The Ken Burns Classroom Collection on PBS LearningMedia offers hundreds of standards-aligned classroom lessons based on films by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and their collaborators, including The Civil War, The Roosevelts, The West, The Vietnam War, and many more. This webinar will showcase inquiry-based strategies for integrating documentary film clips and primary sources into instruction. You will hear from experienced educators who have developed lesson materials for the collection and implemented the lessons in their classrooms. Participants will emerge inspired with new ideas for how to…

Agriculture in the Economics Classroom? It absolutely goes together! Issues of environment, sustainability, food production, population growth, and connections to our local and global communities are essential components of today's ever-changing world, and those same issues directly tie to economics. In this session, participants will learn about online resources, educational websites, teacher programs, student-led virtual partner exchanges, international collaboration opportunities, and community involvement activities that all bring together agriculture and economics. A focus will…

This two-part, interactive webinar series discusses key strategies and essential resources for teaching the upcoming mid-term elections and it's importance at the local and national levels. Series led by Allison Norrie, Social Studies Teacher at Andrew Warde High School in Fairfield, CT and Stephen Armstrong, Social Studies Consultant for the Connecticut Department of Education and Past President of the National Council for the Social Studies with special guest presenter, Sally Whipple, Executive Director of the Connecticut Democracy Center at Connecticut’s Old State House in Hartford, CT.…

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…

This webinar will use the C3 Framework with television sitcoms to teach narrative versus counter-narrative issue-centered topics in the classroom. The webinar will review the C3 Framework, discuss how television sitcoms align with C3 (what dimension to use it with), discuss how to use narratives and counter-narratives in the classroom, and experience an example lesson utilizing dimensions one through four consisting of two television sitcom episodes on the topic of voting. At the end of the webinar, audience members can ask questions and/or brainstorm with the presenter about how to create…

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. 

Today the grandchildren of Vietnam War veterans are attending middle and high schools throughout America, sitting side-by-side with the children of those who served more recently in Desert Storm and the Iraq War. But how much do they really know about these conflicts and the sacrifices their dads, moms and grandparents proudly made? Joining with social studies departments throughout the Country, the Veterans National Education Program (V-NEP) is teaching the lessons of these wars in the classroom. During the 2018-2019 school year, V-NEP will provide teachers with a free, collection of video…

"America is an exceptional nation built on a Declaration of Independence and a Constitution that offer a rare collection of inalienable rights and guaranteed freedoms: freedom of speech; freedom of religion; freedom to assemble; freedom of the press; the right to vote; the right to appeal; the right to bear arms. But let’s be honest. A “just government” requires the “consent of the governed,” as Jefferson declared. That is the essence of American democracy. But it is an ideal that must be defended and preserved by vigilant civic engagement. Democracy is not a spectator sport! This webinar…

In this evidence-based webinar, answer the questions "How and why were the “Black” and “White” “races” developed? and "How and why was anti-Black Racism developed? Using primary sources, visual diagrams, and historian quotes, trace the historical evolution of the social construction of race--through laws--during the Colonial era. Review historical evidence suggesting that racism did not lead to slavery; rather, slavery lead to racism. Discuss the narrative of racism as the myth of Black racial inferiority that white elites/slave owners created (“the story we tell”) to both uphold slavery,…

In this webinar, we will introduce participants to argument mapping - a research-backed method students can use to organize and evaluate claims using reasoning and evidence. Participants will see how argument mapping can help teachers facilitate discussions around controversial issues, such as whether communities should defund the police or abolish ICE. 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…