#r12socstud
Connecting stories of the past to the needs of the present.
Volume 2 Issue 6
Welcome!
Curriculum Updates
Holocaust Remembrance Week
Trello Board: https://trello.com/b/RYTtsvMT
Special Edition Smore: https://www.smore.com/9vba6
Let's Talk About Student Engagement!
According to "The New Art and Science of Teaching," by Robert J. Marzano, "engagement is possibly the gatekeeper to mental readiness. It is certainly a common term in education, but educators lack clear agreement of its meaning (Marzano & Pickering, 2011). Engagement is divided into four components: (1) Paying attention, (2) being energized, (3) being intrigued, and (4) being inspired."
- Paying Attention - The initial hallmark of student engagement is whether or not they are paying attention to the focus. Whether that be your discussion, video or station, ensuring that students are keyed into the event and grasping the content and learning opportunity is important. Starting strong is important. Do your students know what to expect or do when they come into the room? Is there a routine with clear expectations?
- Being Energized - Energizing and keeping the energy going is the second marker of student engagement. Most of our students will sit throughout their instructional day. If we can get them out of their seats and moving they are more likely to stay engaged in the lesson. Have you tried an escape room to deliver or practice content or a gallery walk? Both of these experiences allow students to move and continue their learning.
- Being Intrigued - Our historical topics lend themselves well to the third aspect of engagement, intrigue. Historical inquiry allows the students to discover and unearth historical truths as they analyze primary and secondary sources. Questioning methods, such as QFT, also keep students on their toes, continually pushing them to think critically about the information.
- Being Inspired - The final piece of student engagement is attributed to inspiration. Helping students feel as if they are connected to historical events and can use the information they have learned, to impact current and future decisions, are imperative. Bringing current events into the classroom and encouraging today's youth to use their voice to enact and impact change now, rather than waiting, are two ways to inspire and engage.
Adapted from materials created by Region 20.
Instructional Innovation
Articles of Interest
Digital Resources
Presidents in the Hot Seat
http://presidentialhotseat.org/
The President of the United States is one of the most heavily criticized positions in the world, and often the weight of their decisions affects the lives of millions of people. Within this website, educators will find primary sources and lessons plans that place students in the role of these decision-makers during intense situations such as the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, 9/11, and many more.
The Presidential Primary Sources Project
Share the presidents’ stories with your students through live interactive video and primary source documents.
Teaching Tolerance Podcasts
What we don’t know about American slavery hurts us all. From Teaching Tolerance and host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Teaching Hard History brings us the lessons we should have learned in school through the voices of leading scholars and educators. It’s good advice for teachers, good information for everybody.
Parlay Ideas - Class Discussions 2.0!
Literacy Connections
A Sweet Smell of Roses
by Angela Johnson
A young girl, with her red-ribboned teddy bear describes her experience as she and her sister slip out of their house to join a freedom march. The focus is very much on the sensory experience. They stand, “waist high” in the “bright light”, “clapping in time with [their] feet.” There’s no mention about which march it is, just one of the many freedom marches that took place under Dr. King’s leadership.
Benno and the Night of Broken Glass
by Meg Wiviott
Benno the cat lives in Berlin, sleeps in the basement of an apartment building inhabited by Christian and Jewish families, and wanders his neighborhood getting scraps (and ear scratches) from the local businesspeople. He is “welcomed by all.” But then men in brown shirts burn books in the streets and smash the windows of Jewish-owned businesses, and Benno’s world is irreparably changed.
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales
Thrilling, daring, and downright gruesome stories from American history, in Graphic novel form. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales is an Eisner-nominated, #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Student Opportunities
Professional Learning Opportunities
Remember...
Missed Previous Issues?
Check them out here:
Volume 1 Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10Volume 2 Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5
Special Editions: Celebrate Black History - Celebrate Women's History - 9/11 Remembered - Holocaust Remembrance Week
Jessica Torres
Ed Specialist - Digital Innovation/Gifted Education & Social Studies
ESC Region 12
o: 254-297-1118
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