5th Grade Historical Literacy Curriculum outlines the content of social-studies integrated units taught within the readers' and writers' workshop framework and taught daily for 90 minutes. Each six week unit contains standards, teaching points, vocabulary, and assessments. Readers' and writers' workshop naturally differentiates for all learners. By June of 2020, each unit will have a slide deck associated with it that contains the teaching points, integrated grammar work, vocabulary, and strategies for partner practice. Our district places careful emphasis on vocabulary, as we have a high percentage of English Language Learners.

Overview: 7th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion.

Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards.

8th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion. Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards for History.

Children benefit from seeing and talking to individuals from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.  This list of volunteer guest speakers supports an individual teacher or school in their efforts to showcase  African-Americans, young and old,  in WI . The guest speakers list have a variety of different backgrounds and represent a multitude of professions.  School personnel should contact the Education Committee guest speaker liaison, Gerald Sternberg, to obtain information on how best to contact the volunteer guest speaker and topics of interest.< geraldsternberg2@gmail.com> 

Visual history and visual media can have a profound impact on students’ understanding of our country’s history, events and its people. These resources were carefully selected based on their ability to inform and assist students in understanding historical facts and the intersectionality of race,  culture, economics and more.  The paucity of written resources related to the African-American experience makes the visual medium even more important to integrate into classroom instruction.  A recommended film library with a synopsis of the films is provided in Appendix A.  Teachers can access films on-line through a streaming service.  Specific scenes or an entire movie can be used to underscore key points and/or stimulate analytical activities

Video collection of Park rangers discussing the events of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The unit includes student activities.

Students will read an article online about the first four presidents. The online article provides scaffolds for vocabulary and reading. Students can use the online quiz to check for understanding. Students will then perform a close reading of the article following six text dependent questions. The lesson describes the activities along with the language to use for each of the questions.

The National Park Service has created a K-12 curriculum that focuses on scaffolded lessons that focus on Martin Luther King’s advocacy, the March on Washington and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement.

Website with different lessons focusing on:
1.Analyze primary and secondary sources representing conflicting points of view to determine the proper role of government regarding the rights of individuals.
2.Analyze primary and secondary sources representing conflicting points of view to determine the Constitutionality of an issue.
3.Assess the short and long-term consequences of decisions made during the writing of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
4.Compare the components of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights with the Constitutions of other nations.
5.Evaluate contemporary and personal connections to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
6.Compose a reflection and assessment of the significance of Constitution Day and the U.S. Constitution.

In this lesson, students will explore the travels and discoveries of the Vikings. After viewing a short video about the Eric the Red and Leif Ericson, students will analyze a painting that depicts a Viking ship at sea and then read an Icelandic saga written about the early Norse people. The lesson will conclude with students researching the impact the Vikings had on the region of their choice and completing a report or presentation.

Short reading describing the importance General Pulaski played the importance in the American Revolution and the importance of his legacy.

This mini-lesson looks at the variety of roles that George Washington played in America's early years. From commanding the Continental Army, to presiding over the Constitutional Convention, to setting the standard for the American presidency, Washington led the way.

This collection of essays includes the biographies of many different people from different backgrounds who made major contributions to Wisconsin History. Each grade-level essay below is designed for a single class period. When reading, students should consider the following questions:

Who (or what) are the main subjects and where did they live (or originate)?
How did they respond to the challenges they faced?
What role do each play in our shared story?
How have their actions or stories affected present-day Wisconsin? How have they affected your life?

Field trips offer opportunities to explore our exhibitions that address the history of the Holocaust, genocide, human and civil rights, as well as local and global social justice issues.

Illinois Holocaust Museum’s literature-based teaching trunk program provides K–12 educators with a wide array of resources for classrooms with units on character education, human rights, the Holocaust, and/or genocide. Each trunk allows educators to create meaningful age/grade-appropriate lessons employing award–winning fiction and nonfiction, historical references, and other educational materials. Each trunk has been carefully developed to address State and National Learning Standards, including Common Core State Standards. Teaching Trunks are provided free of charge.

VIRTUAL TEACHING TRUNKS

Virtual trunks offer Holocaust and genocide curricula in a 100% digital format, providing flexibility for those who are teaching remotely, in person, or in a hybrid model. Virtual teaching trunks include:

E-books and digital texts
Illinois Holocaust Museum developed films
Online lessons and activities
Digital “artefacts” to help students explore the stories of local Holocaust Survivors

This packet provides an explanation of Ireland’s Great Hunger and provides ideas for primary source materials to use to describe the event A variety of discussion questions, writing activities, and other activities are provided that allow students to explore the facts and how different Irish artists used art and other media forms to depict the effects of the famine.

This middle school lesson plan focuses on the themes of freedom and citizenship. Students will explore the events that led up to the issuance of General Order #3, while considering the relationship between freedom and citizenship, and why Juneteenth is significant for all Americans.

This lesson from Facing History and Ourselves asks students to analyze and storyboard Dr. King's "Mountaintop Speech" and discuss how humans can respond to injustice. It also challenges students to reflect on the world in which they would like to live.

This six-minute video takes students “behind the stage” at political party conventions by interviewing the convention manager and speechwriting team who launched Barack Obama’s national political career by choosing him to make the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Deconstructing how conventions function as a complex messaging operations involving the coordination of hundreds of speakers, the video provides students with insight into one of the most important moments in modern American politics, and would be useful in any sequence of lessons focused on the election of presidents or modern campaigning methods.

This 12-minute video and lesson plan explore the September 11 terrorist attacks, which occurred 20 years ago, before any of today’s K-12 students were born. How can we examine the events of that day and the aftermath as historians would? This activity asks students to examine primary sources, pose questions for investigation and gather additional narratives from this time period.