Social Studies Skills, Continued

Last week I introduced a new periodic series on resources to teach the new social studies standards with post on developing questions. This week, I'm going to focus on planning inquiries and comparing and evaluating sources for relevance, perspective, and accuracy.  

Skill #2 (SS.K12.2): Plan Inquiries 

I bet most of you already work with students to conduct inquiries--from posters on the different tribes of Montana and "living statues/wax museums" in elementary grades to more in-depth research projects in middle and high school.   

To reassure yourself that you've been doing inquiry all along (or for a quick introduction to the idea) check out Edutopia's  "What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning".   

Unless you, as the teacher, provide the guiding question, the first step is developing a research question. I covered developing questions pretty thoroughly in my email last week, but I forgot to mention resources from Teachinghistory.org that focus specifically on helping students develop research questions.  

The next steps typically include other skills listed in the standards (compare and evaluate sources for relevance, perspective, and accuracy; use sources to gather evidence to develop and refine claims; and communicate conclusions). That's why inquiry is so powerful!

National Geographic has educator resources to support implementing the Geo-Inquiry Process into your classroom. 

The Stanford History Education Group creates some of the smartest, best curricular material out there. Designed for middle and high school students, their Reading Like a Historian lessons ask students to engage in a historical inquiry by analyzing primary sources from different points of view to answer a guiding question. To access their lessons--over 150 of them--you have to register, but registration is free. If you teach middle or high school, and don't use SHEG's resources, I encourage you to take a moment and browse their site. You'll like what you see. 

For middle and high school classes, National History Day is a natural way to integrate inquiry.  Montana's contest is on hiatus this year, but that doesn't mean that you can't use NHD resources in your classroom to help students plan inquiries. Use these links to find NHD's Middle School Teacher Resources booklet and their two part high school booklet (Part 1 and Part 2).  

Do you have a favorite resource for helping students plan inquiries? If so, please share! And stay tuned for the next installment on the social studies standards.  

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our next online PD,  October 13, from 4-5: "Diving into the New Social Studies Standards." Register here before October 12 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.