This presentation highlights a freely available digital game designed to foster young children's engaging inquiry with primary sources. KidCitizen is part of the Congress, Civic Participation, and Primary Sources Project. It is funded by a grant from the Library of Congress. The presenters will introduce KidCitizen and discuss how the models of learning showcased in the KidCitizen templates may be leveraged by teachers to support disciplined inquiry in primary grade instruction. Participants will discuss strategies for engaging their students in the games, and take part in a mini-lesson based on the accompanying Teacher's Guides to experience implementation that supports and scaffolds historical inquiry and disciplinary specific process skills for their students while using the digital interactive. The focus of the digital game is to facilitate a developmentally appropriate process of careful looking, historical thinking, and evidence-informed analysis that are at the center of disciplinary literacy.

Presenters

Ilene R. Berson, Ph.D., is a professor of early childhood education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of South Florida. Her research explores early childhood social studies with a focus on the engagement of young children with digital technologies. She can be contacted at iberson@usf.edu.

Michael J. Berson, Ph.D., is a professor of social science education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of South Florida and a Senior Fellow in The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship. His research focuses on child advocacy and technology in social studies education. He can be contacted at berson@usf.edu.

Bert Snow  is an award-winning designer and leader with a history of innovation in digital learning and game design.  He is a co-PI of the KidCitizen project, and the author of the Gates-funded research report The Potential for Game-based Learning to Improve Outcomes for Nontraditional Students. With Snow & Co, Bert works with partners to create effective and engaging digital learning products for many different topics and all kinds of learners.  He can be contacted at snow.bert@gmail.com.

Fee: $25 members/$50 non-members

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