Co-Sponsored by Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, the Democracy Center at the Old State House, and Connecticut Humanities

No charge for participants; workshops are all suitable for social studies teachers grades K-12, social studies curriculum leaders and district/school administrators

Monday, June 27

Session 1- 9:00-3:00...A Deep Dive into Inquiry Instruction

Participants will explore the structure of the C3 Inquiry Arc and ways that inquiry instruction can be utilized in both social studies and interdisciplinary classrooms. A presentation will also be given by “Blues and Beyond”, which will demonstration how music can be utilized as an instructional tool in the social studies classroom.

Tuesday, June 28

Session 2- 9:00-11:30...An Introduction to Inquiry Instruction

Participants will analyze the importance of inquiry instruction and how inquiry can be utilized in the social studies classroom. Teachers and administrators from all levels are invited to attend.

Session 3- 12:30-3:00...An Initial Look at the New Social Studies Standards

Participants will analyze the approaches to content and skills suggested in the new Connecticut Social Studies frameworks. Suggestions for improved instruction in all grades will be discussed.

Wednesday, June 29

Session 4- 9:00-3:00...A Deep Dive into the New Social Studies Standards

Social studies supervisors, administrators and teachers will all take a close look at the content and skill expectations of the new social studies frameworks and analyze ways that these frameworks can improve instruction in individual districts.

Thursday, June 30 

Session 5- 9:00-11:30...Creating Learning Activities with the National Archives

During this interactive session educators and supervisor will learn how to create lessons and units based on the thousands of primary sources located at the National Archives; the DOCSTeach site provides numerous suggestions on how to create learning activities for all grade using primary sources.

Session 6- 12:30-3:00 Engaging Studies in TRUE Critical Thinking

During this session teachers and supervisors will learn about using the Encounters model to encourage students to analyze sources, to create questions about these sources, and to express their ideas verbally. This approach is utilized by middle school, high school, and university instructors across the country, and is widely used by instructors at the University of Connecticut. This approach encourages students to truly analyze the sources that they are reading.