History and Social Studies Updates

This course is ongoing and will open on January 6. A summer version will open in the summer.

This professional learning session is designed to help educators link the 2018 Arizona Social Studies Standards with the writing and analytical skills assessed in the Arizona state achievement test (AASA). Participants will explore strategies for integrating social studies content and disciplinary thinking with evidence-based writing practices. Through hands-on activities and collaborative discussions, educators will learn how to:
• Align social studies inquiry with writing prompts to build students’ argumentative and explanatory writing skills.
• Incorporate primary and secondary source analysis to enhance critical thinking and evidence citation.
• Scaffold writing tasks to address various Depth of Knowledge (DOK) levels.
• Develop interdisciplinary lessons that prepare students for both social studies content mastery and writing assessment success.

By the end of the session, participants will leave with practical tools to strengthen student performance in both social studies and writing.

All ACEE’s PD opportunities can be found at https://azecon.org/

2/5/25 Transforming Financial Knowledge into Financial Behaviors

2/12/25 Expertise, AI, and the Future of Work

2/19/25 Economics and the Civil Rights Movement: Exploring Choices and Trade-Offs

2/22/25 Building Credit Confidence: Free Tools and Resources to Teach Students How to Be Credit Smart (in person at ASU Chandler Innovation Center)

2/25/25 Understanding What Our Community Provides (K-5)

3/3/25 Women in Economics: Shaping the Economy, Inspiring the Future

Join fellow educators and educational experts for webinars. Visit Current & Upcoming ⇽ Events | Econiful on Glue Up (or first join at Econiful)

February 6- Hire Education: Demystifying the Labor Market for Students

February 10- The Economics of Love & Romance

February 12- Expertise, AI and the Future of Work

February 25 - Dispelling Myths About the Economics of Immigration

February 11 All-American Resources: Page One Economics and Active Learning Lessons (Social Studies Teachers)

February 18 - Using a Structured Debate Format in Your Classroom

• Visible Thinking: Using Thinking Routines Effectively to Cultivate Dispositions and Support Learning. Feb 24 - May 25, 2025 (register by Feb 16)
• Teaching and Learning for Understanding. Feb 24 - May 25, 2025 (register by Feb 16)
• Creating Cultures of Thinking: Exploring the Purpose and Promise of Schools. Mar 10 - Apr 6, 2025 (register by Mar 2).
• Investigating the Forces that Shape Cultures of Thinking. NEW July date! Jul 14 - Aug 10, 2025 (register by Jul 6)
• Let’s Play: Teaching Strategies for Playful Learning. Apr 21 - May 18, 2025 (register by Apr 7)

Harvard Certificate for PD Hours

Scholarships available for 50-70% of tuition for eligible applicants. (Please note: Apply for the scholarship before registering.)

This free webinar for educators, presented by the News Literacy Project on edWeb.net, will offer strategies for teaching students about the complex topic of bias in news coverage

Help students identify trustworthy information online with our newest resource collection: Civic Digital Literacy. This new collection of resources will support you in teaching about misinformation, disinformation, and AI-generated content with lesson plans, student videos, and short professional development videos.

In this one-hour webinar, open to educators and their students and hosted by the News Literacy Project as part of National News Literacy Week, we will:

*Learn how Jeanne Marie Laskas conducted her reporting, despite resistance from the NFL.

*Learn about the watchdog role investigative journalists play in a democracy by documenting abuses by individuals, corporations and government entities.

*Explore free classroom resources for teaching about the watchdog role of a free press, including the “Democracy’s Watchdog” lesson on NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom. Educators are welcome to join with or without their students.

This online workshop, offered in collaboration with Japan Society and Facing History & Ourselves, prepares educators to teach about WWII and Japanese American incarceration through a variety of approachable resources, including George Takei’s graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. Experts will examine the historical circumstances and events leading up to this turbulent point in history with a special focus on U.S.-Japan dynamics. This workshop equips ELA, Social Studies, and Humanities teachers with new interdisciplinary teaching strategies that reinforce literacy skills and historical understanding.

Join the National Council for the Social Studies and inquirED for their spring webinar series, “Deeper Learning in Social Studies.” Each webinar explores strategies, tools, and research-based practices to engage students, deepen their knowledge, and help them form meaningful connections in social studies. Register today!

Thursday, February 13 @ 3:30 pm (CT)

How can students build deeper social studies knowledge and make meaningful connections across disciplines? Join inquirED and NCSS as we explore a framework for deeper learning with Julie Stern, author of Learning That Transfers and Visible Learning for Social Studies. Discover practical shifts in instructional practice that help students connect ideas and build lasting understanding.

Thursday, March 6 @ 3:30 pm (CT)

Primary and secondary sources can be powerful tools to build social studies knowledge and literacy skills. Join inquirED and NCSS as we explore how to layer sources and tasks throughout a social studies Inquiry with Janelle Marker, Director of Inquiry Journeys Curriculum, inquirED. Learn how to use sources and inquiry-based tasks to foster meaningful student learning.

Thursday, April 10 @ 3:30 pm (CT)

How can we create classrooms where student thinking and learning are visible and accessible? What strategies can teachers use to display learning in ways that spark discussion, reflection, and deeper engagement? Join inquirED and NCSS as we explore practical strategies for making learning visible in social studies classrooms with LaKethia White, PD and Learning Lead at inquirED, and teacher guests.

Thursday, May 1 @ 3:30 pm (CT)

How can picture books spark inquiry and build knowledge in social studies classrooms? Join inquirED and NCSS to explore how to integrate picture books that inspire student curiosity and scaffold understanding across an Inquiry. Walk away with practical tools and examples to bring stories to life in your classroom.

Religion and Politics in the Middle East

Judging by headlines from the Middle East, religion plays an outsized role in the politics of the region. In reality, most countries in the world have shown a significant interest in religion—both historically and in the present—and the role that it plays in society. This session focuses on the complex and diverse religious landscape of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and considers the variety of ways that religion and politics are intertwined.

This online course includes teaching strategies about the Holocaust and the themes of ethics and responsibility. Learn more here

Tuesday, February 11, at 5pm AZ and Wednesday, March 5, at 5pm AZ

During these sessions, we will consider the research behind the curriculum, review free curricular materials, and discuss how these resources can be integrated into your own classrooms.

Tuesday, February 25, at 5pm AZ and Wednesday, March 12, at 5pm AZ

During these sessions, you will experience a model lesson, receive access to new curricular resources, and identify strategies for integrating proven digital literacy approaches into history instruction.

Come learn with DIG—at your own pace—about instructional strategies to improve students' ability to sort fact from fiction online. The course will take approximately 10 hours to complete. Learn more here

Want to learn best practices in digital literacy instruction but looking for a shorter time commitment? Enroll in their 1-module course. Learn more here

MRU scours the internet to find the newest and best real-world examples of economic concepts in action, sending them to you in a weekly email every Thursday morning (U.S. ET) and listing them in their econ topic library. There, you can find the top news articles, videos, podcasts, infographics, and more—this is Econ in the News!

The sixth annual National News Literacy Week, presented by the News Literacy Project, The E.W. Scripps Company and USA Today, focuses on providing educators with the tools and resources they need to help students more skillfully navigate today’s information landscape.

The Writing Revolution

• 💰 No-Cost Enrollment: Scholarship recipients gain access to a course completely free of charge.
• ⭐ Professional Growth: Learn The Hochman Method® to boost critical thinking and writing across subject areas.
• 🤝 Targeted Impact: Help students improve their writing skills and academic achievement.

The Arizona Bar Foundation is honoring educators and the contributions they make to furthering law related education in the classroom. Law related education promotes the understanding of society’s laws to create responsible and civically minded citizens. If you know an educator who implements law related education, nominate them for the honorable John J. Ross Award. Four teachers will be awarded. Visit https://azbf.org/awards/johnjrossaward

Registration for the 2025 Civic Learning Week National Forum at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California, will open later this month. Plan to join us Thursday, March 13 via livestream

Started in 2004, this Gilder Lehrman program recognizes excellence in the teaching of history at the K–12 level. Each year, thousands of teachers are nominated by students, parents, fellow teachers, and community members, shining a light on the important work they do.

Arizona State University Teachers' College is currently offering free vouchers for microcredential courses through Project ACCLaIM: Advancing Civics Curriculum Learning through Instructional Microcredentials. This professional learning program is focused on history, civics, and media literacy. The program is intended for current K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and paraprofessionals of all levels and subjects. Apply here.

If you have been implementing the Project Citizen program and your students have created an electronic portfolio, don’t miss out on registering your students at https://lawforkids.org/programs/project-citizen/team-registration. Your students will have the chance to win $250 for their class and be invited to the Arizona State Showcase in May 2025!

The Arizona Bar Foundation is hosting the 2025 AZ Law Day Contest to celebrate Law Day and encourage civic participation. Empower your K-12 students to use their imagination and creativity! This year’s theme is “Out of Many, One…” and highlights civic responsibilities. One winner in each grade division will win an iPad! Learn more about the contest rules at https://lawforkids.org/contests/az-law-day-contest.

Camp O’Connor USA is a free, merit-based summer program for middle school students with a mission to educate, encourage and inspire the next generation of leaders. Participants in our civics day camp gain a deeper, experiential understanding of our nation's democracy, branches of government, and the duties and responsibilities of citizenship.

Monday, June 9 - Friday, June 13, 2025

ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

National Council for the Social Studies is pleased to announce that they are now accepting submissions to The 1787 Prize, an annual essay contest for high school students in grades 11-12, created in observance of Constitution Day. Submit a Student Essay More About the 1787 Prize

2024-2025 Essay Prompt: The concept of Judicial Review, let alone Judicial Supremacy, is thinly proscribed in Article III. With the benefit of hindsight, how would you modify Article III to directly address the role of the courts in settling issues of constitutional interpretation?

Call for The 1787 Prize Selection Committee

Are you a high school social studies educator and NCSS member? If so, we invite you to serve on The 1787 Prize Selection Committee! Reviewers will convene for a general orientation session to discuss the scoring criteria and rubric. Reviewers will be given approximately 4-5 weeks to score all assigned essays, and may be divided into scoring teams based on the number of essays received. All applicants will be contacted by late winter 2025. Apply to the Selection Committee

Registration for the Arizona Personal Finance Challenge and Economics Challenge is NOW OPEN!

Not only do these competitions offer a chance for cash prizes, but they’re also qualifying events for the national competition! Plus, participating high school students can use the challenges to satisfy the requirements for the Arizona Seal of Personal Finance.

State Finals will be held April 11, 2025 at Mesa Community College, Red Mountain Campus

Looking for an engaging, hands-on activity to help your students understand economic, personal finance, and entrepreneurship concepts? Students in grades K-12 are challenged to create an original illustration representing their interpretation of various topics. Six students will win $500 cash prizes! Bonus: Rural schools and first-time participating teachers will be entered into a drawing for one of three $50 gift cards. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity!

Entries due by October 10, 2025

America250 just launched America’s Field Trip for the 2024–2025 school year! America’s Field Trip is a nationwide scholastic contest that invites students in grades 3–12 to share their perspectives on what America means to them through artwork or essays — with the opportunity to earn an unforgettable field trip experience at some of the nation’s most iconic historical and cultural landmarks.

This contest from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History—split into Grades 3–8 and Grades 9–12 divisions—allows students to showcase their understanding of American history and civics by suggesting a relevant and insightful question to be added to the Citizenship Test. Students can submit their suggestions via a short essay, mini-podcast, or short video entry.

We will award ten $500 prizes to the winning students and feature the winners on our Citizenship Test: Civics and American History homepage.

MyImpact Challenge is a civic engagement contest hosted by the Bill of Rights Institute. Submission is open to US citizens and US-based young people who are between the ages of 13 and 19 and enrolled in middle or high school on January 1, 2025.

All high school students in Gilder Lehrman Affiliate Schools are eligible. You are invited to submit an original essay—written independently or for a 2024–2025 class—that has been revised, expanded, and adapted to conform with the McCullough Prize specifications.

Click here to register for a Virtual Research Night on February 6, 2025.

Registration is now open for the 2025 Arizona History Convention being held in Tempe on April 4-5.

Friday evening, April 4, will feature a talk by Dr. Tyina Steptoe of the University of Arizona at the Arizona Heritage Center, followed by a reception hosted by ASU's Public History Program.

All day Saturday, April 5, will feature sessions and posters at the Tempe History Museum, followed by a pizza party at Fate Brewing Co.

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) invites you to submit a proposal to present at the 105th NCSS Annual Conference: Because Democracy Depends On It. The conference will take place December 5-7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. - a destination city for social studies enthusiasts.

Regardless of whether you submit a proposal, we encourage all interested educators to consider becoming proposal reviewers! As a reviewer, you will read and rate 12-15 proposals over a period of 2-3 weeks. The work is done entirely online and will help shape the 105th NCSS Annual Conference to reflect the needs of educators like yourself.

• Institutes are one to four-week professional development programs that convene K-12 educators or higher education faculty from across the nation to deepen their understanding of significant topics in the humanities and enrich their capacity for effective scholarship and teaching.

Application and Notification Dates for 2025

• March 5, 2025: Applications close for all 2025 programs at 11:59 pm Pacific Time
• April 2, 2025: All applicants are notified of their status
• April 16, 2025: Deadline for applicants to accept or decline their offer

In commemoration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the VMHC is hosting two, week-long workshops focused on the American Revolution. Utilizing the vast collections of our museum, in addition to visiting several critical nearby sites related to the conflict, these workshops will examine Virginia’s role in the founding of the United States and how the state and country have been grappling with the legacies of our founding ideals ever since.

Participants in this workshop will receive a $1,300 stipend to help cover the cost of travel and lodging, and we hope to have educators from across the country join us. Please see below for relevant details and a link to our website for more information

• More Info + Application: https://virginiahistory.org/learn/neh-landmark-workshops

Applications due March 16, 2025

Hosted every summer, the Truman Library Teacher Conference is a 5-day professional development workshop designed to help teachers create a deeper understanding of content knowledge, strengthen classroom best practices and connect historical relevance.

Click here to learn more

National Teacher Institute (Gettysburg, PA) - July 10-13., 2025

Virtual Teacher Institute (online) July 21-23. 2025

There are currently four opportunities to join them in Philadelphia this summer:

· Sunday, June 15–Friday, June 20: Principles of the American Revolution

· Sunday, July 6–Friday, July 11: Reconstruction and the Second Founding

· Sunday, July 13–Friday, July 18: Federalism and the Separation of Powers

· Sunday, July 20–Friday, July 25: Principles of the American Revolution, in partnership with PBS LearningMedia

Study with world-renowned scholars, connect with other teachers from across the United States, earn PD credits, and reinvigorate your enthusiasm for the power of history education!

SUMMER 2025 PD PROGRAMS:

· Teacher Symposium: Study in Gettysburg, PA with one of seven renowned historians

· Teacher Seminars In Person: Four week-long programs in Illinois, New York, Texas, and Virginia

· Teacher Seminars Online: Ten PD programs available to take from home, offered all summer long

Learn more here

June 8-13 or June 22-27, 2025

Location: Georgetown University Law Center (tentative)

Spend 6 days in Washington, DC taking a deep dive into the procedures of SCOTUS with legal experts and Supreme Court advocates.

The Institute is funded by and delivered in partnership with the Supreme Court Historical Society.