Category Archives: historical thinking

iPad apps and the C4 Framework for Social Studies

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I spent most of the day today talking iPads with K-12 teachers in all contents. But I have to admit – my favorite part of the day was the two hours spent with social studies teachers.

C4-logoWe chatted about a variety of things but the focus was on iPad apps and activities that aligned to my recently released C4 Framework for the Social Studies. For those unfamiliar with the C4 Framework, we’ve broken down the NCSS national social studies standards, the Common Core literacy standards for the social studies, and the new Kansas social studies standards into four easy to follow themes that can help you plan high-quality lessons and units.

The idea behind the C4 Framework is to incorporate each of the following items into your lesson and units: Continue reading iPad apps and the C4 Framework for Social Studies →

How I use “Discrepant Event Inquiry” in my classroom

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A few years ago, I was introduced to “Discrepant Event Inquiry” from Glenn Wiebe. (Here is another post about it from his History Tech blog). The idea is that you take an image and only reveal a little bit at a time. As I reveal a little bit of the picture, the students must guess Who is in the picture, What is happening, When was the photograph taken, and Where is this taking place. This encourages students to think outside the box and it also does WONDERS with questioning and how to ask the right questions. Naturally, I turned this into a competition. Continue reading How I use “Discrepant Event Inquiry” in my classroom →

Graphic notes, primary sources, and literacy skills

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bloody-sunday-2It seems like every social studies teacher I talk to asks about reading and writing strategies. Everyone is freaking about Common Core ELA literacy skills for history / government. And I suppose that’s a good thing. Good social studies instruction should always include reading and writing activities.

But I believe that we sometimes over-think the whole process. Give kids engaging questions, provide some interesting evidence, and step out of the way. An easy way to focus on document analysis and support writing skills is something I call Graphic Notes. I posted this on History Tech several weeks ago but I like it so much, I decided to post here as well!)

A Graphic Note is a lot like a Thought Bubble but takes it a bit further. So you can use it as a hook activity or even as a type of assessment.

1. Start by  Continue reading Graphic notes, primary sources, and literacy skills →

Recognizing Gold

Don Gifford, historical thinking, Kansas

As we continue the year, we have a guest blog post from Mr. Don Gifford, KSDE Social Studies Coordinator.  gifford

As I travel around the state and work with teachers and curriculum I can’t help but wonder how come our kids struggle so much with the content.  I encounter great teachers every day with great skills and knowledge.  With all of these great teachers how could kids not learn?  I mean to me this stuff is exciting and powerful it generates emotions and energy.  It fills me with a sense of wonder and responsibility.  Continue reading Recognizing Gold →

Why study history? A 3rd day of school lesson….

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Blogs this time of the year are full of wonderful ideas for the first day of school. I would like to share with you a lesson that I do on the 3rd or 4th day of school after all procedural things are taken care of.

I start off by brainstorming with the kids – asking the question “What don’t you like about history?” We write their answers on a flip chart.

Then I show them this awesome YouTube video by jhayesteach.  It highlights a small little speck of the amazingly cool things about history! Continue reading Why study history? A 3rd day of school lesson…. →