8th Grade US History PLN
Thursday, November 14, 8:00 AM-4:00 PM, Burnet Learning Center Room 33
After School Professional Development and Department Chair Meetings
New Teacher Academy
Thursday, October 17, 4:45-6:00 PM Burnet Learning Center Room 33
High School Department Chair Meeting
Tuesday, October 22, 4:45-6:00 PM Burnet Learning Center Room 21
Virtual PD Session
Thursday, October 24, 4:45-6:00 PM
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/254200510
Middle School Department Chair Meeting
Tuesday, October 29, 4:45-6:00 PM Burnet Learning Center Room 21
After School Book Study
Thursday, November 7, 4:45-6:00 PM, Burnet Learning Center Room 33
New Teacher Academy
Thursday, November 14, 4:45-6:00 PM Burnet Learning Center Room 33
High School Department Chair Meeting
Tuesday, November 19, 4:45-6:00 PM, Burnet Learning Center Room 21
After School Book Study
Thursday, December 5, 4:45-6:00 PM, Burnet Learning Center Room 33
Curriculum and Instruction and Social Studies Webpage Update
The Social Studies Webpage is still a work in progress. We are in the process of compiling websites that are useful resources for Social Studies at our Instructional Resources Page. When you have some time, please take a look at the posted websites, and send any recommendations for additions to Patrick. You may also want to bookmark this page for your future reference.
November 5 Election
SAISD Social Studies Department
Director of Social Studies
Email: ppyle1@saisd.net
Website: https://saisdofficeofacademics.weebly.com/social-studies.html
Location: 406 Barrera Street, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: 210-554-2530
Twitter: @Saisd_Social