Session Details

This professional development is designed to strengthen Social Studies instruction by building educators’ capacity to explicitly teach and reinforce core historical thinking skills. The session models inquiry-based instructional practices aligned with the  C3 Framework and Pennsylvania State Standards, with a focus on source analysis, contextualization, corroboration, close reading, and evidence-based argumentation.

Participants will engage in hands-on learning experiences using instructional routines such as sourcing analysis, claim-evidence reasoning, and hexagonal thinking. Educators will learn how to embed these routines into existing lessons and units to help students more effectively analyze primary and secondary sources, evaluate credibility, understand historical context, and construct supported arguments. As a result, teachers will gain practical strategies that improve student engagement, deepen historical understanding, and strengthen critical thinking skills essential for success in Social Studies.

This program directly supports educators within the Social Studies certification and instructional assignment by aligning instructional strategies to discipline-specific standards and skills. The historical thinking routines presented are adaptable across grade levels, courses, and content areas within Social Studies, allowing all participants to apply the strategies to their specific curricula. By focusing on shared disciplinary practices rather than isolated content, the training ensures that all Social Studies educators can implement consistent, research-based approaches to historical inquiry and skill development.