The Social Studies FIELD Guide (book & resources)

WEBSITE ↬ The Social Studies FIELD Guide

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ history

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I am going to revert to being a social studies teacher for a little bit while I sing the praises of this book & it's accompanying website with resources. 

Amazing!

I've linked the website here, but it's really all about a book - The Social Studies FIELD Guide. The FIELD is an acronym for "Foundational Evidence, Inquiry, EdTech, and Lesson Design". This can help every history teacher ... and to top off the pedagogy, the website provides a lot of resources for you to explore.

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this to improve their own teaching. Even a veteran can learn a thing or two. There's also the ability to join the community and connect with other like-minded educator's. 

Explore even more in an article written for Matt Miller's blog, Ditch That Textbook, from the book's authors --> "Ditch the lecture, dig into learning: Level up your Social Studies classroom with the FIELD Guide" 

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Lego Cards for Inspiration and Creation

WEBSITE ↬ Lego Cards for Inspiration and Creation

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades, mainly elementary

I found this little nugget last summer and used it when I taught a summer camp. It was awesome! Only two things are required ... the cards printed and Legos. And my campers loved when I pulled them out. The cards provide "simple" challenges and the creativity is endless. 

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this as a brain break or a station for students. 

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Untold History

WEBSITE ↬ Untold History

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ history

GRADE LEVELS ↬ 4-12

History isn't dead!

What an eye-catching statement?!  As a former history teacher, I just had to click on this one ... "Untold History".  It says it's a collection of short stories that don't always get told. Wow! What an amazing addition to your classroom. The videos are high quality and cover a wide range of content - from authors to monuments to art. 

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers incorporating videos that match their content. The videos are relatively short, but pack a lot of information. At the end, they have a great question that can be used as a writing prompt, research topic, or simply a class discussion. 

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Hello Ruby

WEBSITE ↬ Hello Ruby

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ STEAM

GRADE LEVELS ↬ K-4

Hello Ruby is a wonderful resource for teachers and students to learn more about computational thinking and coding. The creator, Linda Liukas, is passionate about encouraging creativity and coding. Hello Ruby includes apps, books, and even curriculum to help teachers guide their students on this learning journey.

At the beginning, Hello Ruby was a children's book and has grown from there. The Hello Ruby books are in multiple languages. The website also contains a page with a number of off-line activities you can do with students. The "Teach" page is also freely available - videos and workbooks all available at no cost. There really is no reason to NOT use Hello Ruby in your classroom.

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this in their classrooms throughout the year to encourage computational thinking. It could be a singular unit or activities spread throughout the year.

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Common Sense Privacy Evaluations

WEBSITE ↬ Common Sense Privacy Evaluations

AUDIENCE ↬ parents, teachers & admins

CONTENT ↬ technology

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I have become more and more aware the last several years of the risks we are taking with all of the programs we have our students and our own children using. Unfortunately, not all companies have our kids best interests at heart and I want to make you aware of a resource I have often used before allowing my own daughters use an app or program and I have used to check out programs for use with my students at school. Please do not just say "yes" to everything. Our kids want the latest and the flashy and what everyone else has ... but that opens doors to risks that you may not want for them.

The evaluations are simple and clear. Super easy to understand and then if you decide it's ok, you will be better informed as to why you've chosen to allow it.

HOW CAN PARENTS and TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see parents using this resource when their kids ask about a new app for their device. We don't know what we don't know ... and sometimes the "fun" apps open our kids up to security risks. 

And I see teachers using this resource when they want to try a new website or app with their students. We take the place of parents at school in making these decisions, so we need to be just as cautious when making these choices.

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Civic Online Reasoning

WEBSITE ↬ Civic Online Reasoning

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all things digital citizenship & evaluating sources; ELA, Science, History, etc

GRADE LEVELS ↬ middle & high school

This site is amazing! There is a mind boggling amount of information available at our students fingertips ... how do we help them decide what is credible or not ... valuable or not ... real or fake? I know I struggle at times. I also know that we can't afford to NOT help our students learn how to properly fact check and verify. As they state on their homepage, "The COR curriculum provides free lessons and assessments that help you teach students to evaluate online information that affects them, their communities, and the world."

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this in ALL classrooms. Especially ones that focus on research and evaluation of sources. The lessons are freely available - once you create your account - and they are high quality. Organized in collections, it helps you provide a consistent approach.

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Ditch That Textbook: Templates!

WEBSITE ↬ DTT: Templates

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Matt Miller, of Ditch That Textbook, has a wonderful website packed with templates that are free and available to teachers everywhere. I love how he has them organized into groups to make it easier to find what you are looking for. The categories are:

• Social Media Templates
• Game Templates
• Interactive Activities
• Graphic Organizers
• Lesson Plan Templates
• Communication Templates
• Feedback Templates
• Exit Ticket Templates
• Back to School Templates
• End of Year Templates

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using DTT's Template Gallery to hep themselves in quite a few ways. Feedback & Exit Tickets are helpful in many classrooms. Having students provide each other feedback is helpful to learn and improve. The Back to School & End of Year Templates are a great way to help start and reflect on the school year. If you only check out one of the categories, be sure to hit up the game templates ... so many different games that you - AND your students - can customize and create using.

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