Social Studies
SOCIAL STUDIES
Social Studies
- WELCOME!
- Standards
- Inquiry
- Disciplinary Literacy
- Assessments
- Instructional Resources
- Technology
- History Day
WELCOME!
Standards
What do I need to know and understand about the new social studies standards to implement them effectively?
- Explore the Social Studies Standards
- ACTIVITY: Unpacking the Themes
- Unpacking the Standards
- Prioritizing Standards
Explore the Social Studies Standards
For an interactive walkthrough of this slide deck, please follow this link for a Pear Deck experience that includes audio explanations.
ACTIVITY: Unpacking the Themes
Unpacking the Standards
Unpacking the standards is one way to gain a deeper understanding of the standards and understand what students need to know and do to be proficient.
Use this slide deck to walk your team through the process of unpacking the standards. Unpacking the Social Studies Standards Slide Deck
Prioritizing Standards
To gain some common understanding and background on prioritizing standards, read this article: Prioritizing Power Standards.
Use this prioritization tool to walk your team through a process for prioritizing standards: Prioritizing Standards Worksheet
To have a discussion about the scope and sequence for your K-12 social studies instruction, use this tool: K-12 Social Studies Vertical Alignment. As a starting point, select your prioritized standards and discuss how those standards unfold across the grades in terms of student knowledge and skill.
Inquiry
Supporting Inquiry in the Social Studies Classroom
- What is inquiry?
- What does inquiry look like in the classroom?
- How do I plan for inquiry?
- How can we use questioning in the classroom?
- How do school leaders support and lead this change?
What is inquiry?
C3 Framework: Start by reading this document which heavily influenced the Iowa standards.
C3 Framework Synopsis: The Iowa SS inquiry standards are tightly aligned to the C3 Framework. This synopsis can help you understand the C3 Framework in a nutshell.
Supporting Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning: Chapter 8 outlines ways administrators can support inquiry in the classroom
Making Inquiry Possible: Explore the why, what, who, and how of inquiry-based instruction through a series of documentary films that feature teachers working together to make inquiry possible.
Four films explore these four questions:
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Why inquiry?
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What makes inquiry possible?
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What does inquiry look like?
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How do you build an inquiry culture?
Featured Resources include:
Making Inquiry Possible article explains the project
What does inquiry look like in the classroom?
Social Studies Inquiry Observation Form: use this form as is to observe for inquiry in the classroom or revise to meet your needs.
Common Core Shifts: These shifts directly connect to the literacy standards for social studies. This document also contains some student and teacher look fors.
Inquiry Teacher Practices: This is the resource I have not sourced but the "look fors" language could be very helpful when you observe.
MA Observation Checklists: The grade level observation look-fors for ELA can help you identify the literacy standards that could potentially be implemented through social studies.
Social Studies Videos: These videos from Georgia classrooms offer a view of what inquiry can look like at various grade levels.
How do I plan for inquiry?
Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Template: This can give you an idea of what a unit design can look like (one model)
C3 Inventory: Samples of inquiry based units
How can we use questioning in the classroom?
Using the Question Formulation Technique in the Classroom: Questioning is at the heart of inquiry. Learn more about the QFT and its use in the social studies classroom by engaging in this micro credential.
How do school leaders support and lead this change?
Marginalization of Social Studies: This one page graphic serves as a way to explore why an emphasis on elementary social studies instruction is needed in our schools.
Coaching Change in Social Studies Instruction: slide deck to walk you through an inquiry as you learn about inquiry.
Change Matrix Coaching Questions
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Do we have a clear vision of what social studies inquiry looks like at each of the three levels (elem, MS, HS)?
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Is that vision co-owned?
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Is there a manageable, realistic action plan to achieve the vision? Does the action plan include clearly defined outcomes (steps), address new learning needed, provide the time and resources to meet the outcome and define how we know we have met the outcome?
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What skills are required for this work?
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Where can we build on existing strengths?
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How and where can we build skills to fill gaps?
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Why should teachers do this? What is in it for them (incentives)? What are the built in accountability measures?
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Do teachers have the resources needed to do this work?
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Instructional materials that support the standards and inquiry
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Time to do the work
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Coaching, administrative support
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Disciplinary Literacy
Assessments
Instructional Resources
Instructional Materials and Curriculum Resources
Social Studies Instructional Materials and Curriculum Adoption
The Department of Education does not offer textbook suggestions because Iowa is a local control state. Likewise, Keystone does not recommend textbooks, but we can offer resources and information to help guide your curriculum/resources selection.
Instructional Materials Decision Guide
Curriculum Consideration Guides
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The curriculum revision process is an important component of ensuring a viable and rigorous curriculum for each and every student in a school setting. The Checklist for Social Studies Curriculum guides districts through a comprehensive process when they are undergoing the social studies curriculum revision process.
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InquirED Curriculum Rubric: While this is a commercial program-based resource, the rubrics focus on inquiry and as such provide quality considerations as you choose resources. inquirED’s Curriculum Review Guide includes five rubrics that can be used to evaluate the essential components of a social studies curriculum: Inquiry-Based Instruction; Culturally Responsive Education; Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment; High-Quality, Diverse Sources; and Learner Supports and Continuous PD.
Iowa Aligned Instructional Resources
- Read Iowa (K-5)
- Course Outlines for K-5 (scroll to the bottom: Standards at a Glance)
- Primary Source Text Sets
Textbook Evaluation and Quality Units Rubrics
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Textbook Evaluation Rubric: A starting point for evaluating textbooks but the caution is that hte rubric is based on Nevada’s state standards and the criteria are not focused on inquiry in social studies.
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Modeled after the EQuIP rubric in ELA/Literacy, Mathematics, and Science, the Rubric to Evaluate the Quality of Units in Social Studies helps teachers and districts evaluate the quality of instructional units in social studies.
Instructional Materials and Guide
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Open Educational Resources (OER) is another tool districts are using to create their own “textbooks”. Interesting concept. The material is free and can be manipulated to create text materials suited to your teacher’s needs (while also, of course, meeting standards!). Social studies does not appear to be as robust in offerings as it is for other content areas.
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Social studies provide a rich avenue for students to engage with multiple primary and secondary sources. The creation of text sets is one way to ensure students access authentic, complex texts. See a Guide to Creating Text Sets.
Additional Resources
Choices http://www.choices.edu/
Pulitzer Center http://pulitzercenter.org/education
Kids Go Global http://www.kidsgoglobal.net/the-issues/
Technology
Keystone Digital Resources Spotlight for Social Studies
Brittanica
Social Studies teachers and students can easily lose focus, get overwhelmed, and waste valuable time filtering through the abundance of Social Studies resources scattered throughout the internet. Reclaim that time by revisiting one of the most comprehensive, credible resources offered through Keystone's Digital Resources. That resource is Brittanica.
We're shining the spotlight on features embedded within Brittanica you may have forgotten about or never knew were offered within the platform.
Discover - or rediscover - Brittanica.
EBSCOhost
Social studies educators will welcome Keystone's newest digital resource, EBSCOhost, now available exclusively to Keystone AEA Educators.
EBSCOhost offers comprehensive educational databases that teachers can access on personal computers and mobile devices. Find resources to build your knowledge-base for lessons, research supplemental information for your PLC work, or dig deeper into learning about your district or building initiatives.
Learn the basics and explore the Advanced Search features offered in EBSCOhost in the resources to below.
EBSCOhost Basic Tutorial
EBSCOhost Advanced Search Features
History Day
Montauk History Day: February 26, 2022 at Decorah Middle School
For more details regarding National History Day guidelines visit the NHD website
Get the latest updates
How can Keystone support your social studies implementation work? Resources and learning opportunities to support your work in the social studies classroom.
How can Keystone support your social studies implementation work? Resources and learning opportunities to support your work in the social studies classroom.
How can Keystone support your social studies implementation work? Resources and learning opportunities to support your work in the social studies classroom.
How can Keystone support your social studies implementation work? Resources and learning opportunities to support your work in the social studies classroom.
How can Keystone support your social studies implementation work? Resources and learning opportunities to support your work in the social studies classroom.