2025 North Carolina Council for the Social Studies Conference

Help students commemorate the 250th anniversary of the state and nation. The Department of Natural & Cultural Resources is leading the America 250 NC commemoration and has produced resources to help K-12 students learn about change over time for state government and voting rights and explore the question, “When Are We US?” Classroom activities and displays can boost instruction about the founding principles of government and raise questions about citizen rights and responsibilities, while examining the cultural heritage the state preserves and inspiring students to make the past meaningful. This content is especially relevant for U.S. history and civics classes.

Simulations requiring physical movement, creativity, and problem-solving—while affecting simulated real-world outcomes—produce the energy necessary to wire the students' neural network for higher recall, better learning, and synthesis. Learn the science of simulations and how to design and implement them to avoid pitfalls and get the best from this dynamic learning strategy.

Teaching the Holocaust is a profound responsibility that requires sensitivity, accuracy, and the ability to foster empathy in students. This session offers practical strategies for integrating resources from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the NC Council on the Holocaust into their teaching. By leveraging these materials, educators can create meaningful learning experiences that honor the victims, highlight the resilience of survivors, and confront the historical realities of this pivotal event. Participants will explore age-appropriate resources designed to engage students in critical thinking and address common challenges, such as balancing the emotional impact of the content with student age and maturity levels and combating misinformation or bias. This session will include resources for 6-8 Social Studies, World History, Civics, and American History.

The Tar Heel Boys and Girls state programs are the premier government in action summer leadership programs in the state for rising high school seniors. This session will be an in depth look at the programs and will explain how we build government from the city and county levels, create political parties and platforms, and elect a governor of our fictious state in the span of one week. We will also discuss how to find the local contacts in your area so your students are represented.

High school and middle school teachers will be introduced to instructional activities and bell ringers available through ABC-CLIO and other sources that support inquiry based learning and critical thinking. Participants will take on the role of students as they engage with a sample bell ringer and instructional activity that brings to life diverse female voices and untold stories from Women’s History in the United States. Teachers will leave the session with a full lesson including primary and secondary sources to use in the classroom.

Are you struggling with modifying lessons for Multilingual (EL) Learners? Come to this session to see how two teachers have modified lessons to make content accessible for Multilingual (EL) learners. Participants will receive modified lesson plan samples in the following subjects: World History, Economics and Personal Finance, and Civic Literacy and strategies to help you modify your lessons in the future. You are encouraged to bring a lesson that you would like help modifying for your classroom.

Powerful learning happens when we share powerful evidence, ask compelling questions, and integrate edtech tools into lesson designs! We’ll showcase beginner, moderate, & veteran-level exemplar lessons based on the FIELD Guide, all guaranteed to engage students with primary sources, inquiry, and tech tools. Leave with ready-to-use materials and planning strategies. Objectives: This session will: Highlight the latest research on the impact of foundational evidence, inquiry-based activities, and technology tools on student achievement. Model concrete & practical strategies for integrating primary sources and edtech tools into inquiry-centered instructional activities, each one targeted to specific teacher experience and comfort levels. Demonstrate a framework for creating research-based lessons and units focused on increasing student content knowledge and historical thinking skills. Engage participants in small group and whole group discussions about how best to adapt our exemplars and to share their own best practice examples. Content/Skills: Attendees will: Learn about the FIELD Guide, a research-based framework for integrating foundational evidence, inquiry-based thinking skills, and edtech tools into social studies classrooms. Learn how to find powerful primary sources and integrate them in a variety of inquiry-based learning activities. Be introduced to the skills needed to find, rank, and integrate the most effective technology tools into their social studies instructional designs, using the FIELD Guide checklist. Build confidence in making lesson plan design decisions that align with their teaching experience level, background using foundational evidence, and comfort with using technology. Get a preview of a soon-to-be-published book about teaching social studies from Corwin publishing.

Attendees will examine curricular experiences for students and professional learning content for teachers that aim to address the civic literacy crisis that exists in the U.S. today. Discover what is being learned from North Carolina teachers implementing this work as part of a fellowship in high-need urban and rural schools. Attendees will learn how Literacy for Civic Life (LCL) fellowship teachers are using the LCL curriculum to enhance their teaching, and what they learned in the process about using intensive reading and writing tasks and instruction to teach across the C3 inquiry arc while focusing on civic literacy.

U.S. History: State Lotteries: From Colonial Times to the N.C. Education Lottery. The history of U.S. lotteries dates back to Colonial Times. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin in their day all employed lotteries to raise money for good causes. The popularity of lotteries has waxed and waned. Today, they are more popular than ever. Last year, North Carolina employed its state lottery to raise more than $1 billion for education programs in our state. The test for state lotteries today will be if this time in history their popularity can be sustained.

Empower your students to become historians! Join National History Day (NHD) State Coordinator Karen Ipock and Davidson County Schools educator Ashley Coons, also a former NHD student, as they explore how the program brings historical inquiry to life for students. This yearlong, inquiry-based program aligns with NC educational standards and promotes critical thinking in state, U.S., and World History. You’ll leave with tools to inspire student curiosity and meaningful historical exploration, along with resources to easily incorporate it into your classroom. This workshop is perfect for middle and high school teachers seeking active, integrative, and challenging approaches to social studies!

You no longer have to read through all of the 6,000 classroom-ready lessons that are available for free on the Bill of Rights Institute's website. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/north-carolina-bri-aligned-state-standards A cohort of North Carolina teachers has aligned 86 of their best lessons to our Civic Literacy standards. If you are confused by our state’s unpacking document, start here for a simple roadmap that will help organize your instruction, cover all your content, and set your students up for success in understanding the American system of government.

This presentation will explore how inquiry-based instruction can be applied in Economics and Personal Finance classrooms, with a focus on scaffolding strategies for diverse student abilities. Participants will learn how inquiry can work for all learners by anticipating knowledge gaps, supporting vocabulary development, integrating technology, and engagement strategies. Through a combination of lecture, participation in engaging techniques, and sharing resources, educators will gain practical tools to enhance instructional planning and student engagement. This session is designed to empower teachers with effective strategies for implementing inquiry in social studies education.