CCSS FALL CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
October 27, 2015
SESSION ONE: 9:30-10:20
1-1
An Integrated Approach to the Social Studies Frameworks
Presenters: Melissa Null & Kathy Weiss, Redding Public Schools
Time! TIME! TIME! We know that there is a lot to do as an elementary school teacher
and limited time to get it all done! Perhaps we have found a way to deliver solid social studies
instruction through an integrated approach. Come find out how classroom teachers can work
alongside fine & practical arts teachers and the library media specialist to bring the new Social
Studies framework alive for our students.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Coach 2
1-2
Early Guilford Days: A Hands-On Approach to Local History
Presenters: Pat Lovelace & Hope Ryan, Guilford Keeping Society
Early Guilford Days is a yearlong curriculum for the study of Guilford's early history. It
includes visits (conducted through structured scavenger hunts) to local history museums, hands
on learning through time spend using items reflecting the time period, and an all-day program of
workshops at the Thomas Griswold House and the Hyland House Museums. The students,
workshop leaders, teachers and parent volunteers dress in colonial costume. The workshops
include: hearth cooking, blacksmithing, candle making, stenciling, schoolroom, herbs, etc.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Coach 1
1-3
Teach It: What Is It? Why Use It? Help Build It!
Presenters: Gregg Mangan & Laura Krenicki, Connecticut Humanities Council
An exciting resource, Teach It is a collaborative effort to aggregate, in one place, the
Connecticut history content teachers need. The new Frameworks offer the opportunity to explore
Connecticut’s rich history through the stories and objects held in our cultural institutions. Join us
to learn about the inquiry-based activities currently available, to explore our directory of local
resources, or to discover how you can help build Teach It to meet your specific classroom needs.
Target Audience: 3-12
Room: Cheshire C
1-4
Incorporating Economics Across Social Studies, Grades 6-12
Presenters: Chad Ellis & Colleen Peling, West Hartford Public Schools
This workshop will present an overview of key economic concepts and will provide
examples of ways to incorporate those concepts in the secondary social studies classroom. The
workshop is aligned with the new state frameworks and will provide examples for middle school
global studies as well as high school world history and U.S. History.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Berkshire B
1-5
Student-Centered Learning and the Inquiry-Based Challenge Project
Presenters: Daniel Morisse-Corsetti , James Flynn & Matthew Banas, Meriden Public Schools
Learn about the development of student-centered learning units that culminate in inquirybased challenge projects. Teachers and students will present exemplar work and discuss the use
of blended learning methods to increase rigor and student voice leading to authentic student
engagement.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room: Avon A
1-6
When “New” Really works: Success with Source Analysis Using DEMO
Presenters: Joseph Marangell, East Haven Public Schools & Regine Randall, Southern
Connecticut State University
DEMO! is a highly versatile and accessible instructional strategy that allows students to
analyze topics and sources using four steps: define, explain, explain more, and offer additional
insights or evidence. Participants will engage in an activity that models this approach, and will
learn ways that it can be adapted for a variety of grade levels and content areas.
Target Audience: All
Room: Jersey
1-7
History Detectives: Using Inquiry through Primary Source Workshops
Presenters: Sarah Cahill & Krystal Rose, Mystic Seaport
Attendees will participate in a hands-on primary source workshop using both artifacts and
documents from Mystic Seaport. During this Curator’s Challenge activity, participants will learn
how students can develop their historical thinking skills while analyzing primary sources and
creating an exhibit. Presenters will discuss how this activity addresses the most critical element of
inquiry, student investigation of subject matter, as well as the Historical Sources and Evidence
components of the new state Social Studies Frameworks
Target Audience: 4-12
Room: Middlesex
1-8
Conducting Research 2.0: How Middle School Teams Can Collaborate to Enhance Student
Inquiry
Presenters: Monica Sheehan & Ramona Biondi, New Canaan Public Schools
How can using the new State Framework spark students' interest in research projects?
Presenters will share exemplars and model lessons for facilitating common grade level assured
research experiences that integrate technology, literacy standards, inquiry and the State
Framework. The session will provide participants with strategies for using a variety of texts and
multimedia resources to engage students to think like a historian by sourcing, contextualizing,
close reading and corroborating to investigate historical and essential questions.
Target Audience: 5-8
Room: Kent
1-9
Three Branches and You: Creating Documentary Videos through the Inquiry Process
Presenters: Shannon McNeice & Delores Bates, West Hartford Public Schools
In a new twist on our approach to inquiry, instead of writing papers, students created
documentary-style videos to defend their original argumentative thesis statements. Based on the
C-Span StudentCam competition, this project asked students to think critically about issues that
face their community, their nation, and their lives.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Fife
1-10
Integrating Connecticut Women’s History into Your Social Studies Classroom
Presenter: Bambi Mroz, Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame
The new frameworks call for expanded Connecticut history content and the inclusion of
diverse perspectives, including women’s voices…But where to begin? As the state’s premier
source for women’s history, the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame has you covered! In this
session, we’ll explore free resources available for educators and discuss how to use the stories of
Connecticut women to tell the broader story of history in your inquiry-based classroom—and get
students actively engaged!
Target audience: 6-12
Room: Highland H
SESSION TWO: 10:35-11:25
2-1
Social Studies Embedded into the Elementary Classroom
Presenter: Regina-Julie Albee, Southington Public Schools
Social Studies imbedded into the Elementary classroom is a guide to help Elementary
teachers feel more comfortable pairing the Social Studies standards with all academic areas. The
participants will have the opportunity to generate a Social Studies lesson that can be used later in
their own classroom. The participants will also be provided with at least one grade level
appropriate imbedded lesson and one whole school activity that incorporates the Social Studies
framework.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Coach 2
2-2
Hands-On Materials Make Learning Engaging
Presenter: Sheila Miller, Nystrom
Meeting the demands of The CT Frameworks and CCSS is demanding but it can also be
rewarding when you have dynamic curriculum materials. The presenter, Sheila Miller, currently is
a Curriculum Consultant with Nystrom Education was once trying to accomplish the same
objectives. All students have a different way of learning, and through Nystrom’s Hands on Social
Studies Program materials she will demonstrate how learning can be interactive, and fun, while
still being effective. The workshop will address the new CT Frameworks such as Me and My
Community, Society and Ourselves, Making a difference for Social Studies along with CCSS with
various manipulatives designed to engage our students.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Coach 1
2-3
Fostering Curiosity: Inquiry in Elementary Social Studies
Presenters: Lauren Francese & Rebecca Marsick, Westport Public Schools
Participants will discuss innovative ways that inquiry can be used to enhance students
learning In the elementary school classroom. Specific examples of inquiry activities in the K-5
classroom will be demonstrated.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Cheshire C
2-4
Using an “Economic Way of Reasoning”: The Unintended Consequences of War: Truman, the
Bomb, Obama and ISIS
Presenter: Douglas Young, Council for Economic Education
Participants will use the “Economic Way of Reasoning” from the C3 Frameworks to
evaluate two major historical events. The template from the C3 Teachers Took Kit will be used
to create compelling and supporting questions for the “Arc of Inquiry”; creating these questions
is essential to create good inquiry activities. The impact of economic factors on historical events
will be carefully analyzed in this workshop.
Target Audience: All
Room: Jersey
2-5
Learning through Inquiry: Yearning to Breathe Free: Changing Attitudes about Immigration,
1880-1920
Presenter: Kate O’Mara, Regional District #17
Participants will learn about an inquiry unit developed to also meet some Common Core Standards
and the Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks. The unit traces changing attitudes toward immigrants
during the height of immigration. The unit includes a variety of types of primary sources including a poem, an
autobiography, three oral histories, an excerpt of historical fiction and multiple political cartoons (some of
these sources are from Connecticut). Through this unit students will develop independence in their analysis
of primary sources through teacher support, student to student discussions and finally independent
examination of resources. Through the process students will determine facts and opinions in the historical
resources, as well as the various points of view of the creators of those sources. Students will complete the
unit by writing an expository essay.
Presenter: Kate O’Mara, Regional District #17
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Berkshire B
2-6
Using Newly-Digitized Historic Connecticut Newspapers for Inquiry-Based Instruction in High
School History Courses
Presenter: Christine Gauvreau, Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project of the Connecticut State
Library
Newly digitized historic Connecticut newspapers can be an important resource for
inquiry–based lessons at the high school level. During this session participants will explore
samples from Connecticut newspapers from the Progressive era and see how these can be used
to create captivating inquiry lessons for students.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room: Avon A
2-7
World War One: Teaching the Great War from a Local Perspective
Presenters: Christine Pittsley, Connecticut State Library & Stephen Armstrong, Connecticut
Department of Education
World War One was the defining moment of the 20th Century yet it is rarely taught from a
local perspective. Learn how Connecticut was an early participant in the war and how to access
an abundance of primary source materials, many of which are now digital, for use in the
classroom. This session will explore the critical importance of World War I and its impact on
American society and society in Connecticut.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room: Kent
2-8
K-12 Vertical Articulation: A View through the Lens of Social Studies
Presenters: Steven Strand & Dana Mortensen, Waterbury Public Schools
Moving beyond the CT Social Studies Framework: creating conditions so that learning
and reflective analysis are the cultural norm. Waterbury Public Schools shares its processes
associated with curriculum management pertaining to the “new” CT SS Framework, including
real-time successes and challenges of tackling an integrated approach to K-12 curriculum design.
The session will include a conversation regarding the iterative strategies related to and within the
scope of a k-12 design process: program evaluation, research and development, and initial
implementation/monitoring. The CT Social Studies Framework represents an opportunity for
curriculum designers to promote inquiry-based/experiential learning for all students – sustainable
outcomes are the result of an intentional K-12 plan.
Target Audience: All
Room: Highland H
2-9
Women’s History, Women’s Rights and Feminism: An Application of the New Social Studies
Frameworks
Presenter: Meaghan Davis, BRAVE Girls Leadership
This session will introduce strategies and resources about the application of the new
state social studies frameworks to content focused on women’s history, women’s rights and
feminism. This content is often lost and/or minimized in many social studies courses. The new
state framework can help provide clear avenues for including more ideas and resources about
these important topics. It is imperative to be more diligent about developing and fostering this
perspective for our students.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room : Fife
2-10
Sneak Peak and Critique: Inquiry Toolkits for Connecticut Classrooms
Presenters: Anthony Roy & Kelly Falvey, Connecticut River Academy & Connecticut Council for
the Social Studies
A group of Connecticut educators have been working with the National Council for the
Social Studies and the National Center for Literacy Education to effectively implement the
disciplinary literacy skills outlined in Connecticut’s State Social Studies Frameworks. This group
is excited to share example inquiry toolkits, discuss possible ways to assess inquiry, and garner
feedback about their efforts. This session is about colleagues helping colleagues to apply the C3
in Connecticut classrooms.
Target Audience: All, Museums & Historical Societies
Room: Middlesex
SESSION THREE: 1:05-1:50
3-1
Call to Action: Addressing Climate Change in Connecticut
Presenters: Donna Leake, University of New Haven & Laura Krenicki, Colchester Public Schools
Many CT shoreline communities established committees to research the effect of climate
change. Is this just a phenomenon that will impact shoreline communities? Or will it change life as
we know it throughout CT? Can the effects of climate change be ameliorated? This is an
excellent real life call to action for our students. Attend this conference session to gather lesson
ideas and resources for use within your classroom to address this timely, important topic.
Target Audience: K-8
Room: Coach 1
3-2
A Revolutionary Idea: A Case Study for Integrated Inquiry Units
Presenters: Christina Vida & Denise Malnati, Windsor Public Schools
STEAM + Social Studies = integrated units, and Windsor Public Schools’ Denise Malnati
and Pauline Reale planned a test case using Reale’s 5th grade American Revolution unit
including an excursion to the Windsor Historical Society. Malnati, Reale, and Vida will discuss the
planning process, curriculum components, implementation, and thoughts for the future. Get your
questions answered and walk away with ideas for your own district.
Target Audience: K-5, Museums and Historical Societies
Room: Cheshire C
3-3
Integrating the Social Studies Frameworks into a Global Studies Course to Promote Advocacy
And Activism
Presenter: Elizabeth Devine, West Hartford Public Schools
This workshop will present a process for developing digital portfolios and a senior
capstone project using 21st Century learning tools, global problem solving skills and inquiry
activities. Practical applications of the inquiry approach as a method to promote advocacy and
activism will be shared with attendees.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room: Berkshire B
3-4
The Economic Consequences of Racial Discrimination
Presenter: Douglas Young, Council for Economic Education
Target Audience: All
Jim Crow, segregation legislation, and de facto housing policies of the post-Civil Right
Movement era has kept many African-Americans impoverished. During this session teachers
will create “compelling” and “supporting” questions focusing on the unintended economic
consequences which have created a society that is still “separate” and “unequal”.
Target Audience: All
Room: Jersey
3-5
Inquiry Stations: Using Station Teaching to Support Inquiry Instruction at the Secondary Level
Presenter: Sara Slegesky, CREC
This workshop will model and explore how to incorporate station teaching as a model for
inquiry instruction in the secondary social studies classroom. Typically, this style of teaching is
seen in elementary classrooms, but can help secondary teachers shift to a more student centered
classroom. Using interactive student and teacher-led stations, the students will take the lead in
the learning, working, and exploring. This model of teaching allows for students to collaborate and
discuss. Additionally, stations can allow for teachers to utilize a range of types of sources on any
given topic. Stations can be set up in a variety of ways, as well, allowing for differentiation in the
classroom. This session is intended to highlight Dimensions 2 & 3 of the Inquiry Arc.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Kent
3-6
Human Rights Education in Social Studies Classrooms
Presenter: Glenn Mitoma, Director, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut,
Storrs
This session explores the principles and practices of Human Rights Education (HRE),
considers approaches to social studies teaching within the HRE format, and presents teachers
with examples and resources to use in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. Special
attention is given to the connection between HRE and the new Connecticut Social Studies
Framework and the inquiry process.
Target Audience: All
Room: Middlesex
3-7
Custom Tools That Help Meet the Connecticut Frameworks and Support CCSS
Presenter: Sheila Miller, Nystrom
Looking to have digital tools with thousands of lessons correlated to the CT Frameworks
to choose from without searching the web? Looking to be more digital within your classroom
and to help extend learning beyond classroom walls? Here is your help – new curriculum tools
to help you do both with ease. The presenter, a Curriculum Consultant with Nystrom Education
and former educator, will demonstrate how to bring history and geography to your classroom in
a digital format for the benefit of teachers and students. The presenter will utilize Active
Classroom and StrataLogica to demonstrate inquiry learning and active reading activities. By the
end of the session you will see how the digital tools can enhance your classroom learning and
cover the CT Frameworks – World regional Studies, US History, Government and Civics.
Target Audience: 5-12
Room: Highland H
3-8
Seymour Yesterday and Today: Farms, Fields and Factories: A School and Community
Educational Partnership
Presenters: Carolyn Ivanoff, Shelton Public Schools & Barbara Junko, Seymour Historical Society
This workshop demonstrates how Seymour Historical Society and Seymour Public
Schools collaborated to develop a partnership to develop a place-based, experiential local history
program for students embedded into the curriculum as an annual assured experience for all third
graders. The workshop demonstrates and models ways that partnering between local historical
societies and schools can expand local history and civics learning for students and provides
workshop attendees with ideas and tools to bring this type of partnership to their own
communities. Seymour's Yesterday & Today, Farms, Fields and Factories demonstrates how
committed educators and community members can create programs for students that align to the
new CBE Position Statement on Social Studies Education, the C3, Common Core, and CT Social
Studies Framework.
Target Audience: All, Museums & Historical Societies
Room: Avon A
3-9
CSI and Haunted History: Have Your Students Solve History’s Mysteries
Presenters: Karen Boyea, Michael Galatioto & Evan Olmstead, Greenwich Public Schools
Would you like to ignite the same curiosity you have about history in your students using
inquiry-based methods? If so, please join us as we share some of the methods, lesson ideas and
sources that we have been working on over the last five years. You will leave the presentation
with methods that you could implement the next day with your classes. All methods invite
students to play an active role in being their own historical detective and encourage students to
consider historical events from multiple perspectives.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room: Kent
3-10
Slavery in Connecticut: Using the Inquiry Arc in History
Presenters: Christine Jewell, Fairfield Museum and History Center & Ian Lowell, Monroe Public
Schools
Learn how to use the Inquiry Arc in the CT Frameworks to successfully challenge
students to investigate, evaluate and form conclusions through the four disciplines; geography,
civics, history and economics. Discover and analyze primary sources, local stories and
documents relating to slavery with a focus on 18th century Connecticut and New England.
Teacher resources were developed as part of collaboration between the Fairfield Museum and
History Center and Monroe Public Schools.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Coach 2
SESSION FOUR: 2:05-2:50
4-1
Geography in the Elementary Classroom
Presenter: Laura Krenicki, Colchester Public Schools
This resource session will allow elementary teachers to explore how to incorporate
geography into their curriculum, and provide tools to assist children in interacting with global
classrooms. Participants should be prepared to try out the resources through an inquiry
approach.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Jersey
4-2
Using Theme-Based Instruction to Frame Inquiry
Presenter: Tom Brodnitzski, CREC
A theme-based approach can be used to harness student interest and engagement in the
inquiry process. Students at two Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) Elementary Magnet
Schools engage in an inquiry cycle aligned with the dimensions of the Social Studies Inquiry Arc.
CREC’s International Magnet School and CREC’s Museum Academy use their theme as a
catalyst for student inquiry.
Target Audience: K-5
Room: Highland H
4-3
Teaching Thematically Using Inquiry: A Mini Lesson from Greenwich High School’s Global
Studies Curriculum
Presenters: Ian Tiedemann & Megan Roby, Greenwich Public Schools
This session will review how Greenwich High School’s 9th grade Global Studies
curriculum allows students to assess major historical events and their connection to
contemporary issues based on three themes -- democratization, development, and
interconnectedness. In order to demonstrate the thematic nature of the course and the ability of
students to compare and contrast across regions, a sample lesson will be reviewed focusing on
life in East and West Germany.
Target Audience: 9-12
Room: Coach 1
4-4
Integrating the Social Studies Frameworks and Connecticut History to Promote Civic
Engagement
Presenters: Elizabeth Devine & Tracey Wilson, West Hartford Public Schools
This workshop will present lessons using the CT Social Studies Frameworks and the four
disciplines outlined in the CT Frameworks to aid students in gaining perspective, knowing
content, recognizing cause and effect as well as developing claims. Presenters will also illustrate
the use of compelling questions to guide inquiry and civic engagement.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Coach 2
4-5
Meet the New Frameworks and Engage Students through History Day in Connecticut
Presenter: Rebecca Taber-Conover, History Day in Connecticut
Students thrive through participation in History Day in Connecticut. They conduct inquirybased projects, exploring a topic of their own choice and then presenting it in one of five formats
(paper, exhibit, documentary, performance, website). View project examples. Meet student
participants to hear about their experience. Learn how History Day supports the new Social
Studies Frameworks and prepares students for college and careers.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Middlesex
4-6
Truth and Reconciliation: Can Teachers Change the Narrative around Native Americans in New
England?
Presenters: Dr.Mishy Lesser, Learning Director, Upstander Project; Jennifer McMunn, Mansfield
Public Schools; Glenn Mitoma, Director, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of
Connecticut; Jacob Skrzypiec, Manchester Public Schools
This session uses original documentary film and curriculum to explore the historical context of
the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which recently
concluded two years of research documenting the forced removal of Wabanaki children from
their families and tribes. The TRC’s final report declares this practice of forces assimilation to be
cultural genocide. We will screen the new short documentary, Children of the Dawn, and use
the inquiry process to develop compelling questions about genocide in New England’s history
and consider ways of taking informed action in contemporary reality. This interactive workshop
will introduce participants to the Question Formulation Technique and Listening Circles, as well
as related online learning materials. This session is a preview of the Upstander Academy
Summer Institute for Teachers, to be held at Uconn’s Dodd Center in July 2016.
Target Audience: 5-12
Room: Cheshire
4-7
What New Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers Need to Know
Presenter: Gene Stec, Trumbull Public Schools
This session is designed for teachers who are relatively new to the classroom and for student
teachers and potential student teachers. Participants will discuss the benefits of joining
professional organizations, such as Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, other ways of
connecting with fellow teachers, and ways to deal with many problems that confront those that
are new to the profession. Participants are invited to come with questions they have about
teaching and teaching social studies.
Target Audience: All
Room: Berkshire B
4-8
China on the World Stage: Weighing the U.S. Response: The Choices Approach
Presenter: Dennis Cabrera, Darien Public Schools
The Choices Program is a non-profit organization. Choices materials draw connections
between historical events and contemporary international issues. In each unit, a central activity
challenges students to consider multiple viewpoints. Students examine the historical and political
background of the issue to prepare a presentation. Ultimately, students are expected to formulate
arguments and express their views. This session will present the unit “China on the World Stage.”
Participant will receive a PDF of the unit.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Avon A
4-9
Effective Strategies for Reading History
Presenter: Ed Dorgan, Regional District #10
Participants will learn how to teach their students to effectively read historical documents
by following specific literacy strategies - as outlined through the Stanford History Education
Group's - 'Reading Like a Historian' program. Workshop participants will practice these skills
through sample lessons in U.S. history (grades 5, 8, & high school) and World History (Ancient
History - through modern times). In addition, participants will receive some shorter historical
assessments that reinforce the Connecticut Social studies Frameworks inquiry indicators for
evaluating sources.
Target Audience: 6-12
Room: Kent
4-10
Connecting in Connecticut: Developing a “Take Action” Project through a Partnership with
Your Local History Society
Presenters: Jennifer Murrihy, ACES & Tawana Graham-Douglas, Plainville Public Schools
This is a case study of how the Plainville Community Schools revamped experiential
learning with Dimension 4 in mind through a dedicated collaboration between the Plainville
Historical Society and support from the office of Curriculum and Instruction. Learn how you can
brainstorm ways you can make learning local for your students, advocate for support from
administration, connect the frameworks, and use technology to document student learning
outcomes. Participants will come away with ideas for tech integrated projects and tools to create
connections in their own communities.
Target Audience: All, Museums & Historical Societies
Room: Fife