SAISD Social Studies Newsletter
August 27, 2021
Saturday, September 18 EPIC Saturday
9:00 AM-11:00 AM Sessions
Critical Reading and Critical Writing in the Social Studies Classroom
Engage in AVID strategies to support the implementation of reading and writing in your social studies classroom. These strategies are designed for any content. Participants in the session will recognize how these strategies align with our SAISD Social Studies Instructional Framework and collaborate to create lessons with support from the presenter.
Performance Matters Registration
Bridging 8th Grade Pre-AP U.S. History to AP
Participants will begin to examine how middle school Pre-AP Social Studies teachers can focus on specific strategies and content to prepare students for future success in AP social studies classes. While the focus will be on 8th grade social studies and AP US History, other middle school Pre-AP teachers will learn impactful strategies to implement..
Performance Matters Registration
Active Classroom: The Resource for Social Studies
Active Classroom is the resource that strengthens student understanding of historical issues, builds skills, and supports literacy. The session will introduce teachers who are new to Active Classroom to the their resources and demonstrate some of its capabilities in meeting student's needs. Active Classroom is available for to all Social Studies teachers grades 6-12 in SAISD.
Performance Matters Registration
11:00 AM-1:00 PM Sessions
Utilizing Student-Centered Inquiry and the Skills TEKS with Primary Sources
Analyzing primary source documents is a vital component of effective social studies instruction that develops contextualization, critical thinking, and inferencing skills. This session will introduce strategies for analyzing primary sources with the Student-Centered Inquiry from the SAISD Social Studies Instructional Framework, and utilize the Social Studies TEKS Skills to reinforce student analysis and understanding.
Performance Matters Registration
Active Classroom: The Resource for Social Studies
Active Classroom is the resource that strengthens student understanding of historical issues, builds skills, and supports literacy. The session will introduce teachers who are new to Active Classroom to the their resources and demonstrate some of its capabilities in meeting student's needs. Active Classroom is available for to all Social Studies teachers grades 6-12 in SAISD.
Humanities Texas Fall Professional Development
Teaching about American Indians in Texas
Mondays • September 13 through October 4, 2021 • 5:00–6:30 pm CT
This webinar series will offer teachers new windows into the history of American Indians in Texas and a collection of curriculum materials geared toward bringing innovative perspectives into the classroom. Team taught by a historian and two master teachers, the institute will focus on the long arc of American Indian presence in Texas from the pre-contact era through the “Indian Wars” of the 1870s.
Teaching America’s Founding Documents
Wednesdays • September 15–October 13, 2021 • 5:00–6:15 pm CT
Each weekly webinar will cover one of the America’s founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Washington’s Farewell Address. Each session will focus on both the context of the featured document (how it came to be and its impact/significance) and its actual contents (the most important things for teachers to know and share with their students).
The application to attend his here.
We will keep you updated on additional PD options from Humanities Texas throughout the school year.
Newsela Social Studies is Available!
Newsela Social Studies has significantly more social studies content then we previously had through the Newsela subscription. This includes courses like "Exploring Geography" that include curated texts on different topics. Remember that most texts in Newsela can be leveled to meet students' needs and many of them are available in Spanish.
Newsela also includes significant professional learning resources to support use of the platform. They are located here (login to Classlink for the link to work).
National History Day Update
Fall Social Studies Professional Development
In addition to our Epic Saturday and PD in PJs offerings, the Social Studies Department will be offering virtual grade level specific PLNs during the fall semester.
Thursday, September 30, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, December 2, 4:15-5:45 PM
7th Grade Texas History After School Virtual PLNs with DBQ Online
7th Grade Texas History will be piloting DBQ Online from the DBQ Project. These sessions will provide professional learning and support for DBQ Online.
Thursday, August 26, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, September 23, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, October 7, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, November 11, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, December 9, 4:15-5:45 PM
8th Grade U.S. History After School Virtual PLNs
Thursday, September 16, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, November 4, 4:15-5:45 PM
World Geography After School Virtual PLNs with DBQ Online
World Geography will also be piloting DBQ Online from the DBQ Project. The sessions will provide professional learning and support for implementing DBQ Online.
Wednesday, August 25, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, September 16, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, October 14, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, November4, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, December 2, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, January 20, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, February 17, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, March 31, 4:15-5:45 PM
World History After School PLNs
Thursday, September 30, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, December 9, 4:15-5:45 PM
U.S. History Since 1877 After School PLN
Thursday, September 23, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, November 11, 4:!5-5:45 PM
Ethnic Studies Courses After School PLN
Thursday, September 9, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, October 21, 4:15-5:45 PM
Thursday, November 18, 4:15-5:45 PM
Recent Articles of Interest
How Collaborating on Student Note-Taking Boosts Student Achievement From Edutopia
Using Community Agreements to Start the Year Strong From Edutopia
James W. Loewen, Who Challenged How History is Taught, Dies at 79 from The New York TimesGary B. Nash, 88, Dies; Drew Ire for Trying to Update History Education from The New York Times
SAISD Social Studies Department
Director of Social Studies
Email: ppyle1@saisd.net
Website: https://www.saisd.net/page/socialstudies-home
Location: 514 West Quincy Street, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: 2105542531
Twitter: @SAISDSocial
