PLAEA Social Studies Newsletter

Hello PLAEA Educators,

My name is Rachel Brown and I am the new Social Studies Consultant for Prairie Lakes AEA. I am starting this page in order to share new information and resources surrounding Social Studies Content. As the year progresses, I plan to update the newsletter monthly with new information, social studies updates and resources.

*I am going to continue editing and changing the layout of this smore until I find what works best but, the most important thing is getting you the information so I didn't want to hold it back any longer!*

K-5: Goldie History Kits are a wonderful Social Studies resource for teachers who are looking to meet the Iowa Core Social Studies and Literacy Standards. They are kits that have been put together (similar to FOSS kits if you remember those from back in the day) to create deeper connections to Iowa's History. The Goldie Kits are K-5 and are available to check out from the AEA media library checkout. Even better- if you teach all of the kits at your grade-level, you will have met all of your grade-level standards for the year!

6-12: Although the Goldie Kits have only been created for the K-5 Primary Source Sets, there are Primary Source Sets available for each grade level that correspond with the grade level theme. If you use the Teacher Tool Kits that are included on that site, you have teaching strategies and tools that you can use to deliver the instruction. As mentioned above, if you teach all of the Primary Source Sets, you will have covered all of the standards required at your grade-level.

9-12: If you are looking for materials that support older grade-levels (9-12) a great resource that has been shared via the Department of Education Social Studies page is Calderwood Writing Course: US History. Each lesson provides an immersive look at a key topic in US History integrated with tools to develop writing skills.

K-12 QFT: Questions Formulation Technique is something that is suggested to use with students in the classroom. This can be used at any grade-level. It is starting with a statement as the teacher and asking the students to ask as many questions as they can about that statement. They then break it down even further. Watch this video to see an example of the process in a classroom. There are many good examples of QFT at all grade-levels. If this video doesn't meet your needs, you will be able to find another that does.

**If you would like a more in-depth description of the QFT I would suggest doing the Social Studies Modules: Elementary Introduction to the Social Studies Standards (Year 1). You can find these on the AEA Learning Online site.

Did you know Prairie Lakes AEA has VR Headsets available for check-out?

I recently had the opportunity at the Iowa Social Studies Conference in Iowa City, to take a tour of Anne Frank's house. Is something like this of interest to you? If so, let me put you in touch with our Technology Innovation Consultant, Torrey Proctor (tproctor@plaea.org).