National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) conducted this Media Literacy Education Town Hall, October 29, 2020 in celebration of Media Literacy Week. The webinar delved deep into the vital impact of media literacy in social studies, and presented recommendations for incorporating media literacy skills. 

Teaching media literacy helps students interpret media messages accurately and supports their informed civic participation.

Encouraging students to investigate competing perspectives on societal issues helps them deepen the skills of working through disagreements.

Investigating heritage symbols in the classroom can ignite constructive discussions on the kinds of values a statue communicated at the time of its creation.

Social studies narratives that portray individuals as either heroes or villains not only stifle students’ feelings of civic agency, but they minimize the role of community in creating social change  

A high school history teacher describes her experience on a humanitarian mission in Ukraine and offers a lesson plan for teaching about the war and the experiences of refugees.

In this presentation, participants will learn about a design thinking framework that can enhance the C3 Framework in the social studies. While learning about this design thinking framework participants will be exposed to students examples, pros and cons for using design thinking in social studies, and ways to create lessons and curriculum to create a student-centered learning experiences in social studies.

Join in a discussion about what makes an argument good. Participants will gain a two-step process that students can use to evaluate and strengthen their arguments in argument map form, either solo or in a peer-review process. We will also consider the role of objections and rebuttals in argument development. How We Argue Webinar Series Educators often want to discuss current issues and empower students to engage as active citizens. Yet, when discussing controversial topics, some students rely on unsubstantiated facts or emotional appeals, rather than evidence and reasoning…

This webinar is designed for social studies educators at all levels; from upper elementary and middle to secondary and university social studies and literacy methods teachers, instructional coaches, supervisors, and administrators seeking to leverage ChatGPT's strengths while effectively dealing with its limitations. In this webinar, teachers will discover how to effectively integrate ChatGPT into their classroom and instructional practices, how to detect student use of ChatGPT on student essays, as well as enhance students’ learning experience using the concept of “lateral reading” in order…

In Pursuit of Equity: Book Banning and Censorship Book bans in schools and libraries are on the rise. Last school year, more than 850 individual titles were impacted by censorship efforts of local groups and state decision-makers. How can educators and students navigate censorship in their communities? NCHE and NCSS united for a fourth virtual Equity Summit in October 2023 in support of our history and social studies educators and students, with a focus on book-banning and censorship. These are the session recordings from the Summit.