Social Studies Update May 12, 2015

Skills centered on the Arc of Inquiry; very little specific content addressed Mostly content; lacking in higher-order, critical thinking skills Student success

Timeline June 1-15 External Review Comm. works June 30 ERC meets: as does C3 Leadership Team July (15) Public review of C.E.s August Public hearings October SBoE adoption (we hope)

C3 Framework Organization

Have participants peruse dimension 2 documents while watching the engageNY video on disciplinary literacy.

Social Studies is primarily the application of language arts and critical thinking skills to specific concepts and content

An Example of the Arc of Inquiry in Action Supporting Questions: What is citizenship? What is revolutionary? Who is a citizen? Who should be a citizen? Disciplinary Concepts: C5.1 The Meaning of Citizenship in the US of America C5.3 Rights of Citizenship C5.4 Responsibilities of Citizenship C6.2 Participation in Civic Life Should citizenship be revolutionary? Evaluating Sources: Declaration of Independence What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Jacob Riis on poverty Eugene Debs on Labor Take Civic Action Write a letter to a legislator Circulating a petition in the local community Participation in and reporting on a local government hearing

What do we think this looks like in social studies?

 Developing purposeful assessment of the expectations The work of the C3 Alignment Project Committees, (comprised of K-12 educators, administrators, and social studies consultants statewide) includes four actions:  Updating the current content expectations to create “fewer, clearer, higher” social studies standards  Reviewing the expectations to align with social studies assessment and instruction  Developing purposeful assessment of the expectations  Identifying instructional strategies and best practices that support the expectations

So, what does that actually look like? A specifically identified scope of world geography will exist at the 6th grade level; a specifically identified scope of ancient world history will exist at the 7th grade level. The scope of the 7th grade world history standards will be expanded to include Era 4 which is present currently in the high school world history course. The removal of the WH regional expectations (the .3s) for placement in an appendix.

How will we get there? Our instruction has to change. It needs to be multi-dimensional. Long gone are the days where “doing something with the content” is the end of the journey. Instead, a SHIFT must be made in instruction so that mastery of skills becomes the journey. Our assessment practices must be in alignment with our shifts in instruction.

More Good News! P.A.S.S.T. Performance Assessments of Social Studies Thinking http://passtmoodle.wmisd.org This is the direction in which the State is hoping to head with regard to the State assessment in social studies.

U4.2.3 “Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced and that the two nations are now at war.”   Who would have made this statement and what might have caused tensions with Mexico? A. William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist; negotiation of a treaty between non-slave holding states and Mexico to free slaves in Southern slave-holding states. B. George Custer, US Army general; claim that Native Americans in the Southwest seceded from the US in response to slavery in the South. C. James K. Polk, US President; continued acquisition of Western lands under Manifest Destiny. D. Sitting Bull, Native American chief of the Hunkpapa Lakota; plea to Mexican government to assist in forcing US settlers back to lands east of the Mississippi River.

Pt goes here.

Rebecca Bush rbush@oaisd.org