MDCSS Chronicle
Issue: Fall 2015
Points of Interest:



A Maryland Council for Social Studies
Publication
A Message from the President
Message from
President
It begins! As I sit here writing this, I anticipate the start of a new school
History
Channel Award
getting my classroom set up, copies made, and new initiatives, I am trying
Importance of
Social Studies
provide my students a deep understanding and love of social studies and
year and a new group of students coming tomorrow. As I stress about
to remind myself to stop and think about the bigger picture. I want to
everything else will fall into place….hopefully. I feel that it’s very easy this
time of year to become overwhelmed and negative but let’s not lose sight
of why we got into this profession and choose to stay year after year: we
love our content area and we love kids. I hope that you’re able to keep
sight of the bigger picture during a time of arduous detail. I hope that you
Inside this issue:
are able to begin this school year with a lot of passion and enthusiasm for
what you do. May your students be well-behaved and may the copy

Fall Conference
Details
machine never break.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our conference on October 16 th. It
will be a wonderful opportunity to enhance your content knowledge and
pedagogy and also to connect with your social studies colleagues from
around the state. The Board of Directors is working diligently to make it
one of our best conferences yet!
Yours truly,
Amanda Roberts
President, MDCSS
History Award
MDCSS’s own RaeLynne Snyder of Baltimore City Public Schools was honored
with the HISTORY Award for Service at the 2015 Kenneth E. Behring National
History Day Competition on June 18, 2015. The HISTORY Award for Service is a
national award presented each year to an individual who has made an
outstanding contribution to history education through service to the National
History Day (NHD) program.
This year Ms. Snyder expanded the competition from 9 to 19 schools and over
Raelynne Snyder
2700 students culminating in Baltimore City’s very first city-wide competition
last March.
In May she was also honored with the Educator of Distinction Award as part of
Maryland History Day. Over 20,000 students compete in the competition each
year. Students research topics that address the National History Day theme and
participate in school and county competitions to qualify for the state contest.
Winners of the Maryland History Day state contest advance to the national
competition in College Park.
Ms. Snyder with Baltimore City Students
FALL CONFERENCE
Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* (Postmarked or PayPal
Submission by October 1, 2015) $50
Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* (Postmarked or PayPal
Submission after October 1, 2015): $60
WALK IN Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* $75
Go here to register:
http://mdcss.org/annual-conference/
Discounted Hotel Rate
If you are attending the MDCSS Conference on October 16, 2015 and are planning to stay
over at the Doubletree in Annapolis, be sure to take advantage of our discounted rate.
Just asked for the MDCSS Conference rate when you book your room to receive a rate of
$102 plus tax. This offer is good until September 25th.
FALL CONFERENCE
Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* (Postmarked or PayPal
Submission by October 1, 2015) $50
Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* (Postmarked or PayPal
Submission after October 1, 2015): $60
WALK IN Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* $75
Go here to register:
http://mdcss.org/annual-conference/
Discounted Hotel Rate
If you are attending the MDCSS Conference on October 16, 2015 and are planning to stay
over at the Doubletree in Annapolis, be sure to take advantage of our discounted rate.
Just asked for the MDCSS Conference rate when you book your room to receive a rate of
$102 plus tax. This offer is good until September 25th.
2015 MDCSS Conference Sessions
The Big
Picture: C3,
CCRS,
PARCC, and
Disciplinary
Literacy
(H)
C3 and
InquiryBased
Instruction in
the
Elementary
Classroom
(E)
C3 in the
Elementary
Classroom
(E)
Historical
Inquiry Using
Digital
Resources in
Grades 4-8
History in the
20th Century
for your 21st
Century
Students
(E, M)
(M, H)
Learning
about
Immigration
in America
through
Historical
Investigation
Engaging
Activities and
Experiments
for
Psychology
(H)
(M, H)
Historical
Inquiry using
Digital
Resources for
Middle and
High School
(M, H)
Democratizing
the DBQ: A
System-Wide
Approach to
Thinking,
Writing, and
Alignment with
the Common
Core
(E, M, H)
The
Immigrant’s
Trunk: A
Journey to
Baltimore
Teaching
Controversial
Issues in the
Social Studies
Classroom
(E, M, H)
(M, H)
History in a
Trunk:
Exploring
Object-Based
Learning
(M, H)
What if
everything
you know
about
Hinduism
was wrong
2.0?
Connecting
the Dots on
World
Population
History
Mill Creek
Middle
School
VodCast
Program
(M)
(E, M, H)
Turn your
government
classroom
into an
exciting
civics lab!
(M, H)
EverFi:
Teaching
Critical Life
Skills
Through Free
Online
Resources
(M, H)
The
American
Dream:
Personal
Finance in
U.S.
Government
(E, M, H)
(H)
Assessing
Close
Reading in a
History
Classroom
(M, H)
(E, M, H)
How to Get
a Job
Teaching
Social
Studies
Learning to
MELP
(H)
Workshop Session Descriptions
Workshop Session I
The Big Picture: C3, CCRS, PARCC, and Disciplinary Literacy
C3, CCRS, PARCC, DBQs, TGMs, PLDs, oh my! In this session we will explore how to put all of
these pieces together to see the big picture. Learn disciplinary literacy and investigation
strategies that will promote student success in all of the high school social studies courses.
Numerous ready-to-use activities will be provided.
Historical Inquiry Using Digital Resources in Grades 4-8
Why teach history like it’s 1776? Math, science, and even ELA are embracing technology to
teach 21st century skills while covering content. Social studies teachers should, too! Designed
for upper elementary and middle school teachers, this session will familiarize participants with
some of the outstanding digital resources now available for teaching United States and
Maryland history using inquiry method. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device – tablet or laptop) to test
out the Maryland Historical Society’s new online interactive curriculum supplement and
primary source archive, and video-chat live with an educator from the MdHS’ new distance
learning studio! All participants will receive from MdHS a free distance learning presentation.
History in the 20th Century for your 21st Century Students
Discover the latest student online digital resources produced by Maryland Public Television
focused on 20th century historical events. In this session you will explore several of the 35
disciplinary literacy free online student modules in the content area of social studies for grade
bands 6-8 and 9-12. Each module uses primary source text, secondary source text or
multimedia to teach and assess a single standard in disciplinary literacy. This session will
feature modules that used 20th century historic events and people as the module
topic. Additionally, learn how your middle and high school students can honor Vietnam
veterans through an oral history service learning project in a tribute we call MPT Salutes
Vietnam Veterans which culminates in a celebration in June 2016.
Learning about Immigration in America through Historical Investigation
Deepen student engagement and rigor through the use of historical investigations in the
secondary classroom. This session will explain how a historical investigation is built and will
model the process for presenting it to students, using a teacher-created primary source
investigation about opportunities for immigrants in America in the 1800s, set up in a way that
has students working as actual detectives, investigating a suspect.
Engaging Activities and Experiments in Psychology
This workshop presents activities and easy-to-do experiments for general and advanced
placement psychology classes. Some of the activities can also be adapted for middle school
science and social studies classes. Participants will engage in activities to develop new ways to
present topics including perceptual set, associative learning, and functions of the reticular
formation. Experiments to investigate the effects of aspiration and the spacing effect will also
be presented.
What if everything you knew about Hinduism was wrong, 2.0?
In a follow up to Hinduism 101 sessions from previous conferences, Dr. Murali Balaji will
present a “Hinduism 202” session in which teachers with intermediate or advanced
understandings about Hinduism can better incorporate their knowledge into pedagogy about
the religion. Balaji will also discuss the diversity of the Hindu Diaspora and the history of Hindu
Americans in the United States, including Maryland, so that teachers can better incorporate
such information into their own syllabi. This session is an ideal advanced session for world
history, U.S. history, and geography teachers.
Mill Creek Middle School VodCast Program
This fall marks the third year of partnership between Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum and
Mill Creek Middle School in Calvert County. Working with educators Jackie Sass and Mark
Taeshner along with 25 students, the group of 8th graders produced video podcasts – or
Vodcasts focused on aspects of the War of 1812. Students met with historians, theatre
professionals and media specialists to ensure an accurate and authentic product steeped in
research. As we continue our partnership and look forward to future projects we face obstacles
in terms of funding and curriculum based topics in conjunction with historic sites. Our hope is
to encourage other schools to explore the Vodcast program as part of their academic offerings.
Workshop Session II
C3 and Inquiry-Based Instruction in the Elementary Classroom
Come and explore how to apply the C3 inquiry arc in the elementary classroom. It is possible
for elementary students to work with primary source-based historical inquiries regardless of
grade level. This session will focus on how to incorporate the C3 standards and inquiry-based
instruction into the elementary classroom. Teachers will the leave the session understanding
how to use the Inquiry Design Model to create engaging, hands-on, student-centered inquiries
for their students. The goal of these inquires is to get students excited about learning social
studies. Let’s get ready to “do” social studies!
Historical Inquiry using Digital Resources for Middle and High
Today’s teenagers are accustomed to the fast-paced information exchange of the digital world.
So why are we still trying to teach them history using textbooks and lectures? Designed for
middle and high school U.S. history teachers, this session will familiarize participants with the
Maryland Historical Society’s outstanding new digital resources available for teaching United
States history using the historical investigations model. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device – tablet
or laptop) to test out our new online primary source archive and historical investigations, and
video-chat live with an educator from the MdHS’ new distance learning studio as we explore
new Virtual Field Trips on slavery, the Civil War, and WWII! See how the MdHS Student
Research Center can help your
students learn how to conduct primary source research using original archival sources either at
MdHS or online. All participants will receive a free distance learning presentation.
The Immigrant’s Trunk: A Journey to Baltimore
The Immigrant’s Trunk: A Journey to Baltimore is designed for middle school students and
explores the subject of Jewish immigration to Maryland. The story of the Jewish immigrant,
particularly in Baltimore, is an integral part of Maryland history. The Immigrant’s Trunk is a
resource kit that contains reproductions of primary sources that include photographs,
documents, letters, and objects from the Museum’s collection along with a series of lesson
plans exploring the experiences of Jewish immigrants in early 20 th century. This session will
culminate with a scene of a living history performance of a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant, Ida
Rehr who immigrated to Baltimore and who worked in the garment industry.
Teaching Controversial Issues in the Social Studies Classroom
Ferguson, Terrorism, Ebola – How do today’s headlines and emerging 21st century issues
impact teaching and learning in the classroom. Join the discussion and gather strategies for
helping teachers and students meet these challenges.
Turn your government classroom into an exciting civics lab!
Civic Action Project (CAP) is a free, national project based learning curriculum that teaches
students how everyday citizens can make a difference in their community, in their state, and
across the nation. CAP is based on the premise that students learn civics by doing civics. CAP
students inquire into current issues through reading and discussion about public policy and
then take informed action to practice citizenship and to make a difference. CAP lessons are
connected to Common Core Standards and provide opportunities for students to practice
critical thinking, participate in small group discussions, work with primary source documents,
use technology, analyze different points of views, and use evidence to support their
conclusions. By eliciting connections between civic knowledge and development of civic skills
and dispositions in real-world situations, students become equipped with the knowledge, skills
and attitudes necessary to become active and informed citizens.
Development of Critical Thinking and Analysis: The Role of Embedded Writing Instruction
A team of university faculty who teach courses in urban education, educational psychology, and
writing explore ways to prepare students’ content understanding related to their disciplines.
The work engages students in richer understandings around complex issues and develops
critical thinking and analysis skills though imbedded writing instruction. While invested in
improving the writing skills of our students; we are dedicated to cultivating future teachers who
are committed to deep and sustained inquiry, who address inequality and promote community
change, and who continually uncover truth in education using that knowledge to improve
teaching, learning, and society. We will explore, for example, these questions:
-
How can we prepare students to recognize, understand, and respond to the fundamental
truths embedded in educational issues through improved writing instruction?
-
How do we immerse students in learning and writing processes so they actively and
critically engage in understanding the historical, social, cultural, psychological, cultural,
philosophical, and ethical truths underlying education?
The American Dream: Personal Finance in U.S. Government
Looking for fun and interactive Financial Literacy curricula to meet Maryland Financial Literacy
Standards in a High School U.S Government Course? Concerned that you have limited class time
to cover Personal Finance? Well, we have a solution for you! The Maryland Council on
Economic Education has put together a 2-3 week curricula that both hits the standards and
offers teachers an interactive and fun way to deliver Financial Literacy education in a high
school U.S Government course. Examples of lessons include “Why Save?” “Invest in Yourself,”
to “The Role of Government in Financial Markets” and “Lessons from History: Stock Market
Crashes.” Tools used to deliver curricula include a FREE online game, “The Gen I Revolution,”
power points, and student hand-outs. All teachers receive access to FREE curricula and a FREE
end of the year Stock Market Game! Perfect for keeping students on task at the end of the
school year!
Workshop Session III
C3 in the Elementary Classroom
C3, the College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards, is the result
of a state-led initiative to enhance local social studies programs. The goals of this initiative were
to increase the rigor of social studies programs by integrating critical thinking, problem solving,
and collaborative skills; to promote civic engagement in our students; and to align curriculum
with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
This session will demonstrate what C3 looks like in the elementary classroom and provide a
framework for creating inquiry based lessons. Participants will engage in lesson plan activities
that show how the C3 Inquiry Arc is the vehicle for teaching social studies content while, at the
same time, providing students with transferable process skills and enduring understandings of
the world they live in.
Democratizing the DBQ: A System-Wide Approach to Thinking, Writing, and Alignment with the
Common Core
The DBQ Project will examine ways to teach Document-Based questions that are accessible to
all skill levels. Highlighting our World, US and Civics programs, this interactive session will focus
on ways districts can use the DBQ as a tool to vertically align their historical thinking and writing
expectations and integrating social studies and the Common Core in grades 4-12. The structure
of this session will be an interactive workshop where attendees will learn to teach a DBQ and
assess DBQs by doing them. Attendees will leave the workshop with a greater understanding of
the pedagogy required to reach all skill levels with the rigorous evidence-based DBQ writing
approach. During this session there will be a close examination of one DBQ that links to the
conference theme of study, Social Studies in the 21st Century.
History in a Trunk: Exploring Object-Based Learning
Not all field trips have to take place in the field! Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum provides
an engaging experience to discover history in the classroom that can be led by any teacher!
The Traveling Trunks are self-contained educational units on either the War of 1812 or the early
Native Americans in Maryland. Each trunk provides teachers with the unit’s entire series of
lesson plans and materials, including replica artifacts and literature. This presentation will
allow teachers to experience some of the lessons taken from the War of 1812 Trunk and to
explore other opportunities to incorporate object-based learning into social studies lessons.
Connecting the Dots on World Population History
During the Roman Empire and Han Dynasties, world population was less than 200 million. Over
the past 2,000 years, our numbers have grown to 36 times that (7.2 billion) with continued
growth expected through this century to an estimated 10 billion. What were the catalysts for
population surges throughout history? How has our human population growth changed land
usage and ecosystems? What will determine future projections? Explore the answers to these
questions and more using new online tools and lesson plans. The online tools enable students
to trace historical trends in the environment, public health, food and agriculture, trade routes,
exploration, and science and technology. They can then correlate these trends to population
changes in different parts of the world and environmental changes, including climate and land
use. Hands-on lesson plans will be presented that deepen students’ knowledge and critical
thinking through independent research and group activities.
EverFi: Teaching Critical Life Skills Through Free Online Resources
This session will cover the topic of financial literacy and the growing importance of educating
our students to be financially responsible citizens. By utilizing the FREE resources provided by
EverFi, teachers will see how using technology to assist in learning the concepts of financial
literacy will make them more financially sound and have fun in the process. Students will be
assessed and certified in a variety of financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit
cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stock, savings, 401Ks and other critical concepts that
map to national financial literacy standards. In the 14-15 SY, 230 schools and 27,000 students
in Maryland have gone through an EverFi course. Educators who attend this session will
receive full access to the two financial literacy programs and also two courses that focus on
Civic Engagement and African-American History, unlimited student licenses for their
school/district, curriculum guides, and supplementary lesson plans.
Assessing Close Reading in a History Classroom
Participants will learn how to help students develop close reading practices with historical text.
The focus will be on formative assessment of these practices that are unique to historical text.
Learning to MELP
Maryland is the first state in the nation to require environmental literacy for graduation. As a
result, Maryland school systems and nonprofit providers have forged an innovative partnership
to support integration of environmental literacy in core subjects. The resulting method
developed through the Maryland Environmental Literacy Partnership (MELP) seamlessly
integrates issues investigations and student action with curriculum.
Through training and professional development using the MELP Framework, select cohorts of
social studies teachers have been steeped in the process for creating locally relevant, robust
curricular resources. To date, 12 school districts have developed localized curricular modules in
in Maryland.
The MELP investigative framework is comparable to the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career and
Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards, employing similar methods as
presented in the four dimensions of C3. This MELP Framework, while environmentally focused,
also addresses civic, economic, geographic and historical components of both the Maryland
Core Learning Goals for social studies and C3 investigation standards.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
Complete one registration form per individual. Please print or type.
Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________
Primary Phone: _____________________________
Email (required) ____________________________________________
School System/Organization: _____________________________________________________________________
Level Taught: ES
MS
HS
Other: ______________
Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* (Postmarked or PayPal Submission by October 1, 2015):

$50
Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal* (Postmarked or PayPal Submission after October 1, 2014):

$60
WALK IN Conference Fee and MDCSS Membership/Renewal*
$75


College Students Training to Become a Teacher: The Maryland Geographic Alliance will
pay your Conference fee! To hold your spot, mail a check for $50.00 to the address below.
This check will be returned to you uncashed upon your arrival at the conference.
$50 (to be refunded on arrival)

Total Fee Enclosed: $
________
*Current members will receive a one year renewal based on their current membership expiration date.
Make checks payable to MDCSS. Register online at www.mdcss.org or send this form and payment to:
Rebecca Bowen
1305 Dares Beach Road
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
For Office Use Only
Amount enclosed with registration ____________ Check #________
Purchase Order # _____________
Social Studies Prepares Students for PARCC
Mark J Stout
As schools began gearing up for the first administration of the PARCC exams this past year, much of the
responsibility fell on language arts teachers to prepare their students for the literacy components of
the exam. A close look at the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards (Common Core State
Standards/CCSS) and the PARCC assessment sample items reveals that social studies teachers also play
a critical role. It is ill advised for schools to assign the task of preparation to just one course. This is
especially true at the secondary level where students sit in seven classes each day -- only one of which
is typically a language arts course.
It is clear from the writers of the CCSS, that they understood the need to involve all subject areas. The
standards establish guidelines for English language arts (ELA) as well as for literacy in history/social
studies, science, and technical subjects. Because students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and
use language effectively in a variety of content areas, the standards promote the literacy skills and
concepts required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines (CCSS, 2010). This concept of
“disciplinary literacy” weaves its way throughout the document, speaking to the importance of all
disciplines in preparing students for rigorous literacy standards.
For the performance component of the PARCC exam, students need to read and analyze relatively long
selections of text. By high school, about 70 percent of this text is informational, much of which comes
from history and social studies. Historical reading skills require students to examine source
information, read text closely, corroborate evidence across sources, contextualize what they read to
the historical time period, and make claims based on evidence from the text. For an example of the
importance of these processes, look no further that the PARCC sample items for performance
assessment. A publically released 11th grade task requires students to read lengthy letters between
John and Abigail Adams and then answer a series of questions that asks students to analyze sections of
the text and make inferences.
See this multiple-choice question from the online samples. The full letters were the source material for
all questions.
In his letter, John Adams tells his wife that “through all the gloom, I an see the rays of ravishing
light and glory.” Which paraphrase explains what Adams means by this statement?
a) Although I see the gloom (the announcement of independence), I also see the light and
glory (the fighting we will have to do against Great Britain).
b) Although I see the gloom (the war we must continue to fight), I also see the light and
glory (the complete independence of our new country from Great Britain).
c) Although I see the gloom (the disgrace of declaring independence from Great Britain), I
also see the light and glory (the many causes of the revolution).
d) Although I see the gloom (the hope with which independence from Great Britain was
declared), I also see the light and glory (the approval of future generations).
(PARCC, 2013)
This question requires the critical analysis of primary source materials not written for high school
students, a skill that is an important part of historical reading. In addition, it is clear that, if the
students have a contextual understanding about the period surrounding the American Revolution
and the role of John Adams as a key figure, they will be better able to interpret meaning from his
words.
Another important historical reading and thinking skill is the ability to read multiple accounts and
corroborate information across sources in order to assess the legitimacy of evidence. According to
the Stanford History Education Group (2010), corroboration is necessary to determine “which
evidence from sources are most believable.” Throughout the PARCC sample items, students read
multiple sources, tag textual evidence, and then use this evidence to support claims. In many ways,
these items look a great deal like a Document Based Question (DBQ) or a historical inquiry that a
social studies teacher might assign to their students.
In the performance assessment component of PARCC, students must be able to express their ideas
in writing. Argumentative, narrative, and explanatory writing citing textual evidence is the best
way to assess understanding of social studies content and concepts. Here is an example of an
explanatory essay that students must write in response to three documents related to the decision
to drop the atomic bomb. This is a question that a social studies teacher might ask their students
to complete during a unit on the Cold War.
Write an essay that compares and contrasts a primary argument in each text that you have
read regarding the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Your essay should explain how
effectively you think each author supported that claim with reasoning and/or evidence. Be
sure to use evidence from the three texts to support your ideas.
(PARCC, 2015)
There are many other examples like these, including some that reference other areas of social
studies beyond history. It is important for social studies educators to educate fellow teachers and
administrators about the role of social studies in preparing students for success on PARCC. Social
studies is a discipline that relies on the reading and interpretation of text in many forms, and the
expression of ideas through writing, speaking, or performance. The text our students read is
almost exclusively informational and complex– like the text that most will read in college and
throughout their careers. In our field, which is often marginalized because tests under NCLB have
not included the term “social studies,” it is critical to make others aware that there is another
class in our schools that teaches literacy, and it is called social studies.