DPI Instructional Services: Social Studies

Welcome to the Digital Age

Do you feel that your technology skills are locked in the 20th century? Are you interested in becoming more technologically savvy? Do you enjoy helping fellow educators as well as your students? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we have the solution you've been waiting for!

]]> The NC DPI invites you to participant in its year-long professional development entitled Changing the Way Teachers Teach: Integrating Technology in the 6-12 Social Studies Classroom.

Topics will include:
• Geocaching (GPS device) and Google Earth (GPS Technology)
• Multimedia authoring programs (i.e. Moviemaker, digital photography, I-movies, etc.)
• Web 2.0 Tools (i.e. podcasting, blogging, wikis, Google tools and other on-line collaboration
tools)

To download additional information please access the following link: Download file
Click here to download an application form: Download file

If you have any questions please contact Joel Medley at jmedley@dpi.state.nc.us (919) 807-3835 or Fay Gore at fgore@dpi.state.nc.us or (919) 807-3954 .

Personal Financial Literacy Update

The North Carolina General Assembly, the State Board of Education, and the North Carolina State Treasurer have increased the emphasis on Personal Financial Literacy in the curriculum for high school students. Startling data from a variety of sources led to a call for action by the North Carolina General Assembly and the North Carolina State Board of Education to help teachers prepare students to develop financially sound ways of thinking and problem-solving in their everyday lives and to become knowledgeable consumers, prudent savers, and informed investors.

]]> To support the effort to produce financially literate students, The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) has created the following opportunities:

1. NCDPI will host a two-day summer Personal Financial Literacy (PFL) and Graduation Summit for secondary Civics & Economics teachers, administrators, parents, faith-based colleagues, and Graduation Project teacher/teams. The summit will be held on June 19-20, 2008 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham. The registration deadline is May 1, 2008. The summit is not cost to the first 200 registrants so register while spaces are still available!

For a tentative agenda and registration information please access the following link: Download file

2. We are pleased to announce the Personal Financial Literacy Initiative Grant ranging from $3,000 - $10,000 as a means to provide teachers with an opportunity to create, design, implement and share their ideas with their students and colleagues across the state. A total of 12 teachers will be awarded this grant (two per region).

To download an application and for additional information about the grants, you may access the following link: Download file

If you have questions regarding either the PFL summit or the grant opportunity, please contact Toni Doubleday at tdoubleday@dpi.state.nc.us or 919.807.3932. Additional information about the Personal Financial Literacy Initiative can be found at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/pfl/ .

Senate Youth Program

Here are the informational sheet and the application for the William Randolph Hearst Senate Youth Program. Applications must be received in our office by Thursday, October 11.

Download file

Join the Support Document Revision Team

Over the summer we will be updating the high school social studies support documents for each of the three core courses. If you are interested in working on one of the revision teams you will need download and fill out the application attached below. Return it to Bernadette Neptune at 6344 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699 by May 1, 2007. The second file is a memo containing additional information about the revision process.

Download file

Parent Tips: Helping Middle Schoolers Become Financially Fit

Who wants to be a Millionaire is not only a popular game show, but also represents the desires of many youngsters in the United States. It is a fact, that not all of us will become millionires, but we can make sure that we are on the right road to financial freedom. Here are a few activities that parents can do with their children to help them become more financially fit.
Download file

Application for NCCSS Teacher of the Year Award

Download file

Student Competitions

The following links provide information to teachers and students regarding program guidelines, contact informaton, registration deadlines and more! Academic competitions typically extend the curriculum and offer enrichment to what is taught in social studies courses.

STATE COMPETITIONS

Annual High School Moot Court Competition
Sponsored by Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association
Contact: Kimberly D’Arruda
(919) 481-9103

National Geographic Bee

North Carolina History Day

North Carolina Economics Challenge

North Carolina Model U.N.

North Carolina Wade Edwards Mock Trial Competition

The American Legion Oratorical Contest

NATIONAL COMPETITIONS

Civil War Preservation Trust Poster and Essay Competition

Editorial Cartoon Contest

12th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Project

John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage
Essay Contest

National Peace Essay Contest

United States Senate Youth Program

C-SPAN Launches New Web Site for Teachers

C –SPAN recently launched a new education web site at: http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/
Targeting middle and high school civics and government teachers, the new site links the main topics taught in those subjects, and combines them with national teaching standards and a rich resource of C-SPAN video clips.

United States Institute of Peace Essay Contest and Teaching Guide

The United States Institute of Peace presents Controlling the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, a teaching guide developed for the 2005-2006 National Peace Essay Contest. It will increase students' understanding of the prevalence of nuclear weapons, familiarize them with the measures to control nuclear proliferation, and stimulate thought about potential strategies for doing so in the future.

Educators may download the teaching guide at http://www.usip.org/ed/npec/tguide.html.

Constitution Day Resources and Ideas

Download file

North Carolina Stock Market Game

The 20th Annual North Carolina Stock Market Game is a unique state-wide competition designed to provide the most realistic, educational and reliable stock market simulation available to both teachers and students. It is a valuable and motivating tool in teaching the fundamentals of investing, as well as learning about how our overall economy works. The Stock Market Game is offered to all students and teachers in grades 4-12 -- for a 10-week trading period each fall and spring semester. The primary purpose is to provide an active, motivating device for teaching fundamental economic concepts. For more information, visit: Stock Market Game.

Say it Plain: A Century of Great African American Speeches

A Century of Great African American Speeches

Visitors to this site can listen to the documentary in its entirety, or choose to listen to selected speeches, such as those by Booker T. Washington, Dick Gregory, and Stokeley Carmichael. Visitors can also follow along as they listen by scanning transcriptions of each speech. Other speeches offered here include the only known recordings of Marcus Garvey as well as Barbara Jordan's defense of the United States Constitution during the impeachment hearings of President Richard Nixon.

Source: The Scout Report -- July 29, 2005

Econ EdLink® Economics Lesson Plans

http://www.econedlink.org/

Econ EdLink® is a premier source of classroom tested, Internet-based economic lesson materials for K-12 teachers and their students. This site is sponsored by the National Council on Economic Education. If teachers are seeking a lesson on a particular concept, they can simply click on the concept and lessons will be displayed.

Call for Civics Lessons

The North Carolina Civic Education Consortium is currently compiling effective and engaging civics lesson plans. Teachers have the opportunity to exhibit their best lessons through the Consortium while improving civic education in our school communities. If you are aware of or possess quality lessons involving current events, local issues, or controversial topics, please submit plans to Kelley O’Brien.
We encourage you to extend this message to as many educators as possible and please take this opportunity to showcase valuable teaching strategies while assisting civic education, students, and the Consortium.

North Carolina in the World: Goals for Global Education

North Carolina in the World: A Plan to Increase Student Knowldege and Skills About the World

North Carolina in the World is an initiative to increase student knowledge and skills about the world so that the next generation of North Carolinians will have what it needs to communicate, cooperate and compete in an increasingly interdependent world.

The Plan was unveiled at a statewide international education conference in downtown Raleigh on Monday, April 11, 2005. More than 150 education stakeholders attended the event.

At the request of Gov. Michael Easley, the Center for International Understanding coordinates this statewide, K-12 international education initiative. North Carolina is part of a network of more than 20 states working with national policy groups committed to "Putting the World into World-Class Education."