The Social Studies Connection
More than a Newsletter for Secondary Social Studies Teachers
K-12 Social Studies Specialist
Office of Teaching & Learning
Southland Center - 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH
Ohio Revised Code 3313.602(D) requires that each school devote at least one hour or one standard class period on or around Veterans Day, November 11, to an observance that conveys the meaning and significance of the day.
As you discuss the significance of Veterans Day with students, consider these talking points:
- Ask students about veterans in their own families and stories they may have heard.
- Discuss how warfare and soldier experiences have changed over time. Technology has changed the nature of warfare in the 21st century (e.g., drone strikes) and communication between the war front and home front.
- Use the K-W-L model to guide discussion of war, military experiences, and postwar life for veterans.
- Discuss the value of the Selective Service System vs. an all-volunteer army. Although the Selective Service System remains in place, the U.S. has relied on all-volunteer armed forces since the end of the Vietnam War.
Teaching resources include:
- Lesson Plan: Veterans Day and the Meaning of Sacrifice (PBS)
- Veterans Day (Library of Congress)
- Veterans Day Facts (The History Channel)
- Celebrating America's Freedom (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
- America's Wars Fact Sheet (Department of Veterans Affairs)
- Primary Source Highlights for Veterans Day (Library of Congress)
- Veterans Day Resources (National Archives)
TCI Lessons on military strategies and war:
- Social Studies 6 - Lesson 10. Exploring Four Empires of Mesopotamia
- Social Studies 7 - Lesson 4. Fighting the Greco-Persian Wars; Lesson 10. From Republic to Empire
- Social Studies 8 - Lesson 7. The American Revolution; Lesson 12. Foreign Affairs in the Young Nation
- World History 9 - Lesson 19. Imperialism Throughout the World; Lesson 20. World War I
- American History 10 - Lesson. 19. Foreign Policy: Setting a Course of Expansionism; Lesson 20. The Spanish-American War; Lesson 21. Acquiring and Managing Global Power; Lesson 22. From Neutrality to War; Lesson 23. The Course and Conduct of World War I
- American Government - Lesson 17. Creating American Foreign Policy
- Global Issues - Lesson 14. The New Geopolitics
The Columbus City School District occupies the historic lands of the Shawnee, Delaware, Seneca-Cayuga, and Wyandotte peoples.
In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations (“Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994.
The following teaching resources are available for Native American Heritage Month:
- National Museum of the American Indian Lessons and Resources
- American Indians Primary Sources (National Archives)
- American Indian History and Heritage Teachers Guide (EDSITEment)
- Carlisle Indian Industrial School (Reading Like a Historian)
- Native American Boarding Schools (Library of Congress)
- Native Americans and the American Revolution (EDSITEment)
- The Indian Removal Act of 1830 Lesson (C-SPAN)
- Native Americans in Central Ohio (Teaching Columbus)
CCS Social Studies has assessments in MasteryConnect for 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
In addition, the Social Studies Skills Map includes a collection of vertically-aligned social studies skills assessments. The leveled assessments can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine areas of needed Tier 2 intervention and extension. This collection is a work in progress. Additional tutorials will be added over time to allow for Tier 2 intervention and extension within the MasteryConnect platform.
Log into MasteryConnect through Classlink, Canvas, or Google.
Curriculum for the 2024-2025 school year is available through two locations. On the CCS Social Studies Curriculum page, the curriculum guides are provided in PDF format to allow for quick and convenient access on any device and easy printing options. Additionally, teachers can access the Google Docs preview versions of the curriculum guides on the "District-Approved Curriculum" course on Canvas.
The TCI Implementation Resource Center is your one-stop shop for learning the best practices of TCI and how these practices align with CCS Curriculum.
The Implementation Resource Center provides information about:
- On-Demand PD
- TCI Digital Platform Introduction
- Theory and Research-Based Active Instruction
- TCI Lesson Elements and Cycle
- Activities/Engagement Strategies
- TCI Programs for CCS Middle School Courses
- TCI Programs for CCS High School Courses
- Digging Deeper with TCI Ten PD Videos.
This page is also accessible from the CCS Social Studies Homepage.
Achieve3000 is the literacy intervention program for high schools. High School teachers and students now have access to Achieve3000 via CCS Classlink Launchpad.
The LevelSet window remains open. Once LevelSet is complete, you will be able to assign content-specific lessons/articles aligned with your curriculum. The goal will be for each content-area teacher to assign 1 article per week, in order to help students reach maximum gains. Alignment guides for Modern World History 9, American History 10, and American Government are available on the Social Studies Curriculum page.
The Strive for 75% competition continues through November 22. See details below.
For additional support, see the Achieve3000 webpage here.
The OER World History PLC Cohort has completed the first two seminars. On September 18, participants received an overview of the OER Project curriculum, and discussed tools and strategies for teaching about causation. On October 18, teachers participated in follow-up and discussion on the topic of causation, then examined tools for teaching contextualization.
Cohort teachers will implement tools and strategies for teaching contextualization during the month of November. A follow-up webinar will be scheduled in early December.