A Quick Look at Three Ways to Approach Picture Analysis

Posted on February 17, 2016 by stevemasy

As educators, we are always looking for new ways to approach our content and engage our students. A few weeks ago, the FJCC had the pleasure of providing professional development to teachers in Highlands County, a small rural county here in Florida very similar to where your humble blog host spent much of his early career. While there, I had the chance to speak with Holly Ard. Holly basically functions as the social studies specialist in the district while still teaching her own classes, and does excellent work.

One of the most difficult tasks for students to do, particularly at the lower grades, is to interpret primary sources, especially visual sources. While we stress the importance of primary sources, we often fail to actually provide teachers or students with the tools necessary to use them! This, in a time when disciplinary literacy has re-emerged as an important element of social studies teacher education thanks in part to the C3 Framework. Holly has attempted to address this issue by integrating a Picture Analysis Strategy. The strategy she uses is aimed at students of differing ability levels, and in talking with her, it seems to work well in engaging students with somewhat difficult content!

Working with partners, students individually break down the image, using the guide below. Note that the four ‘boxes’ represent the four quadrants of the image, a popular approach for image analysis. Having students create a title for the image does a nice job getting to the Common Core/Florida Standards expectation that students should be able to summarize text of all kinds. What else is a good a title than a really short and really strong summary of text?

Another way to approach image analysis is seen below. This version of the analysis template can be done with a partner or individually. I appreciate how it seeks to have students connect it directly to what they are learning. Relations between content and context is important.

I especially love this version of the picture analysis activity, which may be most useful for paintings or photographs of a perhaps persuasive bent.

Thanks, Holly, for sharing these approaches. We look forward to more goodness from you!

By the way, if you are looking for resources in Civics or History that can help kids with primary sources, I encourage you to check out the Stanford History Education Group!

What do we want in a social studies teacher?

Posted on January 7, 2016 by stevemasy

Recently, the National Council for the Social Studies released its National Standards for the Preparation of Social Studies Teachers guidance document for public review. If you are a parent, pre-service social studies teacher or teacher educator, current or former teacher, or, honestly, simply an engaged citizen with a concern for the future, I encourage you to check it out and provide them with feedback. The document, which runs about 23 pages, provides an overview of five core competencies that are important in social studies teacher education.

Each section of the report dives deeper into each of the core competencies. No doubt, there will be some comments raised about the inclusion of ‘social justice’, knowing that that particular term was once removed from standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (now the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation), for good or ill. I do appreciate the emphasis on inquiry, skills, and knowledge as having an equal role in teacher preparation, though the references to C3 could be an issue in states where that program is (unfortunately) not adopted.

As a civic educator, I cannot help but notice that there is a HUGE amount of attention paid to varying elements of civic education and competency. Obviously, if we consider that social studies is at the heart of instruction in good citizenship, this is important, but it’s ultimately necessary that these standards make clear that civics must necessarily connect to other content areas in our field, and I think they do that adequately.

You can review the standards here, and I encourage you to do so and reflect on them before you complete the survey here.

Resources for Community Engagement and Service Learning

Posted on December 7, 2015 by stevemasy

Being a good citizen is about more than simply knowing some memorized facts that you can pull off of the Internet. It is, in many ways, also about being involved with your community and learning how to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of your fellow citizens. Today’s post comes to us from the FJCC’s own Val McVey, and she shares with us resources that can be used to engage with your community and learn how to be a good citizen.

The Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Civics lend themselves to meaningful student engagement with the community. Some of the benchmarks require service learning while others ask students to identify ways citizens can be involved and make positive contributions to their community and work with others to solve problems.

Benchmarks Include –

1.C.2.3 – Identify ways students can participate in the betterment of their school and community
2.C.2.4 – Identify ways citizens can make a positive contribution in their community
3.C.2.1 – Identify group and individual actions of citizens that demonstrate civility, cooperation, volunteerism, and other civic virtues
4.C.2.2 – Identify ways citizens work together to influence government and help solve community and state problems
5.C.2.5 – Identify ways good citizens go beyond basic civic and political responsibilities to improve government and society
7.C.2.14 – Conduct a service project to further the public good
9.C.2.5 – Conduct a service project to further the public good
9.C.2.8 – Analyze the impact of citizen participation as a means of achieving political and social change

To assist with teaching these benchmarks, we are highlighting a handful of organizations that offer unique community engagement and service learning programs and curriculum materials.

If you have another organization to add to the list, we would love to hear from you!

Organizations

Do Something provides teens and young people avenues to get involved with a wide range of social change campaigns. Individual or groups of high school students can login to the website, explore in-progress campaigns, and choose a campaign to get involved with. Do Something relies heavily on teens and young peoples’ connectivity through social media.

Generator School Network is an online community of more than 5,000 youth and adult members who have discovered how they can change the world through service learning. The GSN is the leading resource for fast and easy sharing, service-learning professional development, and networking. Their clearinghouse is a searchable database with thousands of K-12 service-learning ideas, organizations and resources.

Giraffe Heroes Project’s mission is to move people to stick their necks out for the common good, and to give them tools to succeed. They provide curriculum materials (free and for purchase) that weave together character education, civic engagement and service-learning all around the mission of moving K-12 students to be courageous, compassionate, and responsible members of the community. Students learn about people who have “stuck their neck out” for the common good and how they can nominate others to become giraffe heroes.

H2O for Life educates, engages and inspires youth to learn, take action and become global citizens. They provide K-12 students with a unique and valuable learning experience through service-learning opportunities focused on the global water crisis. All of their materials are free and available for use. Their unique program offers participating U.S. schools a connection with a partner school in a developing country that needs water. Each participating school receives a project outline of the partner school, their project fundraising goal and photos to provide a name and face for Florida students.

Kid World Citizen provides multi-content area resources for K-8 teachers to teach global citizenship. Included on their website is a list of service projects and opportunities for kids to volunteer within their community that will empower kids with responsibility, engage their compassion, and offer them the chance to affect the lives of others.

Again, if you have additional organizations or resources, leave them in a comment here or shoot me an email at stephen.masyada@ucf.edu!

SOURCES Annual Conference

Posted on November 24, 2015 by stevemasy

Good morning, civics friends. This post is just a reminder that the SOURCES Annual Conference, put on by Dr. Scott Waring here at UCF, is coming soon, and it is worth your time and energy to attend. I went last year, and it was simply fantastic. If you are looking for excellent professional development on using primary sources in the classroom, this is what you are looking for. Information on the conference is below, and you can register here! The main conference page is here. Take a look at the overview below, and we hope to see you there!

SOURCES Annual Conference

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida

January 16, 2016

The Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the University of Central Florida (TPS-UCF) will be hosting the second annual SOURCES Annual Conference at the University of Central Florida on January 16, 2016. The SOURCES Annual Conference is a free opportunity available to any educators interested in the utilization and integration of primary sources into K-12 teaching. Presenters will focus on providing strategies for using primary sources to help K-12 students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and build content knowledge, specifically in one or more of the following ways:

Justifying conclusions about whether a source is primary or secondary depending upon the time or topic under study;
Describing examples of the benefits of teaching with primary sources;
Analyzing a primary source using Library of Congress tools;
Accssing teaching tools and primary sources from www.loc.gov/teachers;
Identifying key considerations for selecting primary sources for instructional use (for example, student needs and interests, teaching goals, etc.);
Accessing primary sources and teaching resources from www.loc.gov for instructional use;
Analyzing primary sources in different formats;
Analyzing a set of related primary sources in order to identify multiple perspectives;
Demonstrating how primary sources can support at least one teaching strategy (for example, literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical thinking, etc.); and
Presenting a primary source-based activity that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.

Dr. Joel Breakstone, of Stanford University, will provide the Keynote Presentation, Beyond the Bubble: A New Generation of History Assessments. In this session, he will discuss about and present ways in which educators can use assessments designed by the Stanford History Education Group to incorporate Library of Congress documents. Participants will examine assessments and sample student responses. Additional session titles include the following:

Designating for Assignment: Using Baseball to Tell the Story of Race in America Socratic Circles and Primary Sources: Students Generate Essential Questions
Galaxy of Wonder
Education Resources from the Library of Congress focused on the Social Sciences & Literacy
How do I know If It’s Primary? Research Questions and Primary Sources
ESRI Story Maps and Integrating LOC Resources
Mapping the American Revolution
Primary Sources: Find Them, Choose Them, and Use Them Well
Sites of African-American Memory
Who Is Bias: the Media or Us?
A Professional Development and Curriculum Model for the Use of Historical Literacy
Magnifying How We See, Think, and Wonder: Fostering Critical Literacy Among Young Learners Using Library of Congress Primary Sources
Sourcing in a Flash!
Primary Sources: A Lens to View History
Bringing Fiction to Life Using Primary Sources
Playing with Primary Sources: Game-Based Learning with Resources from The Library of Congress
Engage English Learners and Other Diverse Learners with Primary Sources
Creating a Sound Argument Using Primary Sources
Teaching with Primary Sources: African American Sacred Music
Veterans History Project: Learning About US Conflicts Through the Eyes of a Veteran
Is North Up? : Exploring the Nature of Maps
Differentiation Using Primary Sources from the Library
Using Primary Sources for Digital DBQs and other Assessments to meet Literacy Standards.
Vetting or Developing Text Sets to Teach Rich Content

Registration is free and is now open for the SOURCES Annual Conference. Please visit the conference web site to register: http://www.sourcesconference.com/registration.html

Advocacy in Action Student Video Contest!

Posted on October 28, 2015 by stevemasy

Our colleague in Escambia, Cherie Arnette, sent this my way, and it fits so perfectly with the civic mission of schools and the work we do as a community in helping students grow into an engaged citizenship. The Center for Effective Government is sponsoring an ‘Advocacy in Action’ video contest for high school students.

From the CEG website:

The Advocacy in Action video contest and lesson plan help students make real-world Social Studies connections. Students will:

Use our interactive map to locate their school and identify nearby facilities that may be putting them at risk

Learn how our government regulates these facilities and how they can be made safer

Explore essential communications strategies

Become active, engaged citizens

Together, we can advocate for companies to use safer chemicals, and make our communities healthier. Our student video contest is one way to do this. And you could win $1,000!

Here’s how it works: Create a short video that explores the safety of your community from harmful chemicals. Your video could raise awareness on this issue, pressure facilities to do better, and encourage the government to require the use of safer chemicals.

You can choose to submit your video in one of two categories: a 60 second “Public Service Announcement” video category or a 5-7 minute mini-documentary category that explores the risks your community or state faces from chemical facilities.

The contest is open to high school students in the United States. Videos, along with all required forms, must be completed by 11:59pm on March 18, 2016. We will announce winners in May. Please carefully read our guidelines and contest rules before submitting a video.

I encourage you to consider engaging your students in this project! What is also exciting, to me at least, as that we can connect this to dimensions of the C3 framework. It lends itself well to developing key questions, using a particular disciplinary lens, researching a problem and solution, and communicating findings and taking action! We would LOVE to share it if anyone take a C3 approach to this advocacy contest!

You can find all information about the contest here, including the guidelines, rubric, and FAQ. Good luck!

Advocacy in Action Student Video Contest!

Posted on October 28, 2015 by stevemasy

From the CEG website:

The Advocacy in Action video contest and lesson plan help students make real-world Social Studies connections. Students will:

Use our interactive map to locate their school and identify nearby facilities that may be putting them at risk

Learn how our government regulates these facilities and how they can be made safer

Explore essential communications strategies

Become active, engaged citizens

Together, we can advocate for companies to use safer chemicals, and make our communities healthier. Our student video contest is one way to do this. And you could win $1,000!

Here’s how it works: Create a short video that explores the safety of your community from harmful chemicals. Your video could raise awareness on this issue, pressure facilities to do better, and encourage the government to require the use of safer chemicals.

You can choose to submit your video in one of two categories: a 60 second “Public Service Announcement” video category or a 5-7 minute mini-documentary category that explores the risks your community or state faces from chemical facilities.

The contest is open to high school students in the United States. Videos, along with all required forms, must be completed by 11:59pm on March 18, 2016. We will announce winners in May. Please carefully read our guidelines and contest rules before submitting a video.

You can find all information about the contest here, including the guidelines, rubric, and FAQ. Good luck!

A bellringer for teaching about campaigns, elections and the media

Posted on October 22, 2015 by stevemasy

It’s always exciting when we can share ideas for teaching about important stuff, and today’s suggestion was inspired by Cherie Arnette, the social studies supervisor for Escambia County (check out their civics review site!). She emailed us asking if we could come up with a bellringer activity to help teacher Florida Civics benchmarks SS.7.C.2.9, 2.10, or 2.11. For those unfamiliar with these benchmarks, 2.9 asks students ti evaluate a candidate for political office. 2.10 asks students to examine the impact of media, individuals, and interests on monitoring and influencing government. 2.11 has students analyzing media and political communications. You can get a good overview of each benchmark and their associated clarifications by visiting the Test Item Specifications book.
Cherie also asked us to start with this wonderfully evocative ‘Draft Biden’ ad below that aired during the Democratic debate (obviously before his announcement that he wouldn’t run).

For me, tears for sure. In any case, our own Valerie McVey suggested that the following might be perfect benchmark-aligned bellringer options for this ad. Note that ‘BC’ refers to ‘Benchmark Clarifications’. Review the test item specifications to explore those more.

C.2.9: Evaluate candidates for political office by analyzing their qualifications, experience, issue-based platforms, debates, and political ads.
BC 3 – Students will be able to analyze and/or evaluate the qualifications of candidates for public office based on their experience, platforms, debates, and political advertisements.

– What does this advertisement tell you about Joe Biden’s experience? Personal and professional? What evidence from the video helped you determine your answer?
– What does “Run, Joe” at the end of the advertisement mean?
– Is he a candidate for president?

C.2.10: Examine the impact of media, individuals, and interest groups on monitoring and influencing government.
BC 1 – Students will identify the methods used by the media to monitor and/or influence the government.

– The Draft Biden SuperPAC created this advertisement. (You might include a point about the difference between PACs and SuperPACs, but encourage teachers not to get caught up in this and forget the other questions. :)
– What is a political action committee? (content focus term)
– What is Draft Biden’s goal in creating this advertisement? How do you know?

C.2.11: Analyze media and political communications (bias, symbolism, propaganda).
BC 1 – Students will use scenarios to identify bias, symbolism, and propaganda.

– Remind students of the definition of bias.
– What is the bias of this advertisement? What evidence from the video helped you determine your answer?

BC 2 – Students will evaluate how bias, symbolism, and propaganda can impact public opinion.

– Remind students of the definition of public opinion.
– How might this advertisement impact or influence the public opinion of Joe Biden? What evidence from the video helped you determine your answer?

My own suggestion was to compare this ad to the language and elements of ‘The Man from Abilene’ (1952 Eisenhower) or ‘The Man from Libertyville’ (1956 Stevenson), which take a completely different tone concerning the qualifications of a presidential candidate and what matters. Both of those ads are available on the fantastic ‘Living Room Candidate’ website!

We are always looking for new ideas and ways to approach content. If you have anything, please share!

A bellringer for teaching about campaigns, elections and the media

Posted on October 22, 2015 by stevemasy

C.2.11: Analyze media and political communications (bias, symbolism, propaganda).
BC 1 – Students will use scenarios to identify bias, symbolism, and propaganda.

– Remind students of the definition of bias.
– What is the bias of this advertisement? What evidence from the video helped you determine your answer?

BC 2 – Students will evaluate how bias, symbolism, and propaganda can impact public opinion.

We are always looking for new ideas and ways to approach content. If you have anything, please share!

Joint Center for Citizenship Webinar Interest Survey!

Posted on October 21, 2015 by stevemasy

Friends, we need your help so that we may in turn provide YOU with what you desire. One of the goals here at the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is to provide teachers and the community with the professional development and resources they desire. In pursuit of this goal, we would like to begin a new and ongoing webinar series around topics of interest to the social studies and civics educator. In order to determine what sorts of webinars we will offer, we have created a quick survey that asks you to rank order topics and select days and times that work for you. Each webinar will range from 30 to 90 minutes, and all webinars will be permanently archived and available following the session. If none of the potential topics listed in the survey interest or are needed by you, PLEASE tell us what you would like!

You can help us out by completing the survey here!