The Social Studies Standards Workshop is a two-day workshop series designed to equip K–8 teachers and school leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to successfully implement the new social studies standards by the 2026–27 school year.
Learn how to do more with less. The Minnesota Humanities Center, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education, presents the LESSI Institute.
This two-day workshop series (July 29 and August 17, 2026) is designed to equip K–12 teachers and school leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to successfully implement the new social studies standards for the 2026–27 school year.
This introductory session explores approaches to teaching world history that center inquiry, historical thinking, and multiple perspectives across time and place.
Build a shared understanding of what high-quality social studies instruction looks like in practice. Participants will build a baseline understanding of what to look for in terms of high-quality implementation of the 2021 K-12 Academic Standards in Social Studies.
Building on the big questions, historical thinking, and resources introduced in the Content Session, experienced classroom educators will lead a hands-on workshop focused on applying the inquiry-based instructional framework that will guide the World History Eras series.
Investigate the origins of humanity through the evidence early people left behind, exploring how historians, archaeologists, and scientists reconstruct the earliest chapters of human history.
Explore disciplinary literacy as the core goal of social studies instruction. Participants will deepen their understanding of what it means for students to think, read, write, and reason like historians, geographers, economists, and political scientists.
This two-day workshop series (July 29 and August 17, 2026) is designed to equip K–12 teachers and school leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to successfully implement the new social studies standards for the 2026–27 school year.
Building on the content and sources from this era’s Content Session, experienced classroom educators will lead a hands-on workshop exploring inquiry-based, standards-aligned instructional approaches and classroom applications for teaching this era.
Learn how to evaluate summative tasks for true rigor and disciplinary alignment. Participants will analyze whether tasks genuinely require students to engage in disciplinary reasoning, use evidence from sources, and demonstrate authentic understanding.
Explore the emergence of cities, societies, and empires across Africa, Asia, and the Americas while examining how religious, political, technological, and social developments shaped the ancient world.