Session 2
(9:15 - 10:10)

Presenter & Affiliation:  Annie Jenson, Thinking Nation

Session Description: A major pitfall in history classrooms is presentism in which current cultural biases distort our understanding of the past. Showing historical empathy is seeking to understand it on its own terms. In this session, participants will be provided with tools that encourage historical empathy and the consideration of the perspective of figures from the past. With templates for a graphic organizer and a formative assessment, attendees will leave equipped to implement this type of historical analysis.

Room: William Penn

Presenter & Affiliation: Tim Smyth,  Teaching with Comics

Session Description:  Comics and graphic novels serve as powerful tools for student engagement, literacy, and making history accessible. This session will showcase tested lesson plans that can be used in all classrooms and participants will come away with specific ideas and plans that can be integrated immediately. This presentation will include tips on obtaining classroom visual resources, information on online comics teacher communities, and common core connections to showcase what we already know - that comics and graphic novels open doors to learning for all learners, regardless of ability.

Room: Robert Fulton

Presenter & Affiliation: Jessie Gillooly, Gibbs Smith Education

Session Description:  Build a more inclusive classroom and enhance the inquiry cycle as students analyze multiple historical perspectives and evaluate how the elevation or erasure of sources impacts historical narratives. US history is often biased by the type of primary sources created and recognized by Europeans and European Americans. This session will explore methods and practical resources to introduce students to neglected sources and help them build skill sets to recognize and analyze diverse narratives.

Room: Ben Franklin

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

Session Description:  Learn how to make economics active and exciting using children’s literature. This session will introduce elementary educators to lessons for teaching students about money and other economics concepts using children’s literature. The lessons shown will focus on diverse perspectives in children’s literature. The lessons shown will also provide educators with grade-level appropriate activities for teaching about decision-making, spending and saving, allocation methods, opportunity cost, scarcity, and productive resources. Lessons are aligned to the new Pennsylvania Economics Standards so that teachers can use these in their classrooms right away.

Room: Pennsylvania C

Presenter & Affiliation: Jennifer Knepper, Population Education

Session Description:  Engage in activities to help students explore interactions and interdependence of individuals, societies and the environment, and to develop inquiry skills around these interconnections. Topics include global population trends and human migration, people’s use of natural resources, and uneven resource distribution around the world. Create concept-maps on cause-and-effect connections, explore global land use in a 3-D modeling simulation, and take part in a demonstration and discussion on resource extraction methods. Lessons build skills in critical thinking, data analysis, and communication. Receive lesson plans and background readings in an electronic format.

Room: Pennsylvania D