Session 1
(8:30 - 9:15)

Presenter & Affiliation:  Sarah Harris, Nathan Salamone, & Sue Witmer, The National Constitution Center

Session Description: The National Constitution Center’s educational framework utilizes three interconnecting practices: storytelling, constitutional thinking skills, and civil dialogue. Hear from educators who have used the framework to empower student voices and navigate their American history and civics curricula. These real-life examples will guide participants in developing meaningful ways to apply the framework in their own classroom practices.

Room: William Penn

Presenter & Affiliation: Joe Schmidt & Lori Rech, Bill of Rights Institute 

Session Description:  This dynamic workshop is designed for teachers eager to inspire the next generation of informed citizens. Dive into the foundational principles of American democracy, explore contemporary political issues, and discover innovative teaching strategies to make civics education relevant and exciting. Equip your students with the knowledge and skills they need to actively participate in our democratic process. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your curriculum and empower your students!

Room: Robert Fulton

Presenter & Affiliation: Rebecca Chambers & Meaghan Vitale, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Session Description:  This session will demonstrate active-learning strategies and lessons to teach economics at the middle school level. Using the new Pennsylvania economics standards for middle school, participants will learn how to engage economics students in meaningful ways, while aligning content with statewide standards. All activity and lesson materials will be provided to ensure that participants will be able to use these strategies right away in their classrooms. Recent relevant research findings into active learning in economics will also be shared.

Room: Ben Franklin

Presenter & Affiliation: Sarah Mason, Digging Deeper Educational Consulting

Session Description:  Maryland is at the forefront of Social Studies education with their newly released 6th and 7th grade human geography standards. Join veteran middle school teachers and Gibbs Smith textbook content writers, Julia and Sarah, as they guide you in navigating these standards. The session focuses on shifting the educator mindset from historical to geographic thinking and unpacking the standards to understand their curricular flow. Leave with lesson seeds and the confidence to implement these new standards effectively. 

Room: Pennsylvania C

Presenter & Affiliation: Dr. James Beeghley

Session Description:  This session will demonstrate how combining primary and secondary historical resources with technology can engage students in "doing history" while getting them to act like historians. During the session, attendees will learn various strategies for cross curricular activities that encourage research, collaboration, and creativity.

Room: Pennsylvania D