All posts by glennw

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About glennw

I work as a social studies specialist at ESSDACK, an educational service center in Hutchinson, Kansas. Before coming to ESSDACK, I taught middle school US History and higher ed social science classes.

H.I.T. Notebooks: A Different take on Interactive Notebooks

assessment, common core, graphic organizer, historical thinking, Jill Weber, literacy, standards, strategies, writing, , , , ,

jill weberJill Weber, 2016 Gilder Lehrman Kansas History Teacher of the Year, has joined the Doing Social Studies writing team and will be posting throughout the year. The following is a cross-post from her excellent site A View of the Web.

I used Interactive Notebooks in my social studies class for eight years.  The majority of the students loved them.  But I had a serious love/hate relationship with them.  And after taking a long look at the pros and cons of the books and my current curriculum, I decided not to continue with the interactive notebooks last year.

While I found it a relief not having to keep up with the grading of 60+ notebooks, there was something missing from my class.  I had a number of kids ask me why we weren’t doing them anymore, and others who were disappointed that the “hands on” cutting, pasting, and creativity was replaced with more writing assignments.  I felt guilty that my answer was “because I just couldn’t keep up with all the grading.”

That got me thinking on ways that I could bring the interactive notebooks idea back without having all the copious grading that went with it.  I talked with our language arts teacher, who uses her interactive notebooks as a tool to help organize materials and doesn’t grade it at all.  I liked that idea.

But I wanted more.  I wanted a way to hold kids accountable.  I wanted them to take pride in the organization and appearance of the book.  And, most of all, I wanted it to be used as something more than a storage device.  I want it to be something they will reference throughout the year.

The Idea:
Then an idea started to take form.  An idea to use the notebook more like a detective’s note book when trying to solve a crime.

So this year, we have: the  Historian In Training Notebook or HIT books. (HIT is a cool name for a middle school activity, right? )

The HIT notebook will be designed as sort of a history detective notebook that we’ll use to identify historical thinking techniques, analyze primary sources, keep information over specific historical questions, and refer back to skills learned throughout the year.

A few examples of possible pages  . . .  Continue reading H.I.T. Notebooks: A Different take on Interactive Notebooks →

Five great back to school ideas for social studies teachers

best practice, historical thinking, instructional gaming, literacy, primary sources, strategies, , , ,

have a great first day

(Head over here for the latest back to school post!)

We have two very simple unbendable, unbreakable rules in our house. No Christmas music allowed before Thanksgiving. No talking about school before August.

It’s August. So . . . we’re talking about school.

Spoiler alert.

If you’re not already at school, you’re heading there soon.

And you probably already have some idea of what you and your students will be doing during the first few days of school. But it’s always nice to have a few extra tips and tricks in your bookbag to start off the school year.

So today? Five great ideas that can be adapted for just about any grade level or content. Use what you can. Adapt what you can’t. Add your own ideas in the comments.

What not to do

Before we get to the good stuff, it’s probably a good idea to think about what doesn’t work. Continue reading Five great back to school ideas for social studies teachers →

Play Like a Pirate – Fun needs to be a part of what you do

best practice, books, lesson plans, professional development, strategies, , , ,

I spent part of the morning chatting with golfing buddy and educational expert Steve Wyckoff. He’s got a way of sucking people into unplanned conversations that end up making everyone smarter. It’s always a good time when it starts with Steve’s signature line:

“So what’s become clear to you?”

This morning wasn’t any different.

We spent perhaps an hour meandering around a matrix that focuses on levels of engagement matrixstudent engagement. The different quadrants of the matrix ask students to think about how challenging a class is and whether they love or hate it. We’re thinking about using this to get usable data from middle and high school students. As in, “pick a quadrant that best describes each of your classes.”

We talked about how we could use this collected data to help design high quality professional learning. We chatted about what does the word challenging mean. How grit and rigor might figure into the matrix. And how an Uber business model might impact how kids complete the matrix.

The scary thing?

I think a lot of kids sit in classes that could easily fit in the Grind quadrant.

Part of the solution? Continue reading Play Like a Pirate – Fun needs to be a part of what you do →

The NPS is 100 and giving away free stuff

best practice, geography, historical thinking, lesson plans, strategies, ,

every kid in a parkWith the end of the school year arriving, now is the time to plan your summer vacation. The National Park Service can help! The Park Service was established on August 25, 1916 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary by working to get “Every Kid in a Park.”

The program is simple. All fourth grade students and members of their family can get into national park sites for free during the entire year! Students can get their pass and plan their trips at the Every Kid in a Park site.

Visiting national park sites in Kansas is easy and it does not require a pass because there is no fee to get into any of the five national park sites in Kansas. Below is a list of NPS sites in Kansas:

If you are able to travel beyond the borders of Kansas, just take your park pass to any NPS site to gain free entrance into any national park!

You can go to Every Kid in a Park to discover how to get to some of America’s most treasured places, like Yellowstone in Wyoming or the Grand Canyon in Arizona, or some of the hidden gems of the Park Service, such as Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front in California or the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park in Maryland. Whether you want to experience history, recreation, nature, or solitude, there is a national park for you.

Teachers shouldn’t forget the very cool Teaching with Historic Places that uses properties listed in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of  lessons, products, and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.

So fourth graders, teachers, and parents take advantage of your summer break and visit your national parks through the “Every Kid in a Park” program!

Because no matter who you are, no matter where you live, our parks, our monuments, our lands, our waters — these places are your birthright as Americans.”

President Barack Obama

Enjoy Your Summer!

Nicholas Murray
Education Specialist
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site

Don Gifford’s monthly KSDE update and opportunities

best practice, Kansas, professional development

Kansas-Can-blue_white-gold-star

Once a month or so, Don Gifford, social studies consultant at the Kansas Department of Education, shoots out an email with all sorts of updates, resources, and learning opportunities. Pick and choose what best fits your needs!

1. Start by heading to this Google Doc with all sorts of professional learning opportunities.

Then be sure to check out these other PD options: Continue reading Don Gifford’s monthly KSDE update and opportunities →