Important Documents

*The Arizona State Content Standards are the blueprint which guides instruction in our Social Studies classrooms. This link will give you access to all of the K-12 Content Standards so that you know what students were taught in previous years and what they will be learning in their other classes.

*The Cartwright School District has created pacing guides to help teachers "map out" which concepts should be taught in a particular Quarter. This helps provide consistency for our students who move between Cartwright schools, it also makes it possible for us to create district-wide common assessments. In order to access these pacing guides you need to
1. Log in to your First Class account
2. Select "Conferences"
3. Select "Teaching and Learning"
4. Select your grade level and Social Studies

*When students engage in writing in your Social Studies classroom one key way that you can help support preparations for their success on AIMS is to have them use the 6 Traits Rubric to evaluate their work. The more that students interact with this rubric and become familiar with its components the more successful they will be when it comes to the AIMS writing assessment.

*Social Studies teachers are often called upon to support the AIMS tested areas of Reading and Math (and now Science). Rather than grasping at random Language Arts standards I'd suggest taking a look at the AIMS Blueprint which will guide you towards those most-frequently assessed skills and knowledge that will help prepare students for success.

*When planning your Social Studies lessons it is important to engage students in meaningful lessons that elevate their thinking to the highest possible level. Useful in purposefully creating challenging learning activities is this Verb Wheel Based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Check the verbs you use in your planning to make sure that you are creating cognitively demanding experiences for your students.

Where to go when you don't know.....

Who won the war of 1812? Okay, who even fought in the war of 1812? There are A LOT of resources out there, there are a few that are reliable.
*Digital History Online: This site includes an online textbook that I've turned to several times, they also have a good collection of primary source documents. Not great if you are looking for quick answers - but FULL of useful information.

Integrating Literature Into the Social Studies Class

It can be overwhelming to locate literature that reinforces the historical concepts that you are teaching. This database is AMAZING and worth a look. You are able to select the historical period, genre, format and more -- and when titles are suggested they are accompanied by a brief description of the book itself.

Here is another database that I am less familiar with but that also looks good.

Multimedia Resources

The internet is FULL of resources that you can use in your Social Studies classrooms. You can find images, audio, video and more to integrate into your planning that will engage students and strengthen your lessons.

*TeacherTube is full of helpful video clips on a variety of topics.  I rely on both this site and YouTube - but appreciate that you find fewer inappropriate or completely off topic clips on this site.

*Keepvid is an excellent tool for saving video clips that you find on YouTube or TeacherTube.  If you work at a school with slow internet connection, or at a location where youtube access is blocked - keepvid is a great alternative. 

*For Cartwright Elementary School District teachers the Classzone website which is connected to our adopted text - McDougal Littell's "American History" can be a GREAT support. This site has interactive maps and animations as well as a number of links to websites that support specific topics in the text.

Teaching with Primary Sources

The Library of Congress teacher resources website is a great place to start when trying to assemble a lesson plan that integrates primary source documents. One of the things that I like best about this website is that it includes primary source analysis forms that take students through how to analyze various types of artifacts.

The National Archives website also is an excellent resource that provides primary source analysis forms for student use.

Lesson Plans

Many websites now charge for access to teacher created lesson plans. Over time I will add my own lesson plans that have worked for my students - I will start with some links to prexisting websites that I've found helpful.

Mr.Donn's History lesson plan page has been around forever. Not all lessons are created equally and not all are aligned with the Arizona State standards - but in general the lessons from this website are well developed.

Links to some great lesson plans can be found at Best of History Web Sites - there's A LOT of information on this website if you have the time to dig.

Vocabulary Development/Enrichment

*If you can get your hands on this book you should. Marzano basically says that effective vocabulary instruction includes the following steps:
1. Present students with a brief explanation of the new term of phrase. (I've not spoken to the man - but I am certain that Marzano did NOT intend that the students copy the definition from the dictionary. The definition needs to be written in student-friendly language. )
2. Present students with a nonlinguistic representation of the new term or phrase. (With Historical terms this can be difficult - "imperialism" for example had me scratching my head. I often use political cartoons to help with some of these more complex terms - obviously dissecting the opinion from th actual meaning of the word.)
3. Ask the students to generate their own explanations or descriptions of the new term or phrase. (After I present students with the explanation of the term and a visual representation of its meaning - I have them work with me to generate a list of words or phrases that are related to the word. Ex. Imperialism: take over, own, control.... Doing this provides students with a word bank of sorts that they can draw on when generating their own explanations of the new term. It also serves as a way to "tease out" whether or not the students have fully grasped the meaning of the word.)
4. Ask the students to generate their own nonlinguistic representation of the new term or phrase.
5. Periodically ask students to review the accuracy of their explanations or terms. (I've taken this fifth step to mean two things: our understanding of words changes over time as we make connections with new learning AND if we are going to ask students to take a word into their vocabulary then it needs to be USED)





*I can't stress enough how much I love this website "Visuwords." It's difficult to explain - so go see it for yourself. You type in a word and then a web is created that shows how that word is connected to others. (*preview words and the connections made to determine that they are suitable for your students.)

General Teaching Information

*Catherine Brown has worked with Cartwright for several years as a consultant. Her main focus is on the instruction of English Language Learners - but the information that she provides really transcends the ELD classroom and is applicable in all learning environments. Her website Accelerating Minds is simply one of the best resources for teachers that I've come across. It is so full of helpful information that although I have worked to explore it for over a year - I suspect I've just scratched the surface. "Multicultural Education, Visuals and Manipulative's, Using the Internet for Learning" are some of the topics on which she's collected valuable links and resources.

*I would be remiss if I didn't mention All Things PLC. If you are engaging in collective inquiry within your department this site is a great resource that not only provides an understanding of the "nuts and bolts" of PLC but it speaks to collaborative efforts and selecting research based tools. Some of the better parts of this website are the blogs maintained by Rick DuFour and the supporting documents that can be used in collaborative efforts (sample agendas, SMART goal forms etc.)

Books / Articles

The Declaration of Independence illustrated by Sam Fink is VERY useful when teaching students about the grievances that led colonists to break free from British rule. I've shown the students the illustration first to ask them to describe what colonists might have been fighting against - and THEN we read segments of the document.

Down and Out in the Great Depression is a collection of letters written by people during this time in US History. My students really connected to the letters from this book that we examined - not only did this increase student engagement but it deepened their understanding of the topic.

Speeches that Changed the World - Excellent collection of key speeches accompanied by brief historical background. In a similar vein Letters of a Nation is also a great collection of engaging primary source documents.

My personal "History Superhero" is Howard Zinn.  If you are looking to build background or experience a fresh perspective on historical events - A Peoples History of the United States is a must.

If you're looking for ways to support literacy in Social Studies you should read through Laura Robb's Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science and Math.

October 2005

October 2005 | Volume 63 | Number 2
Reading Comprehension Pages 42-47

Strategies for Teen Readers

Carolyn Coutant and Natalia Perchemlides