Click here for last month's edition of the Social Studies Connection.

Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator

Office of Teaching & Learning

Curriculum Division

Southland Center - 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH

www.ccsoh.us/socialstudies

mdoran2067@columbus.k12.oh.us
380.997.0470

Registration is now available in PDS for the September 20 district-led PD Day.

We are excited to bring you a full day of sessions on the theme of Building Social Studies Skills.

Click on the image below for session descriptions, building and parking maps, and other information. More details will follow on the final program.

Teachers attending the Building Social Studies Skills PD Day on September 20 will have the opportunity to participate in the first ever CCS Social Studies Edcamp during the afternoon breakout.

Edcamps are open, participant-driven PD opportunities. Participants will choose the topics and decide where they would like to attend during each of the mini-session time slots. There are no formal session facilitators. To make the make of this experience, everyone should bring their ideas and resources (printed or digital) to the table.

Watch the brief video below to learn more about how Edcamps work, and don't forget to bring your ideas on September 20!

Each year, CCS Social Studies defines Points of Emphasis to guide our work in curriculum, instructional and professional development. This year's Points of Emphasis is designed around the theme of Building Social Studies Skills.

Check on the graphic on the right to see how these practices work together.

You will hear more about Building Social Studies Skills throughout the year during our Professional Development Days, HS Department Chair PD, the Social Studies Connection newsletter, and many more communication avenues.

September 17 is Constitution Day. This day commemorates the September 17, 1787 signing of the United States Constitution.

Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year is required to hold an educational program about the U.S. Constitution for its students on September 17. Since September 17 is a Sunday, these programs can take place on September 15 or September 18.

CCS Social Studies recommends the following resources:

Teacher Resources

• Celebrating Our Constitution Lesson (TCI)
• American Founding Text Set (CommonLit)
• Constitution Day Lessons (Center for Civic Education)
• Constitution Day Resources (Constitutional Rights Foundation)
• Constitution Day Lesson Plan (iCivics)
• Ideals in U.S. Founding Documents (Choices Program)
• National Constitution Center Programs

Interactive Student Resources

• Constitution and Law-Related Education Games
• Interactive Constitution
• Docs Teach Constitution Activity
• iCivics Games

CCS Social Studies has developed new assessments in MasteryConnect for Grades 6-11 core classes. Assessments are optional may be administered with teacher's discretion on timing.

These assessments are available on the District MasteryConnect Curriculum Maps, which are already linked to the appropriate class sections for each teacher. Teachers can click on "Create Tracker" to begin administering the assessments are tracking student mastery of standards.

• Social Studies 6 Map
• Social Studies 7 Map
• Social Studies 8 Map
• World History Map
• American History Map
• American Government Map

Log into MasteryConnect through Clever, Canvas, or Google.

HQSD

The high school assessments for Modern World History, American History, and American Government are approved for use as an HQSD instrument for OTES and appear on the district pre-approved list. The assessments were collaboratively-developed with HS department chairs developing evidence-based sets with constructed response performance tasks to pair with items in MasteryConnect banks.

Note that middle school assessments are not eligible for use as an HQSD instrument at this time. Teachers may, however, use these as a baseline for developing an assessment collaboratively and submitting to the individual building assessment leaders.

In addition to the district-approved MasteryConnect Quarterly Assessments for high school, social studies teachers have other options for HQSD assessments, according to the pre-approved list.

The state Informative/Explanatory Writing Rubric and Argumentation Writing Rubric are on the district's pre-approved list. These rubrics can be used to assess relevant writing in social studies, including thematic essays, DBQ essays, or research projects. Because the rubric itself constitutes the pre-approved instrument, the specific essay prompt does not require approval.

Restart Readiness for American History and American Government. These are administered on the state testing portal. Please see your building testing coordinator for directions on administering these assessments.

Note that for teachers of American History and American Government, Ohio’s state tests provide value-added data, which research supports as a high quality source of student data. When value-added data is available for a teacher, it must be one of the sources of high-quality student data used in the teacher's evaluation.

While TCI item banks are not pre-approved instruments, they are a district resource that teachers may use to develop assessments and submit for building-level approval. These item banks include a variety of item types, including the lesson processing assignments.

If you are building your own instrument for building-level approval, you may the find the CCS Social Studies Assessment Literacy webpage to be a helpful resource.

While the Curriculum Office will support where we can, HQSD questions are best directed to your building-level assessments leaders and/or Ravin Pandey in the Office of Professional Learning & Licensure.

Gimkit provides fast-paced gameplay that requires knowledge, collaboration, and strategy to win. Students earn virtual currency, which they can "invest" during the game to boost their score. Games can be played live or can be assigned as independent practice. Students can compete against each other or collaborate in teams or as a whole class. When teachers launch the game, they choose from a variety of play modes.

CCS Social Studies has a Pro subscription to Gimkit. To upgrade, first create your GimKit account with your CCS Google account. This will give you a free account with a 15-day free Pro. Next, enter your name and submit this form. You will receive an email within 2-3 days with the link to join the CCS Social Studies GimKit Pro.

CCS Social Studies has started building collections of standards-aligned unit games. Check back on this page for updates and links to those collections.

The Ohio Department of Education is now accepting applications for participants to serve on American Government and American History content advisory committees for Ohio’s State Tests. Ohio’s educators, content specialists and other stakeholders play a vital role in creating valid and reliable assessments by serving on these committees.

Click here to learn more and apply.

Ohio Mock Trial of­fers an in­no­v­a­tive ap­proach to learn­ing the law and how our legal sys­tem func­tions. Guided by teach­ers and vol­un­teer legal ad­vi­sors, stu­dents par­tic­i­pate in an orig­i­nal, un­scripted sim­u­lated trial writ­ten by at­tor­neys. High school stu­dents argue both sides of the case in real court­rooms across the state. The state fi­nals are held in the Ohio State­house and the win­ner ad­vances to the na­tional com­pe­ti­tion.

Learn more about Mock Trial, including the case information, dates, and deadlines from the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education.

To compete in the Ohio Mock Trial program, each high school needs a team advisor. The advisor position is a supplemental contract granted by the building principal. The pay for the position is established by Article 905.01 (Group B) of the Master Agreement. If you are interested in advising a Mock Trial team at your school, please speak with your building principal regarding this position. Principals should complete the supplemental contract appointment form and submit it to Human Resources.

Additionally, please contact Matt Doran if you are interested in starting or continuing with Mock Trial. The Curriculum Division will cover the cost of case materials and team competition.

High School Social Studies Department Chairs meet monthly for professional development and to collaboratively help shape CCS Social Studies. This year's meetings will be held on the second Wednesdays of the month, with the exception of November.

• September 13, 2023 - Zoom
• October 11, 2023 - 3700 S. High Street
  
• November 15, 2023 - Zoom
  
• December 13, 2023 - 3700 S. High Street
• January 10, 2024 - Zoom
• February 14, 2024 - 3700 S. High Street
• March 13, 2024 - Zoom
• April 10, 2024 - Zoom
• May 8, 2024 - 3700 S. High Street

Meetings will be 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Department Chair appointments are made by the building principal, in accordance with Article 905 of the Master Agreement.

New Department Chairs for 2023-2024 should email Matt Doran to make sure they are on the distribution list for this year.

TCI's new In-App On-Demand PD provides 3 leveled series for self-paced PD. With these self-paced courses, you can start, pause, and repeat content anytime directly on TCI’s platform. You can earn certificates with documented hours at the end of each course. CCS has a district-level dashboard where we can track the completion of the in-app PD.

To access the PD, open any TCI program and locate the "Professional Development" link at the top of the left side purple menu.

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is excited to announce registration for the 103rd NCSS Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee is now open!

Join us at the Music City Center from December 1-3, 2023, for the largest annual gathering of social studies educators, administrators, and professionals. This year's conference features 500+ sessions to increase your professional learning, a growing lineup of keynote speakers, and an exhibit hall highlighting the latest social studies products and services.

There is $200,000 available to CEA bargaining unit members each year to pursue professional development opportunities outside the school district. These include taking a course or attending a conference or workshop. Forms to apply for professional leave are available in the “Forms” section of the CEA website or the CCS Intranet, along with the full leave guidelines. Act as soon as you know the date of your conference because funds are exhausted quickly.

Date: Saturday, October 7, 2023

Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET

Location: Online

Cost: Free

Book bans in schools and libraries are on the rise. Last school year, more than 850 individual titles were impacted by censorship efforts of local groups and state decision-makers. How can educators and students navigate censorship in their communities?

NCHE and NCSS are uniting for a fourth virtual Equity Summit, in support of our history and social studies educators and students, with a focus on book-banning and censorship. Join us for a day of virtual learning, featuring classroom teachers, media specialists, and education organizations, including a keynote by Dr. Yohuru Williams, Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas.

Click here to learn more about the 2023 Equity Summit.

The event is free, but registration is required. Educators from all levels are welcome to attend.

Register for the Equity Summit

The Council for Economic Education offers free professional development development, live and on-demand. Watch a webinar for a minimum of 45 minutes and you will receive a certificate of completion within 24 hours.

Create a free account and register for sessions of your choice or view the on-demand library.

View the complete calendar of September webinars here.

Echoes & Reflections offers professional development designed to empower educators with the necessary tools and knowledge to teach about the Holocaust effectively.

Echoes & Reflections offers a range of one-hour webinar offerings throughout the year. View the September offerings here.

Teachers can also participate in Echoes & Reflections online courses. Courses are asynchronous, with built-in opportunities for discussion and guidance with an expert facilitator, as well as other educator participants. Explore the course catalog here.