Elementary Social Studies and Financial Literacy Needs Assessments 

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction K-12 Social Studies Team is seeking to continue to provide support to districts and teachers.

Tell us how we can support you!

The purpose of these surveys is to gather information to determine how the NCDPI K-12 Social Studies Team can best support the needs of elementary social studies teachers overall and K-12 teachers as they teach financial literacy.

Access one or both surveys today!

Elementary Needs Assessment Survey

Personal Financial Literacy Needs Assessment Survey

The English Learner (EL) Support Conference: Growing Success for ELs

Building Literacy: Vocabulary, Reading, and Writing in the Secondary Content Classroom

The Growing Success for English Learners (ELs) Summer Conference is planned for August 7-9 at Greensboro College and will offer 14 different 3-day courses.

Crystal Jastzabski, EL Support Team Trainer, will be leading the course. This course in EL literacy development utilizes Dr. Margarita Calderon's Expediting Comprehension for English Language Learners (ExC-ELL) model which includes: Guidance on selecting and pre-teaching vocabulary Strategies to enhance reading comprehension, through modeling and partner reading strategies to teach writing and editing. The course is designed to target content teachers who work with ELs. The course will highlight ways the participants can strengthen their NCEES evaluations for working with diverse learners, leadership and more.

Registration fee is $50 - Complete your registration today!

Making Your Content Clear, Direct and Purposeful

The Growing Success for English Learners (ELs) Summer Conference is planned for August 7-9 at Greensboro College and will offer 14 different 3-day courses.

Christian Walter, EL Support Team Trainer, will be leading this course. 

Have you ever wondered how could your English learners (ELs) learn more effectively? Or why some long-term ELs easily get frustrated and can’t do the same work or projects as their peers? Are you a school administrator who wishes to grow all students’ content and language proficiency? This course will help you make academic content clear, direct and purposeful for both ELs and regular students through the SIOP® Model, an empirically-validated approach to teaching that helps prepare all students. As a framework for organizing instruction, the SIOP® Model supports teachers in planning and delivering high-quality instruction for ALL students. Additionally, this course will strengthen participants’ NCEES evaluations for working with diverse learners, leadership and more! Attendees should bring an electronic device and a content area lesson plan to transform using SIOP®.

Registration fee is $50 - Complete your registration today!

For more information visit: bit.ly/NCELs18  

Professional Development Opportunities from the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies

Save the date for the Fourth Annual Learning through Languages High School Research Symposium! 

Wednesday, December 12, 2018 

In the Learning through Languages High School Research Symposium, North Carolina world language high school students will have the opportunity to showcase their language, research, and presentation skills in a scholarly environment. Eligible students include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian or Spanish students, including heritage speakers. Participating students are encouraged to be at Level III or higher.

Students will choose a topic relevant to five research tracks with regional focuses: Contemporary Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, or the Middle East & North Africa. Teams will write a research paper and present it at the symposium in their respective language. This program is designed to promote student learning in the areas of research methodology, technology literacy, and critical thinking and to encourage the learning of new academic vocabulary.

Save-the-date: The symposium will take place Wednesday, December 12. For more information, please visit http://areastudies.unc.edu/ltl/, read answers to frequently asked questions, or watch this video about the program. Teams are selected to participate via application process; the application will be available in August.

Resources to connect your classroom with classrooms abroad:

Planning your curriculum for next year? Consider incorporating a virtual exchange. Here are some programs to check out over the summer:

• Empatico: Collaborate with classrooms around the world on curriculum activities.
• Know My World: A global education resource that utilizes virtual exchange to connect learners around the world and spread cultural awareness.
• One World Classrooms: A global exchange (using technology) through children’s art.
• U.S. Peace Corps World Wise Schools program: Letter or content exchanges set up by Peace Corps volunteers in various countries.
• IREX (a U.S. State Department program) Global Solutions project: Connects high school or community college classrooms in virtual exchanges with students in other countries.
• Virtual Exchange Program (VEP): Offers K12 school educators in the US and Turkey the opportunity to internationalize their classrooms by an intercultural project-based learning course conducted by the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN).
• Steven’s Initiative: Helps organizations in the US and MENA region to connect to expand virtual exchange programs.

2019 Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Brandon Brown from Lake Norman Charter School on being selected as the 2018 Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year. Mr. Brown has taught in Wake County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and most recently at Lake Norman Charter School in Huntersville. He was chosen as the 2016-2017 Charter School Teacher of the Year. He is a firm believer in using historical content to help students learn to think rather than just remember content.

For more information on the 2019 National History Teacher of the Year visit the nominations and eligibility page. 

National winner receives a $10,000 prize presented at an award ceremony in their honor in New York City.

State winners receive a $1,000 prize, an archive of classroom resources, and recognition at a ceremony in their state.

2018 Travel Grants

Did someone say "Field Trip"? Oh right, it was us! 

Thanks to contributions made by members of the North Carolina Museum of History Associates at the annual Spring Frolic fund-raiser, we are very excited to announce that funds are once again available to provide transportation assistance to schools for the 2018-2019 school year. This grant program allows children from qualifying schools across the state to visit the museum in Raleigh.
 

**Partial funding for the Travel Grant Program was provided by Duke Energy Foundation.

Easier than ever, our application process takes place online between Thursday, July 12 and Friday, September 14, 2018. ​

While a variety of factors are taken into account for the awarding of travel grant funds, priority will be given to Title 1 public schools, Title VII American Indian schools, schools with a high percentage of low-income or at-risk students, public schools bringing a minimum of 30 students, as well as schools who have not previously been awarded any grant funds from the North Carolina Museum of History.

NCCSS 2019 Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year

The North Carolina Council for the Social Studies recognizes exemplary teaching in the field of social studies. Teachers may be nominated by an individual; preferably a principal, supervisor, or fellow teacher, or a group. Self-nominations are also accepted. The 2019 Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award is presented at the NCCSS Annual State Conference, February 28-March 1, 2019. 

The winner of the Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award will be presented an award check for $1,000 at the Conference Luncheon. The winner is encouraged to share his/her expertise and experiences by presenting on a session topic of his/her choice at the 2020 Annual Conference; if the winner chooses to do so, the NCCSS will also waive the Conference registration fee in 2020. In addition, the recipient will have an honorary appointment on the NCCSS executive board for one year of service.NCCSS looks forward to having the input of our Teacher of the Year!

If you have any questions about the NCCSS Teacher of the Year Award, please contact: Jeff Schneider at jschneid4@gmail.com.

 Application Deadline: October 1, 2018.

• Click here for the TOY nomination form
• Teacher of the Year Program Information

NCCSS Student Teacher of the Year

The North Carolina Council for the Social Studies recognizes exemplary teaching in the field of social studies. Our student teachers are the future of our discipline and the NCCSS celebrates their entry into a rewarding profession. Student teachers may be nominated by an individual; preferably a principal or professor.  The Social Studies Student Teacher of the Year Award is presented at the NCCSS annual state conference held each year.  The winner of the 2019 Social Studies Student Teacher of the Year Award will be presented an award check for $1000 at the conference luncheon.  Review all eligibility requirements in the link below.

If you have any questions about the NCCSS Student Teacher of the Year Award, please contact: Jeff Schneider at http://jschneid4@gmail.com. Application Deadline: October 1, 2018.

Click here for the STOY nomination form

Student Teacher of the Year Program Information

Qatar Foundation and MEOC Educator Book Grant Program

Qatar Foundation and MEOC Educator Book Grant Program: Qatar Foundation International (QFI) in partnership with the Middle East Outreach Council (MEOC), is pleased to offer its Educator Book Program which will provide K-12 educators with the opportunity to obtain up to three classroom sets of books recognized by the MEOC Annual Book Awards. The MEOC Book Awards recognize outstanding books that contribute to a more meaningful understanding of the Middle East on an annual basis, and includes picture books, youth literature and youth nonfiction titles. Grant applications will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year and are open to K-12 educators in public and public charter schools. To view the full grant announcement including application requirements and grant conditions, please click here. To apply to the grant program, please visit QFI’s grants management portal, FluidReview, at qfi.fluidreview.com. For any questions regarding the application or program, please contact culture@qfi.org.

25 Most Influential American Muslims:

CNN spent a year interviewing more than 100 American Muslims, asking who they think are the most influential Muslims in their fields. The result is this crowd-sourced list of 25 influential American Muslims. They are comedians and congressmen, activists and Olympians, fashionistas and political fighters, converts and from-the-cradle believers. They are the children of immigrants and African-Americans whose roots in this country reach back centuries. A good resource to show students the diversity of the American Muslim community and experience – each person has a small video and paragraph description.