In this webinar, we will share the Read.Inquire.Write. curriculum for teaching inquiry in middle school social studies that support students' critical thinking and argument writing. We will highlight "disciplinary literacy tools" we developed with teachers that support a wide range of students (including English learners and below-grade readers) in becoming proficient in reasoning and writing with sources. These disciplinary literacy tools are embedded in investigations that provide students with opportunities to engage in inquiry with and construct their own arguments. We will share specific…

This webinar provides an inquiry-based framework (Great/Not so Great) to help elementary-level students learn about differences in opinions about historical figures before constructing their own evaluation of these figures based on textual evidence. This framework consists of a step-by-step approach for supporting lower elementary-level students to evaluate the “great” and “not so great” characteristics of any historical figure through an examination of a variety of text types (i.e., textbooks, primary sources, children’s literature, etc.). The framework is based on elements of the NCSS C3…

NCSS Art Manager, Rich Palmer rarely speaks about himself. He finds he cannot hear others so well when he’s talking. Both his parents are retired teachers. His mother worked as a middle school teacher and transitioned into library/media science. She still works as a volunteer with the Washington County library system (Shhh!). His father earned his Ph.D. in Art Education and lectured at university for many years. Rich often quotes the Dada artist R. Mutt, who once said: “Tools that are no good—require more skill.”  Rich designs and handles production for all NCSS periodicals and printed…

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, an African American man, took the field as a member of the major-league baseball team,the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson received death threats, was isolated and segregated and was the most scrutinized player in the United States at the time. Despite all of this, Robinson successfully broke the color barrier for baseball and other sports. Robinson's heroic story is just one of the many stories of courage, determination, perseverance, dedication, and resolve about sports figures found among the holdings of the National Archives. Introduce your students to…

Join NCSS for a special webinar on Tuesday, March 31 at 5:00 PM ET. Participants will connect with a panel of NCSS leaders who will share their perspectives and strategies on transitioning social studies to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Panelists and participants will also identify topics for a series of webinars to organize and launch a set of learning experiences and opportunities to connect for support over the course of this spring. Panelists will include leaders from the NCSS Technology Community and the Council of State Social Studies Specialists (CS4), an NCSS…

As NCSS once again supports the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) as a Media Literacy Week partner, we are reminded of how media literacy is a fundamental part of inquiry-based social studies learning. We demonstrate media literacy whenever we use a source of information as evidence to ask and answer questions about the world around us. The key questions we should ask about any source of information that we find and use – about audience and authorship, messages and meanings, and representations and reality – are carefully nurtured and shaped over time. This week may be…