Events

Develop tools and strategies for observing social studies instruction through a disciplinary lens. Participants will learn what to look for in classrooms, including evidence of student reasoning, effective use of sources, and alignment between tasks and the disciplinary thinking represented in the benchmarks.

Focus on strengthening how sources are selected, used, and taught. Participants will explore strategies for helping teachers move beyond surface-level source activities, and primary source work that confirms pre-taught narratives towards using sources as evidence, perspective, and tools for reasoning. Emphasis will be placed on improving opportunities for student analysis and argumentation.

Examine how formative tasks can be used to build and monitor disciplinary thinking throughout a unit. Participants will learn how to give feedback on and refine formative activities that make student reasoning visible, and support instructional adjustment in real time.

Explore what authentic learning in social studies truly means. Participants will analyze how tasks can reflect real disciplinary practices, meaningful problems, and genuine applications of learning. This session will distinguish between projects that seem fun and deep engagement with authentic intellectual work.