Geo-Inquiry is an exciting new integrated, project-based process that connects students to real-world questions, National Geographic explorers and components of civic action. Created in collaboration with the Buck Institute, The Center for Civic Education and ESRI these sessions will introduce participants to strategies that develop the critical thinking skills needed to: ask questions, collect information, use GIS to visualize data, create a compelling story using photography and videography tips, and ultimately become advocates for change in their local community. 

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…

Children’s literature can play a powerful role in young children’s lives to learn, inspire and transform. The images and words convey a compelling story and message that has the potential to leave lasting impressions. In recent years, there’s been an explosion of children’s books that go beyond social and emotional learning. Books for young children about historical topics like enslavement, the Holocaust, Japanese-American internment, voting rights, segregation, and genocide are presenting them with both sensitivity and insight. When it comes to current event topics there are many excellent…

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and National Council for History Education (NCHE) are proud to present a two-part professional learning series on teaching inquiry about race and democracy through the use of primary sources in K-12 social studies and history classrooms.  Each part of this program previews a chapter from NCSS’ forthcoming online methods texts, Inquiry and Teaching with Primary Sources to Prepare Students for College, Career, and Civic Life, and features a panel discussion with the chapter’s author and a history scholar, moderated by NCSS and NCHE leaders. …

For Black History Month, NCSS editors have curated this selection of articles and resources from Social Education, Middle Level Learning, and Social Studies and the Young Learner. 

Teaching strategies for highlighting the variety of ways enslaved people resisted using children's literature and primary sources. 

This article offers examples of classroom texts as vehicles for teaching each BHC principle as encouragement for teaching Black histories long beyond Black History Month. For summaries of the texts suggested in this article, see the Pullout in this issue, which pairs each Black Historical Consciousness principle with children’s books and ideas for further investigation.

In an effort to establish and expand abilities related to perspective, three elementary education professors collaborated with a trio of local fifth-grade teachers to develop and teach a lesson on the topic. In this article, the authors begin with the description and sequencing of the lesson, continue with an explanation of book categories and some student responses from the read aloud, and finally, offer a description of the culminating writing activity with some sample student responses.

The authors show how elementary-school age students and teachers can use picture books, young adult literature, and poetry to uncover and explore the hidden histories and untold stories of Elizabeth Jennings, Ida B. Wells, Jackie Robinson, Sarah Keys Evans, and Claudette Colvin, among others, and their protests for African Americans’ right to ride in trains, streetcars, buses, and other forms of public transportation. 

Tina M. Ellsworth and Toni Gates center their article around stories of Black joy, agency, and resistance of Black Kansas Citians. Ellsworth and Gates’ collaboration demonstrates how educators can effectively construct partnerships between schools and grassroots organizations. The authors of this piece will guide educators in ways to find local Black history in their cities, show how to draw on the IDM example, and provide lesson suggestions.