NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION’S

K-12 SOCIAL STUDIES TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE TEACHING IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES

STANDARDS
RESOURCES / DESCRIPTIONS / ONLINE URL ACCESS
Unpacking The Social Studies Standards Documents / The “unpacking” of the standards done in these documents are an effort to answer the question, “What does this standard mean that a student must know and be able to do?” and to ensure the description is helpful, specific and comprehensive for educators. The “unpacking” documents help deconstruct the clarifying objectives and provide targeted information about the intent of the objectives. /
Crosswalks Documents / The crosswalk documents compare the 2010 K-12 Social Studies Essential Standards and the 2006 North Carolina Social Studies Standard Course of Study (SCOS) and provide some insight into the similarities and differences between the two sets of standards, especially as it relates to content coverage. /
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
RESOURCES / DESCRIPTIONS / ONLINE URL ACCESS
Terminology / This tool provides educators with terminologies that represent the big, powerful concepts and ideas teachers need to know and understand in order to effectively teach the North Carolina K-12 Social Studies Essential Standards. The Glossary of Terminology is not meant to be exhaustive, nor to be a list of content vocabulary but seeks to address critical conceptual terminology essential in building understanding of the essential standards and clarifying objectives. /
Graphic Organizers / These visual representations assist the student in organizing abstract “big picture” information that is new, overwhelming or misunderstood. Research supports the utilization of graphic organizers as a contributing factor in improving student performance. The Social Studies examples are to model varied organizers and their use in provoking student engagement, organization, and understanding, thus equipping the teacher with the knowledge to develop and use such tools effectively with the new standards. / K-12 Social Studies Exemplar Organizers -
Social Studies (APPARTS) (ESL Modified) -
Social Studies (GOFIT) (ESL Modified) -
Social Studies Wiki Site / This website will allow you toview and interact with the North Carolina K-12 Social Studies Essential Standards and various presentations, legislative acts, instructional resources and links as well as support documents that have been shared with teachers, administrative support and higher education partners. /
CBCI Unit Planning & Design / This wiki is a resource to help individuals have a better understanding of how tofollow the Unit Plan Development Process to create a quality conceptual unit. By reviewing this wiki, individuals will be able to find resources to support the 12 Step Process of developing a concept-based unit. /
CBCI Unit Exemplars / These links connect to sample concept based units of instruction. These examples are to modeled on the concept based framework for designing units. /
  • Kindergarten unit
  • 3rd grade unit
  • 6th grade unit
  • 8th grade unit
  • World History
  • Civics and Economics

Summer Institute Trainings For Social Studies / This page provides resources from the content-specific sessions on the North Carolina Essential Standards for Social Studies presented at the 2011 -2013 Summer Institutes. Beginning with the 2011 Summer Institute, the primary scope of work in the area of K-12 Social Studies has been understanding the Essential Standards, creating conceptual units, and aligning classroom instruction and assessments. / Summer Institute Links
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013

ASSESSMENT
RESOURCES / DESCRIPTIONS / ONLINE URL ACCESS
Educator Effectiveness / Educator Effectiveness initiatives provide leadership, technical assistance, professional development resources and consultative services to the North Carolina public and charter schools with the goal of improving student achievement through organizational development and professional learning.
The Educator Effectiveness Division includes:
  • Professional Development Opportunities
  • NC Educator Standards and Evaluation Instruments
  • Regional Professional Development Consultants
  • Regional Education Facilitators
  • Mentor Program and Beginning Teacher Support
  • Scholarships and Loans
  • National Board Certification
  • Statewide Recognition Programs
  • Troops to Teachers
  • Title II - Improving Teacher Quality
  • NC Teacher Corps
/

Professional Teaching Standards -

Beginning Teacher Support Resources-

2013-2014 PD Calendar-

DPI Educator Effectiveness Contacts-
  • Director -Lynne C. Johnson
  • Assistant Director- Yvette Stewart
  • Director of Educator Preparation-Rachel McBroom

Formative Assessment / These combined resources provide North Carolina teachers with an understanding of formative assessment and illustrate the role it should play in a comprehensive, balanced assessment system. / NC’s Definition of Formative Assessment -
NC Falcon -
Reasons to use Formative Assessment-
Performance Tasks (Based On The H. Lynn Erickson Framework For CBCI) / This resource is delivered via webinar format and provides an understanding of the criteria for quality performance tasks, examples of different types of performance tasks, the importance of quality rubrics, and ways to implement performance tasks in the classroom. / Instructional Webinar -
Template – Performance Task Planner (Download Word Doc)
ADDITIONAL SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCES
RESOURCES / DESCRIPTIONS / ONLINE URL ACCESS
Elementary Resources / This page contains resources to assist with implementing the K-5 Social Studies Essential Standards. /
Middle School Resources / This page contains resources to assist with implementing the middle grades Social Studies Essential Standards. /
High School Resources / This page contains resources to assist with implementing the high school Social Studies Essential Standards. /
IHE Resources For Social Studies / This page provides resources from the content-specific update sessions on the North Carolina Essential Standards for Social Studies presented prepared for the our partners at North Carolina Institutions of Higher Learning. /
Social Studies Webinars / This page provides current and archived webinar series that focus on critical issues and topics related to the implementation of the new Essential Standards for Social Studies. /
Online Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Modules / These combined resources offer a web-based learning management system for educator training and professional development. / NC Education Link To All NCDPI Online Modules -
NC Falcon
  • NC Falcon Online Training
New Standards
  • Designing Local Curricula For The 21st Century Learner
  • NC Professional Teaching Standards
  • Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
  • The Call For Change
  • Understanding The Standards
Phase II
  • Connecting With Our 21st Century Learners
  • Digital Literacies In The K-12 Classroom
  • Introduction To Data Literacy
  • Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects Part 1
  • NC School Executive Standards
  • Understanding Young Student Behavior in the Classroom
Phase III
  • 21st Century Mentoring
  • Building and Sustaining Professional Development
  • Data Literacy in Action
  • Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects Part 2
  • NC Principal Evaluation: Understanding the Process
  • NC Teacher Evaluation: Understanding the Process
  • Responsibilities of the 21st Century Educator (using the 21st Century Framework)
  • Universal Design For Learning (UDL)