Tag Archives: literacy

Hexagons? In History?

historical thinking, Kori Green, literacy, strategies, writing, , , , , , ,
Students in Ms. Green's class using hexagons to refresh their memories and make connections to the curriculum.
Students in Ms. Green’s class using hexagons to refresh their memories and make connections.

I am trying to be more mindful of pulling my students’ learning through this year. You know, revisiting what they’ve already learned so it doesn’t fly out of their brains never to return (at least not to return until their high school American History teacher says they should have learned this in 8th grade and have to review it…).

I tried out a neat tool this week with my students that Glenn Wiebe showed the KCSS Executive Board over the summer. The ClassTools.net Hexagon Generator allows you to select up to 30 terms that will then be placed on little hexagons which you will then have the pleasure of cutting apart (good task for a student aide with time on her hands, wish I had one).

With only three days this week due to Parent-Teacher Conferences I didn’t want to jump into something new before their long weekend, so I decided to roll out the hexagons. I used a mix of ideas, people and events that we’ve covered since the beginning of the year. Each table got a set and my directions – if the terms on their hexagon have a connection they can touch, but for each side that touches there has to be a connection. Continue reading Hexagons? In History? →

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 →

Literacy strategies and book sites

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Feeling a bit uneasy about how to respond to the Common Core Literacy Standards for History / Government? Struggling with what that looks like? Need a few ideas and suggestions for integrating reading and writing into your social studies instruction?

Here ya go! Continue reading Literacy strategies and book sites →

Fact Pyramid / Because Box graphic organizer

common core, Glenn Wiebe, graphic organizer, historical thinking, literacy, reading, standards, , , ,

I had the privilege of working with 40 middle school social studies teachers last week. It’s the last few days of a three year Teaching American History grant and, yes . . . some teared up a bit towards the end. It’s been a great ride. We’ve all learned a ton – both content and pedagogy.

Last week, we enjoyed the sweetness of working with three history studs –  Mark Fiege, Elliott West, and Thomas Andrews – while also learning more about the best ways to incorporate their history content into actual lessons.

Master Teacher Nathan McAlister walked us through a variety of learning activities including panning for gold, cutting up buffalo, and arguing pros/cons of fracking during a city council meeting.

One of the smaller activities we did was a bit simpler and much easier for you to drop directly into your instruction. So I figured I would share it with all of you. Continue reading Fact Pyramid / Because Box graphic organizer →