Category: Social Studies

  • The Holocaust & WWII

    The Holocaust & WWII

    After spending nearly 6 weeks on the Civil Rights movement, we are decades (literally) behind the Social Studies units that should have been taught by now.  However, we regret nothing, because after such an in-depth study of the events and key figures of the 1950’s and 60’s, we feel empowered and enlightened and ready to…

  • The Civil Rights Movement: Final Timeline Presentation

    Wow.  I don’t even know how to start this post.  Last week, our fifth graders blew me away.  Seriously.  They had me in tears, and I wasn’t the only one.  I cannot express how rewarding it is as a teacher to see your students excel.  I had been so nervous (almost canceled the whole presentation) about…

  • The Civil Rights Movement, a Journey through Time & Literature

    The Civil Rights Movement, a Journey through Time & Literature

    This week we started our unit on the Civil Rights Movement!  Here in fifth grade at UT Elementary we work backwards through history, starting with present day and then rewinding back to the causes for the way things are today.  This is great for me, because we get to start out the year with incredibly…

  • We Are ChangeMakers

    We Are ChangeMakers

    One of the first things we talked about in social studies this year was what it means to be a peace maker.  Our school says the “peace keeper’s pledge” every morning in assembly, but I challenged my students, asking them, what is the difference between a peace keeper and a peace maker?  We talked about…

  • Newsela

    Newsela

    It’s the end of the year, the very end of my time permanent substituting, and it feels like we’re just killing time.   Early this morning I printed off a whole bunch of geography worksheets to keep them busy. There was some value to them, but really, I needed a time-filler. But this morning during silent…

  • Warren Fellowship

    This summer, from May 25-30, I will be spending a week at the Warren Fellowship at the Houston Holocaust Museum.  From their website, “The Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers is a week-long program that introduces university students preparing for a career in teaching to the history and to the lessons of the Holocaust and other…