Click here for last month's edition of the Social Studies Connection.

Matthew I. Doran

Secondary Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator

Office of Teaching & Learning

Curriculum Division

Southland Center - 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH

www.ccsoh.us/socialstudies

mdoran2067@columbus.k12.oh.us
380.997.0470

On Monday, April 8, we will host our fifth district professional development day of the school year. All staff will attend virtually from home, and sessions will feature engaging learning experiences to support your continuous professional growth. Make sure you take home your device in order to participate in the learning experiences for the day.

CEUs

All educators will check-in and out with their buildings on April 8th for CEU purposes. Educators will complete a Google Form during the check- in and check-out session for the signing in/out process of attendance/participation. PDS Course Requesters at secondary buildings will record attendance for CEUs.

Secondary Curriculum Agenda

7:15 - 7:25 a.m. - Virtual Check-in (Provided by Building)

7:30 - 8:30 a.m. - Core Instructional Framework - Learning Assessments

8:35 - 9:50 a.m. - Learning Assessment Platforms - Mastery Connect or OST Readiness

9:50 - 10:00 a.m. - Content Area Run of Show

10:00 - 11:00 am. - Content Area Breakout Sessions

11:00 - 12:00 p.m. - Lunch

12:00 - 2:30 - Content Area Breakout Sessions

Detailed session information and session Zoom links can be found in Canvas.

Social Studies sessions will begin at 10:00 a.m. following the general sessions on assessment.

A full list of sessions and Zoom links are provided here.

Matt Doran, CCS

This session will focus on the development of Performance-Based Assessments using the GRASPS framework from Understanding by Design. We will look at sample tasks and work in groups to develop original ideas.

Loyal Frazier, TCI

This session will unpack the TCI Writing for Understanding strategy. Writing for Understanding activities improve both students’ understanding of key social studies concepts and their writing ability by engaging students in interactive experiences.

• Career Readiness using Achieve 3000
• EVERFI Digital Learning Modules
• Let the Kids Talk: Strategies for Fostering Academic Discourse and Classroom Discussion
• Canvas Quizzes & Discussions

The CCS Social Studies Curriculum Quarterly provides a preview of upcoming content. Articles highlight the units, standards, TCI lessons and other resources for each core social studies class, and outline some effective instructional strategies for all courses.

The Quarter 4 edition highlights two frequently-used strategies in fourth quarter lessons, Experiential Exercise and Visual Discovery. Strategy correlations to each TCI lesson are included in the summary of each course content.

Access the Quarter 4 edition here.

American Government curriculum will be revised for 2024-2025. Financial Literacy content will be removed. Student Interactions with Peace Officers will be added.

This update provides an opportunity to consider scope and sequence options as well. Three possible models are provided on the survey below. Please indicate the option that you prefer. The TCI Government Alive! digital textbook can be customized to align with any scope and sequence.

Note: This survey is only about the Scope & Sequence of the course. We are not considering new textbooks or adopted resources at this time.

Achieve3000 returned in January as the literacy intervention program for high schools. High School teachers and students now have access to Achieve3000 via Clever.

At the March 6 PD Day awards were distributed to the three schools with the highest percentage of students who completed LevelSet. The trophy awards will travel based on each month's contest.

Top Three Awards

1st Place - Mifflin High School (86.6% completion)

2nd Place - Northland High School (79.2% completion)

3rd Place - East High School (71.3% completion)

LevelSet remains open and available for students who not have yet completed it. This may be completed in any class of any subject, grades 9-11. 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.

Here are some helpful resources for getting started with the LevelSet and Achieve3000 implementation.

• CCS Achieve3000 website

• LevelSet Teacher handout

• LevelSet Student handout

For additional support, teachers can schedule a time for drop-in office with Romana Bertolotti, Achieve Product Manager.

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.

Many CCS students had a busy winter with co-curricular student programs.

Mock Trial

Teams from Whetstone High School (Karen Ballmer, advisor) and Columbus International High School (Jim Worden, advisor) competed in the Ohio Mock Trial competition in February. One of Whetstone's teams also advanced the regional competition! Stu­dents spent several months preparing to participate in an original, unscripted trial written by attorneys. They prepared to argue both sides of the case in real court­rooms.

Columbus Journalists in Training

Students from Briggs HS, Centennial HS, Columbus Alternative HS, Columbus Online Academy, East HS, Fort Hayes Arts & Academic HS, Independence HS, Linden-McKinley STEM Academy, Northland HS, South HS, and Whetstone HS participated in the Columbus Journalists in Training Program. These students gave five full Saturdays to learn about journalism from journalists at The Columbus Dispatch and Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, along with university journalism programs at Ohio University, Ohio State University, and Denison University. Students created opinion essays, news articles, podcasts, and videos. You can view their published work here.

Ohio History Day

Humanities 9 students from Whetstone HS (Krista Buckley and Kathy Arnold, teachers) created projects for National History Day. Students conduct research, analyze and synthesize information including primary and secondary sources, write and present an argument, and create imaginative exhibits, documentaries, papers, performances, and websites. At the Region 6 competition, five group projects and eight individual projects from Whetstone advanced to state-level competition. A full list of state qualifiers and their projects is available here.

We are excited to welcome you to a two-day seminar with Echoes & Reflections, leaders in professional development for teachers in the field of Holocaust education.

The free two-day seminar will take place at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington on June 4-5, 2024 from 9 AM - 4 PM. Lunch will be provided each day.

The address is:
6121 Olentangy River Rd.
Worthington, OH 43085

Upon completion of the seminar, teachers will receive a certificate from Echoes & Reflections which can be turned in for 12 contact hours equal to 1.2 CEUs.

If you would like to register, please fill out the form below. There is no cost to attend the seminar. However, please only sign up if you plan to attend the complete seminar. Space is limited.

To learn more about Echoes & Reflections go to www.echoesandreflections.org.

If you have questions about the seminar, please contact rabbirick@bethtikvahcolumbus.org.

The schedule and session descriptions can be found here.

Click here to register.

This summer, we are excited to offer a special internship opportunity for secondary educators to support the work of Echoes & Reflections!

To be eligible for this opportunity, you must currently be a full-time secondary classroom educator and plan to continue as a classroom teacher in the 2024-25 school year. Priority will be given to educators who currently teach about the Holocaust and genocide and possess a strong familiarity with Echoes & Reflections.

Primary Function:

The Echoes & Reflections Educator Intern will assist in educator professional learning program planning and large-scale virtual events, as well as provide expertise and engagement with current Echoes & Reflections content development projects.

Two interns will be selected for either of the following dates:

• May 28 - July 4
• July 22 - August 30

This is a fully remote position that will receive a $3000 stipend for 120 hours of work/20 hours per week for six weeks. Applications due April 26.

Questions? Please reach out to Jen Goss, Program Manager at jgoss@adl.org.

OCLRE is headed back to Philly! Join us for the 2024 We the People Summer Institute on July 14-18 in Philadelphia.

The institute offers free professional development & will focus on engaging pedagogy and academic content centered on the We the People program, as well as support & resources for diverse student populations around the history, principles, and application of the U.S. Constitution.

Access to a library of professional development videos and collaboration with other civic educators are included, and participants will receive a stipend for completing all program requirements.

Questions? Please contact Ryan Suskey (rsuskey@oclre.org) or call (614) 485-3506.

Click here for more details.

Complete the program application here.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is offering ten different seminars online this summer, from June 24 to August 8, 2024, as part of a full slate of professional development programming from the Institute this summer. Registration is just $25 per seminar, and you are welcome and encouraged to register for as many seminars as you like.

Several of these seminars, led by leading scholars, focus on topics that will help you diversify your teaching. Explore the history of Latina and Latino People, Chinese Americans, and American Indians in the Twentieth Century, in these seminars.