I asked my colleagues for topic ideas outside the usual History Day suspects. Here's what they gave me, and how I turned it into posters for my students.
Inquiry
Reclaiming Inquiry and PBL with National History Day
Inquiry and PBL get thrown around so often they've lost meaning for a lot of teachers. This post digs into what these strategies actually require when done well, using National History Day as a working example. Resources are linked.
Games and Simulations in Social Studies
Games and simulations give students something traditional instruction can’t: the chance to step inside a system and make meaningful decisions with real consequences. When used intentionally, whether to model abstract concepts like legitimacy or to explore content-rich scenarios like diplomacy, state-building, or economic behavior, games transform learning from something students receive to something they actively experience, question, and apply.
Bridging Math and History: Eratosthenes and the Flat-Earth Myth
Blending math and history, I used flat earth debates to show students how interpretation, sources, and myth-making shape what we think we know.
Conceptualizing Competency Based Grading with the C3 Framework
This post is a reflection on my work with the C3 framework as I have moved from "Big Tent" standards towards competencies.
Exploring China’s Historical and Geographical Contexts: C3 Inquiry
I am starting a new unit in Geographic Cultural Studies, this time focused on China and East Asia. The student readings are supplemented from several textbook and secondary sources as well as many primary sources that will align to the supporting questions.
European Intellectual Transformations: Reflections on a C3 Unit for 9th Grade
I recently completed the unit I recently posted about in my 9th-grade Geographic Cultural Studies course that covered the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment. Unfortunately, it did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. This post is reflective, but also has many of the resources I used in the unit linked again.
Designing a Social Studies Course with C3 Standards
Our department's 9th grade foundational course is interdisciplinary and uses the C3 Framework; its called Geographic Cultural Studies. Courses and curriculum are always works in progress. This course has been successful so far and I am very happy with the rigor it has added to our curriculum, however, there are some adjustments needed to make it better. Some of the adjustments were related to content, so that it aligns better with our 10th grade World History course, and others are related to prioritization of the C3 standards and unit structure to support a transition to standards-based / competency-based instruction and assessment.
Building Inquiry Units with the C3 Framework
The 9th grade course I teach, Geographic Cultural Studies, is meant to be a mixture of geography and history with a bit of economics thrown in as well. The first of three major inquiry units guided by the C3 Framework is on Latin America. This post explores the structure and content of this unit.
Preparing for National History Day China 2024
NHD is the best social studies style program I have seen that gets students to apply their knowledge and skills to a real world question, and engage with the wider community about their research and passions.