Region 9 Social Studies Support

My name is Chelsea Howells, and I serve as the ESC Region 9 Social Studies content specialist. I am here to help you in any way that you may need, including finding resources, supporting initiatives that you take on, and providing feedback and coaching. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide resources that are specific to types of social studies content, as well as general instructional tools and resources, and updates and professional development opportunities that are beneficial to all.

At this potentially weary point in the year, many teachers find it challenging to spark inspiration with a new strategy or idea in the classroom. If this sounds familiar, you might discover that Twitter can be a great place to find quick, classroom-ready ideas, templates, and resources!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ChelseaHowells9 as well as the official Region 9 ESC Twitter @Region9ESC.

Here are a few great educational accounts to follow for ideas:

• Jessica Torres, R12 SS Specialist @Owl_b_Torresedu
• Kelly Bellar, R10 SS Specialist @region10ss
• Crystal Klose, R11 SS Specialist @ESC11SS
• Elizabeth Howson, 8th SS @howsonhistory
• Amanda Sandoval, US History HS @historysandoval
• Kathryn Greene, World History @MsGreenEdu
• iCivics @icivics
• Library of Congress (Primary Sources) @TeachingLC
• C-SPAN Classroom @CSPANClassroom
• Bill of Rights Institute @BRInstitute

Here are just a few items to bring to your attention in this issue:

• LRE:STAAR Review Training Face to Face March 6th! 8th EOC
• High School Citizen Bee Sponsor Sign ups- competition in March!
  
• Middle School Bee in a Box Sponsor Sign ups- competition in April!
• High School LRE Ambassador Opportunity
  
• K-5 Social Studies Instructional Materials Focus Group
• STAAR Item Development/Feedback Opportunity

As always, I would like to help in any way that I can to take something off your plate. If you ever need assistance or have a question, please do not hesitate to contact me via email (chelsea.howells@esc9.net) or social media (@ChelseaHowells9).

~Chelsea

Click here to register for the 8th grade Ready Set Go!

Any 4th-8th grade teacher will benefit from the resources shared.

Only 10 spots available, so register now!

Please note that the location of the event is Bowie ISD, but all Region 9 teachers are welcome!

Click here to register for the US History EOC Ready Set Go!

Any 9th-12th grade teacher will benefit from the resources shared.

Only 10 spots available, so register now!

Please note that the location of the event is Bowie ISD, but all Region 9 teachers are welcome!

Citizen Bee Sponsor Registration

Bee in a Box Sponsor Registration

In order to better serve constituents, TEA’s Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division has recently launched its own request link on the TEA Help Desk. The new ticketing system will allow staff in the Curriculum Division to more quickly receive and respond to inquiries.

To submit an inquiry or a request for assistance to the Curriculum Division, go to the main TEA Help Desk and select the Curriculum tile. Use the Curriculum Request Form to submit your contact information and the details of your inquiry. Be sure to bookmark the Curriculum Division’s Help Desk link to submit your questions.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) needs volunteers to review materials under Proclamation 2024 (which includes the new Personal Financial Literacy and Economics course as well as science, technology applications, and several career and technical education courses). Teachers, administrators, parents, business community members, and others with appropriate content knowledge are welcome. Please consider joining us—or nominating someone else to join us—for the Proclamation 2024 state review panel (SRP) by submitting a Proclamation 2024 SRP Application. Candidates must be available during June or July 2023 and be able to read on a computer screen for an extended period.

Each year the Texas Education Agency (TEA) invites groups of Texas educators to provide feedback on the development of state assessments (STAAR, STAAR Alternate 2, and TELPAS) through educator committees across all assessed grades and content areas. Developing high-quality, aligned questions relies on the expertise and experience of Texas educators from across the state. Participants collaborate with other educators from across the state to review and approve each potential question for state assessments. TEA is specifically looking for educators from your region!

The commitment is generally two to three days in Austin with all travel, accommodations, and substitute coverage paid for by TEA. All participants will earn Continuing Professional Education credits. If you are interested or know other educators who would like to participate in a committee, please complete the online Educator Committee Application. This is a direct link to the application!

Would you like to join an instructional materials focus group to collaborate, suggest improvements, and make an impact on one or more of the TEA’s instructional materials offerings?

The Texas Education Agency provides school districts and educators with direct access to an optional set of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) designed especially for Texas students. TEA is seeking educator feedback as they work to continuously improve these materials. Focus groups typically meet virtually for 60-75 minutes each month and the feedback they produce helps inform future editions of TEA’s instructional materials. TEA is currently recruiting for Social Studies (K-5). Please stay tuned for future opportunities in other subjects and grade bands.

To fill out a short interest form, please click here. TEA looks forward to hearing from you.

TEA provides districts and educators with an optional set of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) designed especially for Texas.

• Texas Open Education Resources (OER): state-developed materials where the underlying intellectual property is either owned by the state of Texas or it can be freely used and modified by the state in perpetuity. These materials are made freely available forever in digital form to Texas school districts and educators to use or modify as they see fit. They can be printed to ensure students have access to paper instructional materials. In some cases, TEA has established printing services to make the printed versions available at cost. Finally, these materials are updated to improve their quality with new versions over time based on feedback from teachers and parents.

TEA Available Instructional Materials Landing Page

TEA AP Macroeconomics Resources

TEA AP Microeconomics Resources

UPDATE - New Practice Test Available

There is now a NEW FULL LENGTH PRACTICE TEST available on the STAAR Redesign Website.

The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) test is being redesigned to make the test more tightly aligned to the classroom experience. House Bill 3906 established a “multiple choice cap,” meaning that no more than 75% of points on a STAAR test can be based on multiple choice questions. Preliminary information has been released about the item types. I will provide updated information as we receive it. I would highly suggest bookmarking the STAAR Redesign website page >> https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/assessment-initiatives/hb-3906/staar-redesign

October- Inline Choice & Match Table Grid

January- Hot Text, Short Constructed Response, Multipart

February- Multiselect, Hot Spot, & Drag and Drop

Link to Pear Deck New Item Types Template

Description: Student can select more than one correct answer from a set of possible answers. Student will not be allowed to select more than the specified number of correct answers asked for within an individual question.

Point value: These questions can be worth a maximum of 2 points with the possibility of receiving 1 point for a partially correct response.

Social studies tests that may include these questions: Grade 8 and EOC

At first glance, the multiselect question type looks like any other traditional multiple choice question, however, it will be important to remind students that it is of utmost importance that they are taking the time to carefully read the question and take notice of HOW MANY answer choices they are expected to select. The question prompt will let them know the number of correct answers to select. Encourage students to practice reading the question aloud or at least mouthing the words as they read. This not only will work to slow them down but will also help the brain to think through the question and the answer choices.

Students will receive credit for a partially correct answer. These questions will often use Why or Which as their stems, indicating more than one correct response. It is important through our instruction to indicate when there are multiple factors impacting a decision or event.

credit: Kelly Bellar Region 10 ESC

Description: Student responds by selecting one or more specific areas of a graphic.

Point value: These questions can be worth a maximum of 2 points with the possibility of receiving 1 point for a partially correct response.

Social studies tests that may include these questions: Grade 8 and EOC

Description: Student evaluates a given number of options (words, numbers, symbols, etc.) and chooses which response(s) to drag to a given area (a diagram, map, chart, etc.).

Point value: These questions can be worth a maximum of 2 points with the possibility of receiving 1 point for a partially correct response.

Social studies tests that may include these questions: Grade 8 and EOC

These two item types, the Hot Spot & Drag and Drop, both focus on asking students to analyze and draw conclusions based on their observations and inferences. Providing students with opportunities to categorize content and make connections between vocabulary and concepts will help to develop the thinking skills necessary to be successful on these item types. Using visible thinking strategies like the ones listed below are great ways to develop these thinking skills:

• See Think Wonder
• Affinity Diagrams/Inductive Reasoning
• Card Sorts/Hexagonal Thinking

Utilizing stimuli in the classroom by providing students opportunities to explore primary sources (photographs, artwork, maps, charts & graphs) will also build critical thinking skills as well. The National Archives has great document analysis resources to support interrogating stimuli.

credit: Kelly Bellar Region 10 ESC

Forgotten Voices Zoom Series

February 21 Registration

April 11 Registration

Throughout the summer, Regions 9, 10 and 11 conducted a series of one hour PD sessions looking at the New Item Types for STAAR with a focus on discussing how we can build capacity in our students and their critical thinking skills. We will be re-running that series in the fall in September, October and November. In conjunction with that, we have also offered an opportunity to teachers to join in on a virtual PLC to continue the conversation and serve as support for teachers this fall. If you would be interested in participating in that PLC, you can express that interest by completing the Google form linked HERE.

Dates for the PLC will be January 10th, February 23, March 27 and a final follow-up on May 17. All PLC meetings will be from 4:30-5:30 via Zoom.

Please note- the December PLC has been rescheduled for January 10th.

Each year, during February, we celebrate the history and cultural contributions of African Americans in the United States. Students learn about the achievements, perspectives, struggles, and experiences of African Americans throughout more than 400 years of American history. The TEA web page for African American History Month provides a variety of resources, including, lessons, activities, and instructional materials, that can be used to honor African American History Month.

U.S. History Teachers: BRI's 16 unit, comprehensive Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness resource includes contributions from over 100 scholars and classroom-ready student activities.

Government and Civics Teachers: BRI's primary-source-based Documents of Freedom curriculum. It contains dozens of lessons that integrate history, government, and economics topics.

Elective Topics: We also have 20+ other resources ready to use in elective courses, including resources for African American studies, immigration studies, and dedicated resources on each branch of government. Find them here.

YouTube Channel- Subscribe here

BRI's YouTube channel features several series for both you and your students including:

• Scholar Talks are interviews with notable scholars on a variety of subjects in U.S. history and politics.
• Primary Source Close Reading with BRI investigates some of the most pivotal speeches and documents that students will encounter in their study of US History.
• BRIdge from the Past: Art Across U.S. History is a series for students that explores important historic images to gain insights into the culture, politics, and society of a particular era.

Please note that this is a preview of the 2023 Notable Social Studies Trade Books list. The final list will be published by NCSS in the May-June 2023 issue of Social Education, and include annotations for each title, illustrations, and connections to the National Standards for Social Studies.

https://www.cbcbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NSSTB2023_Preview1-1.pdf

credit: Jessica Torres, Region 12

This 10-minute video chronicles the role played by Black women in fighting for the right to vote, and opposing the various mechanisms of voter disenfranchisement, suppression and intimidation. It shows how Black women have successfully engaged in advocacy and activism relating to voting rights issues, including participation in the campaign to pass the Voting Rights Act, and modern-day opposition to various schemes of voter suppression. It’s a good fit for lessons focused on voting rights and racial inequality at the ballot box, helping students to draw connections between past struggles over ballot access and current controversies over voting rights.

Show this video when teaching about: The 19th Amendment, The Voting Rights Act of 1965, civil rights, civic engagement, elections

Each year the Bryan Museum's “I Am Texas” theme encourages contestants to use historical artifacts found in the Museum as inspiration for their writing. The Bryan Museum houses over 70,000 pieces that tell the story of Texas and the American West and contains many online resources for student research.

This year, middle and high school students can write either a fiction or nonfiction piece about the artifacts from the Museum’s collection. Elementary students are asked to write a letter to a Texan from the past or present. Student artists should get creative and use their unique perspective to interpret the “I Am Texas” theme.

Top winners in each category will receive cash prizes!

Contest Opens: December 1, 2022
Deadline: April 30, 2023

I Am Texas Landing Page

Apply for writing contest here

Apply for art contest here

This student civic engagement contest seeks to foster a robust understanding of citizenship and get students active in their communities. Student service projects can win up to $10,000, with $40,000 in total prizes available to students and teachers. Check it out now!

Teaching the Speeches of Ronald Reagan (Webinar)

"Teaching the Speeches of Ronald Reagan" will take place over Zoom from 5–6:15 p.m. on February 22. The webinar will offer specific suggestions for teaching Reagan's most significant oratorical works, focusing on their historical context and the rhetorical strategies deployed. The program will consider these speeches' role in Reagan's legacy and highlight the most important takeaways for middle and high school students. Jeremi Suri (The University of Texas at Austin) will lead the webinar.

*****

Teaching the Speeches of Barbara Jordan (Webinar)

"Teaching the Speeches of Barbara Jordan" will take place over Zoom from 5–6:15 p.m. on March 29. The webinar will offer specific suggestions for teaching Jordan's most significant oratorical works, focusing on their historical context and the rhetorical strategies deployed. The program will consider these speeches' role in Jordan's legacy and highlight the most important takeaways for middle and high school students. Karen Kossie-Chernyshev (Texas Southern University) will lead the webinar.

*****

How to apply

Complete the online application. Apply as soon as possible. Registration occurs on a rolling basis and space is limited.

Calling all educators! PBS LearningMedia is currently seeking ELA and Social Studies educators in grades 6-12 to pilot test educational materials created for the Ken Burns in the Classroom collection. This paid opportunity will require implementing materials in your class, providing sample work, and when possible, allowing classroom observation by a member of the PBS LearningMedia team.

Apply here.

The TEKS Resource System Social Studies Team is looking to gauge your interest in writing assessment items for social studies. Our goal is to create a pool of trained item writers that can pick up item writing contracts on an as-needed basis. Writers are paid by each approved item.

This interest form will remain open. You will be contacted when we are expected to begin creating item orders. At that time, you will need to submit a resume and a sample item for approval. After approval, you will receive item writing training and an initial contract. Successful completion of a contract will lead to being retained in an item writing pool for future contracts.

The writer pool is expected to be retained for multiple years with the intent of occasional opportunities to pick up an item writing order.

Requirements you must have for initial consideration:

• Current and Valid Texas Teacher Certification either as an elementary generalist or in secondary social studies
  
• At least 3 years of classroom experience teaching social studies

Apply here >> http://bit.ly/TRSItemWriting

Check them out below:

2022-2023

Volume 2, Issue 3 Volume 2, Issue 2 Volume 2, Issue 1 TEKS Revision Special Edition

2021-2022

Secondary Edition

Apr/May 2022 Feb/Mar 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 Aug/Sept 2021

Elementary Edition

Apr/May 2022 Feb/Mar 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 Aug/Sept 2021

Social Studies Specialist

Region 9 ESC

#GCT #iCivicsEducator #MIE #GridGuide #EdPuzzleCoach

Email: chelsea.howells@esc9.net
Website: https://www.esc9.net/564748_3
Location: 301 Texas 11 Loop, Wichita Falls, TX, USA
Phone: 940-397-8106
Twitter: @ChelseaHowells9