Details for the 2019 Kansas Social Studies Conference, Authentic Learning: Making History Matter, have been finalized. Information concerning registration, the keynote speaker, college credit, and more can be found on the KCHE website . In addition, the schedule is available right HERE!
This year Newman University will be offering 1 hour of graduate credit for conference participants who attend both days of the conference. Those wishing to take advantage of this opportunity must enroll before (or at) the conference using the form linked here. Then, following the conference, they will be required to complete and submit the post-conference reflection essay which will be emailed by Cameron Carlson, Dean of The School of Education. We appreciate Newman working with us to make this possible for teachers.
This year we are honored to be joined by keynote speaker Dr. John Fea, Professor of American History at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Fea will be speaking on his bookWhy Study History?, published in 2013, in which he examines how reflecting on contemporary life from a historical perspective helps us better understand ourselves and the world around us. Visit his website, The Way of Improvement Leads Home, to learn more.
The registration deadline is October 1st. We are looking forward to two exciting days of learning, networking, and collaborating among some of our state’s best social studies teachers.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to email Emily Williams, KCHE President, at ewilliams@usd260.com. Thank you!
Lori Rice teaches fourth grade at West Elementary in Wamego and is the current Kansas Council for the Social Studies elementary teacher of the year. You can find Lori on Twitter at 
We hope that social studies teachers currently part of the profession, pre-service teachers planning to enter the profession, and vendors passionate about supporting the profession will all join us at Newman University October 20-21 for two exciting days of networking, collaborating, and learning from one another.
Engage your students by integrating economics into your social studies classes! Any kindergarten teacher all the way to a high school history teachers is bound to find many places were economics can easily be expanded to add great value. The Council for Economic Education has simplified job by giving you the background and the lessons & activities. Take a few minutes this week to start reviewing the many free online lessons and professional development opportunities that have recently been added to 
This week’s poster is our very own KCSS President, Thomas Fulbright: I have been teaching history at Hope Street Academy, a public charter school, in Topeka since 2008. My wife and I have three daughters, Claire, Nora, and Meredith. I intend to spend my entire life convincing them how exciting and important history is! My bio picture is of Claire and I meeting President Lincoln!
In my last post I discussed teaching history through the use of a simulation of Congress. I gave students a bill from the past, then had them “cast a vote” on the bill by writing an argumentative essay using evidence from the time period (speeches delivered in Congress, newspaper articles, editorial cartoons, etc.) to justify their “vote”. The last part of the process was I had students make a “Contemporary Connection” by reading an NPR article about a similar policy debate being had today in Washington. Students then had to decide if they support or oppose today’s policy. Lastly, they then had to make a comparison to their opinion on the past policy debate with their opinion on the policy debate today. For example; students would have to account for why they had “voted” in favor of H.R.5804 (which became the “Chinese Exclusion Act”), but were then opposed to restrictive immigration policies today?
