| Social Studies – Preparing Students for College, Career and Civic Life |  |
| Teaching & Learning
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- High-school students become history teachers for a day
Students in Fairfield Warde High School's U.S. History class in Connecticut spent a recent day teaching lessons to fourth- and fifth-grade classes at Jennings School on subjects such as the Civil War and the Oregon Trail. The presentations, which the high-school students researched and developed themselves, included such hands-on activities as a board game and cooking demonstration. "They get challenged and get positive feedback for their academic work," teacher James D'Acosta said of his students' experience at the elementary school. Fairfield Citizen (Conn.)
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- Students research, publish profiles of Conn. city's African-Americans
Students in Theresa Vara-Dannen's American Studies at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford, Conn., have written and published 30 profiles of local men and women for the African American National Biography, compiled by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Students research their subjects, such as abolitionist Selah Africanus, through libraries, historical societies and newspaper archives. The project is a reason Vara-Dannen was named 2012 Connecticut History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, said Steve Armstrong, president-elect of the National Council for the Social Studies. The Hartford Courant (Conn.)
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- Deciphering between project-based, project-oriented learning
 While some teachers have the goal of implementing project-based learning in the classroom, they may actually be practicing what is known as project-oriented learning, says eighth-grade teacher Azul Terronez. In this blog post, he offers some examples of how he has used projects to improve students' education, including those in which students create an iPod application, host a cooking competition and learn to read nutritional labels. KQED.org/Mind/Shift blog
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| Standards & Assessments
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- Ind. lawmaker proposes withdrawing from the common core
Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, plans to introduce legislation that would remove the state's involvement with the Common Core State Standards. The sponsor of the legislation, expected to be heard in committee on Jan. 16, said he was concerned that the common core was adopted without a clear understanding of what it means for teachers and students. The legislation is seen as rebuttal of initiatives spearheaded by outgoing state schools superintendent Tony Bennett, who was defeated in November's election. Greenfield Daily Reporter (Ind.)/The Associated Press
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- N.C. schools prepare for more testing in multiple subjects
Social studies, science and pre-calculus are among the subjects that will be assessed as part of the Common Exams, the set of assessments North Carolina public schools plan to use with the Common Core State Standards. While the Durham district has tried to reduce the number of tests students take each year, the transition to the common core will bring the new exams to assess teachers, along with mandates added by state lawmakers such as a graduation requirement for CPR. The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.) (free registration)
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| Technology in the Classroom
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| Social Studies & Civic Life
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- Program encourages students to solve community problems
Lizzie Cassady, a junior at New Hampshire's Academy for Science and Design charter school in Nashua, is trying to develop an e-reader specifically designed for students and their textbooks. Cassady is among four students in the Learning Studios program, which challenges students to develop solutions to community problems. "We always want to give students ownership of their education," said social studies teacher Douglass Belley. "This program gives them that." The Keene Sentinel (N.H.)
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- Maine historical society shares photographer's collection online
The slide collection of photographer Velma Daigle, of St. John Valley, Maine, has been donated by her family to the Fort Kent, Maine, Historical Society, providing a rare but richly colorful look at their community dating from the 1930s to the '80s. The collection, detailing the daily life of the community, is estimated at tens of thousands of slides, said society president Chad Pelletier, who is scanning and cataloging the images and posting them on the group's Facebook page. "It really is a treasure-trove," Pelletier said. "It is just an unbelievable collection." Bangor Daily News (Maine) (free registration)
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| NCSS Updates
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Conducting Socratic seminars: A leader's workshop with a focus on primary source documents from U.S. history
This NCSS Summer Professional Development Workshop, taught by nationally recognized Socratic seminar trainer John Zola, will help participants develop skills as Socratic seminar discussion leaders. Socratic seminars are teacher-led classroom discussions that promote higher-level thinking, more careful reading of texts, and increased skills of classroom and civil discussion. The workshop will be held Aug. 5 to 7 in Washington, D.C. Get more information.
| SmartQuote
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 | If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him."
--Francis Bacon,
British author and statesman
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