Category Archives: primary sources

Using elementary Evidence-Based Terms in social studies classrooms

best practice, C4, common core, Glenn Wiebe, graphic organizer, historical thinking, literacy, primary sources, reading, strategies, , , , , ,

evidence-based-terms2As we move into a social studies world that is asking kids to collect evidence, organize evidence, create products, and communicate results, writing skills are becoming more and more important.

But for the last ten years or so, at least in the state of Kansas, we’ve asked kids to focus instead on memorizing content. So now when we’re asking our middle school and high school students to not just write more but to use evidence while proving assertions, we get a lot of blank stares.

My suggestion?

Steal a practice used by a lot of elementary teachers and start training your secondary kids to use evidence-based terms while writing.

Evidence-based terms are simple phrases that support the use of, well . . . evidence. So if we ask kids to look a couple of primary source documents and develop a thesis from their analysis, they have some scaffolding to help them do that.

Examples of evidence-based terms? Continue reading Using elementary Evidence-Based Terms in social studies classrooms →

Sweet Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic lesson plans and instructional goodies

best practice, geography, Glenn Wiebe, lesson plans, primary sources, social media, strategies, , , , ,

Sochilogo

Are you looking for some sweet Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic instructional goodies? Here’s what I’ve got:

Start with the basics

News

Social Media

Mobile Apps
(I’m part of Team Apple so . . . these are iPhone / iPad apps. I did some checking – Google Play and Android also have tons.)

Lesson Plans / Instructional Materials

Have fun!

Some sweet sites for historical thinking

common core, historical thinking, lesson plans, primary sources, standards, , ,

The new buzz word in social studies instruction?

Historical thinking.

Okay. Yes. It’s two words but it’s still pretty buzzy. The idea of historical thinking has been hanging around as part of social studies instruction for a long time. But it’s sort of been like that weird second cousin who shows up at family reunions that no one really talks to. We haven’t been paying much attention to it.

But with new state standards and Common Core literacy stuff, not to mention the new College,Career, and Civic Life standards, historical thinking is back where it really belongs. As the central part of everything we do. And because it’s been at the weird second cousin status for so long, many teachers don’t have a ton of historical thinking resources.

So today . . . three sweet web sites that provide primary source raw data and lesson plans / resources that support historical thinking skills. Continue reading Some sweet sites for historical thinking →

Analysis worksheets, evidence, and primary documents

Glenn Wiebe, graphic organizer, historical thinking, primary sources, , ,

loc analysis worksheetThere’s a cool buzz running through the history education world.

Primary sources. Documents. Using evidence. Solving problems. Historical thinking. And that’s a good thing. But I know that it can be difficult sometimes trying to figure out how to use primary sources.

First piece of advice?

Don’t worry so much about primary vs. secondary sources. Start thinking about evidence, about data, instead of focusing just on one sort of document over another. Because if we’re asking great questions, kids will be using all sorts of documents and sources to solve the problem.

Second piece of advice?

Don’t re-invent the wheel. Have kids use the different tools already out there as they work to make sense of documents. As we train our kids to think historically, these sorts of analysis worksheets can be great scaffolding tools, especially with  elementary and middle school students.

Some of the best Continue reading Analysis worksheets, evidence, and primary documents →

5 Random Things from the Web…

Brad Burenheide, history, photos, primary sources, Uncategorized, websites

First off, NCSS is next week.  I’m stoked looking forward to traveling to St. Louis for four days of interesting social studies exploration.  I will be doing a blog post Friday evening or Saturday morning of some of the things I’m experiencing at the conference.  I hope to have some great stuff for you.  Now onto today’s post.

Sometimes when I get brain fatigue, I wind up falling into Internet surfing and finding things that pique the historical part of my brain and at least get me back into the mood to do some thinking.  As I prepared to write this blog post, it was at the end of a twelve-hour day, and I am suffering from brain fatigue, and over-caffeinated, and ready to “veg” out.  This leads me to the post I struggled to get onto today. Continue reading 5 Random Things from the Web… →