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
February is Black History Month, a time to honor the achievements, contributions, and history of African Americans. The 2025 Black History Month theme is African Americans and Labor. This theme focuses on the ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of African Americans.
Here is a collection of helpful resources and tools for teaching African-American history.
Learning for Justice
TCI
- Equality in the United States Lesson
- Richard Allen Biography
- Marian Anderson Biography
- George Washington Carver Biography
- Booker T. Washington
- Documents on the Rebellions of Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner
- Booker T. Washington's the Atlanta Compromise Speech
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Additional Resources
Mock Trial Success
Whetstone HS (Karen Ballmer and Austin Ford, advisors) and Columbus International HS (Jim Worden, advisor) competed in the district Mock Trial competition held at the Franklin County Courthouse on January 17.
Sponsored by the Ohio Center for Law Related Education, High School Mock Trial offers an innovative approach to learning the law and how our legal system functions. Guided by teachers and volunteer legal advisors, students participate in an original, unscripted simulated trial where they take on the roles of attorneys, witnesses, and bailiffs/timekeepers.
Congratulations to all team participants and advisors for a job well done at the highly-competitive Franklin county contest. An additional shout-out goes to both teams from Whetstone who advanced to the Regional Competition, sweeping all 12 ballots. They will be back in action Friday, February 7, 2025 at the Franklin County Courthouse competing against district winners from Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, and Madison counties. Good luck Braves!
February 5 is a building-led PD Day. March 5 is the final district-led PD Day. With the cancellation of the January 21 PD Day, we are working to restructure March 5 to include many of the immersive experiences that were planned for January. These include the museum gallery walk, Shutdown documentary screening, and Color of Law book discussion.
March 5 PD Day will be held at Mifflin High School. Registration information and a draft program will be forthcoming via email in the next few weeks.
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 members also completed a mid-year survey to provide feedback on how well the OER Project PD has helped them meet the CCS Social Studies Points of Emphasis for 2024-2025—Source Work, Data Analysis, and Applied Learning.
The remaining topics for this program will be incorporated into the March 5 PD Day. These topics are Change, Continuity, and Time and Data Exploration. All cohort members should plan to attend these sessions.
Sunday, June 22-Friday, June 27
Philadelphia, PA
This weeklong summer intensive is presented by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy, the National Constitution Center (NCC) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH). Hear from constitutional scholars, legal experts, and historians as they discuss key components of constitutional history and ask questions about relevant topics today.
The Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy will provide a stipend to cover the cost of travel and lodging for all participants, as well as breakfasts, lunches, and dinners on both the opening night and closing night. Ticket costs associated with visiting cultural institutions around Old City Philadelphia will also be covered. All other costs are the responsibility of the participant.
Summer Institute for Teachers
Join us in Washington, DC for this unique teachers’ professional development using great federal trials as a lens to explore the judiciary, rule of law, and US Constitution throughout American history. During Summer 2025, we will explore US v. Susan B. Anthony, the Flag Salute Cases (Gobitis v. Minersville and Barnette v. West Virginia Board of Ed) and US v. Dellinger (the Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial).
June 23-27, 2025
Washington, DC (travel and lodging costs included)
Questions? Email catherine.hawke@americanbar.org for any questions.