2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning: Using the Essential Skills from the Curriculum Framework to Support Rigor in Teaching and Learning January 2013

2 History and Social Science Standards of Learning Goals The study of history and social science is vital in promoting a civic- minded, democratic society. All students need to know and understand our national heritage in order to become informed participants in shaping our nation’s future. The History and Social Science Standards of Learning are designed to: 1.Develop the knowledge and skills of history, geography, civics, and economics that enable students to place the people, ideas, and events that have shaped our state and our nation in perspective; 2.Instill in students a thoughtful pride in the history of America through an understanding that what “We the People of the United States” launched more than two centuries ago was not a perfect union, but a continual effort to build a “more perfect” union, one which has become the world’s most successful example of constitutional self-government;

3 History and Social Science Standards of Learning Goals 3.Enable students to understand the basic values, principles, and operation of American constitutional democracy; 4.Prepare students for informed, responsible, and participatory citizenship; 5.Develop students’ skills in debate, discussion, and writing; and 6.Provide students with a framework for continuing education in history and the social sciences.

History and Social Science Standards of Learning Resources Standards of Learning SOL Curriculum Framework SOL Enhanced Scope and Sequence Assessment Information SOL Maps and Documents for History and Social Science Presentations from the fall 2012 institutes – coming soon Web sites for: K-3, Virginia’s First People, Mali, Virginia Studies, United States History, Global Learning, Archaeology: Ice Age Discoveries, and Everyday Civics Virginia on iTunes U Professional Development Opportunities

5 The Curriculum Framework amplifies the Standards of Learning by defining the content understandings, knowledge, and skills that are measured by the Standards of Learning assessments. Each Standard of Learning includes at least one framework page divided into four columns that include: essential understandings; essential questions; essential knowledge; and essential skills History and Social Science Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework

6 Essential Understandings: This column includes the fundamental background information necessary for answering the essential questions and acquiring the essential knowledge. Teachers should use these understandings as a basis for lesson planning. Emphasis Essential Questions: In this column are found questions that teachers may use to stimulate student thinking and classroom discussion. The questions are based on the standard and the essential understandings, but may use different vocabulary and may go beyond them. Essential Knowledge: This column delineates the key content facts, concepts, and ideas that students should grasp in order to demonstrate understanding of the standard. This information is not meant to be exhaustive or a limitation on what is taught in the classroom. Rather, it is meant to be the principal knowledge defining the standard. Essential Skills: This column enumerates the fundamental intellectual abilities that students should have—what they should be able to do—to be successful in accomplishing historical and geographical analysis and achieving responsible citizenship.

7 Specify the focus of instruction for each standard. Indicate what the student should be able to do. Detail the fundamental intellectual abilities that the student should have. Need to be incorporated in ALL history and social science content instruction. Emphasis on the Essential Skills in the Curriculum Framework

8 Assessment items may be drawn from any of the four columns and items may not and should not be a verbatim reflection of the information presented in the Curriculum Framework.

9 Rigor in Social Studies Instruction

10 Descriptions of Rigor The quality of thinking High expectations Deep immersion in a subject, which also includes real-world applications The depth and attention devoted to an assignment, for example analyzing a primary source done thoughtfully, with sufficient depth and attention to accuracy and detail The capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, and personally or emotionally challenging

11 What Does Rigor Look Like? Critical thinking and problem solving Collaboration and leadership Adaptability Motivation and initiative Effective oral and written communication Accessing and analyzing information Engagement and participation

12 Emphasis on Social Studies Content Vocabulary To expand vocabulary and the students’ ability to access increasingly difficult text, students need to be taught the meanings of new words as well as be given strategies for determining the meaning of unknown words. Three types of vocabulary instruction include: Teaching the meaning of specific words Teaching word-learning strategies Teaching word meaning and word-learning strategies specific to the social studies

13 Rigor in the Social Studies Classroom Active, either through conversation or hands-on or minds-on activity. There’s questioning and discovery going on. Deep rather than broad; project-based. The learners are digging into a topic or project. Analyzing and interpreting multiple sources including primary sources. Library of Congress - loc.gov/teachers/loc.gov/teachers/ Teaching History.orgTeaching History.org Using historical thinking skills. Organizing information to make generalizations and draw conclusions. Engaging. The learner has made a real connection with the material to be learned, either on his or her own or with the help of the teacher. There’s a sense that the learning was “hard but satisfying.”

14 Why Use Primary Sources? Using primary sources help students- Make observations Ask questions and promote inquiry Infer, analyze and draw conclusions about history See different points of view and understand perspective Understand continuity and change over time Teach comparing/contrasting evidence Strengthen reading comprehension with nonfiction texts Increase content vocabulary

15 Explore Teachinghistory.org, a leader in helping K–12 history teachers access resources and materials to improve U.S. history education in the classroom. Learn about free, quality history content, discover digital tools, and find new ideas and best practices for teaching history. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Teachinghistory.org is a project of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason UniversityTeachinghistory.org Online Resources that Support Rigor The Library of Congress and the Teaching with Primary Sources Program offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. loc.gov/teachers/loc.gov/teachers/ The Library of Virginia maintains vast and varied collections of print materials, manuscripts, archival records, newspapers, photographs and ephemera, maps and atlases, rare books, and fine art that tell the history of the commonwealth and its people. lva.virginia.gov/lib- edu/education/lva.virginia.gov/lib- edu/education/

16 Rigor in Education Rigor means providing challenging content through effective instructional approaches that lead to the development of cognitive strategies that help students know what to do when they don’t know what to do next. It requires active participation from both teachers and students. It involves high-level content and instruction that may ask teachers to think about teaching and assessment in a different way. It asks students to use content and skills to: – Solve complex problems – Develop strategies that can be applied to other situations – Make connections across content areas, and – Draw conclusions and create solutions on their own.

17 Thank you! Please contact me if I can be of any further assistance! Betsy Barton, History and Social Science Specialist With acknowledgment to Dr. Beverly Thurston, retired history and social science coordinator, who assisted with this presentation.