Civics Pathway 3: Civic Learning in Grades K-5
COST: Massachusetts Public School Educators: Free, All Other Educators: $15
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CIVICS PATHWAY 3: CIVIC LEARNING IN GRADES K-5
Working effectively with others; disagreeing civilly; considering other perspectives–civic learning happens at all ages. This pathway will help teachers of grades K-5 explore the social studies standards to think about civic learning opportunities in their classrooms. Participants will learn and apply pedagogy and content specific to their grade level. The workshops and modules are designed and facilitated by Massachusetts teachers.
Intended audience: Teachers and other educators in Grades K-5
If you have any questions, please email civiclearning@gse.harvard.edu
IN-PERSON WORKSHOP DAY (Up to 7 PDPs)
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025; 9am - 3:30pm; Fitchburg, MA area
Join teachers from across Massachusetts for a day of civics-focused learning. You will be able to choose three sessions to participate in. All sessions will be co-facilitated by two Massachusetts teacher leaders, one who teaches grades K-2 and one who teaches grades 3-5. Workshops will address the topic from both the K-2 and 3-5 lens.
Participants can choose three workshops (from five) to attend over the course of the day:
- Introduction to Civic Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions for Grades K - 5
- Helping Elementary Students Engage with Multiple Perspectives
- Culturally Sustaining Practices to Support Social Studies and Civics in the Elementary Classroom
- Teaching Elementary Students to Have Meaningful Discussions
- Using Daily Routines to Support Civic Learning in Grades K - 5
These workshops will also be offered virtually in January and February. See workshop descriptions and schedule below.
VIRTUAL INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS (1 hour, 20 mins / 2 PDPs each)
Pajama PD! Join these weekday evening and Saturday morning opportunities to learn with and from experienced civics teachers! These will be interactive Zoom sessions co-facilitated by two Massachusetts teacher leaders, one who teaches grades K-2 and one who teaches grades 3-5. Workshops will address the topic from both the K-2 and 3-5 lens. (The sessions will not be recorded. You must attend at the scheduled time in order to engage with the content.)
Introduction to Civic Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions for Grades K - 5
Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025; 7-8:20pm ET
The Massachusetts History and Social Science frameworks (standards) state that all students should demonstrate civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions (Practice Standard 1). Many states have similar standards. Join this workshop to deepen your understanding of what civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions are and what they look like at grade levels K - 5. You will leave with specific strategies for helping all your students meet the MA Practice Standard 1 of the HSS Framework or the similar standard in your state.
Registration deadline: Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, 5pm ET
Helping Elementary Students Engage with Multiple Perspectives
Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025; 7-8:20pm ET; REPEATED ON Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025; 9-10:20am ET
Being a responsible community member at any level, from the classroom to the world, requires the ability and inclination to engage with perspectives other than our own. This workshop offers elementary school teachers the opportunity to learn practices and tools to enhance their current efforts to create a classroom culture that invites multiple perspectives.
Registration deadline: Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, 5pm ET for Jan. 21 session; Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, 5pm ET for Feb. 1 session
Culturally Sustaining Practices to Support Social Studies and Civics in the Elementary Classroom
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025; 7-8:20pm ET
Culturally sustaining learning environments, which affirm students’ identities, cultures, and linguistic assets, are essential for fostering learning for all students. In this workshop, you will explore instructional strategies and tools for the elementary classroom that can help you enhance the cultural responsiveness of the social studies and civics curriculum you teach in your classroom.
Registration deadline: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, 5pm ET
Teaching Elementary Students to Have Meaningful Discussions
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025; 7-8:20pm ET
Being able to hold productive discussions with others is an important civic, and life, skill. It is also a powerful method for developing thinking and reasoning. This workshop offers specific strategies you can use with students in grades K-5 to improve their discussion skills and to increase participation and engagement in class discussion from all students.
Registration deadline: Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, 5pm ET
Using Daily Routines to Support Civic Learning in Grades K - 5
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025; 7-8:20pm ET
Daily routines are an important part of every elementary classroom. They are also filled with opportunities to foster the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions included in the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework and in many US state standards. Join us to learn how you can leverage the routines you already use to enhance your students’ civic learning and your classroom community.
Registration deadline: Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, 5pm ET
SELF-GUIDED ONLINE LEARNING MODULES (6 hours / 9 PDPs each)
FOR 2024-25, OPEN ONLY TO MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS
Modules open on Jan. 27, 2025, and close on May 12, 2025. Participants can complete the modules at any time during this period. (Register by April 28, 2025)
Go deep at your own pace and schedule! These self-guided learning modules let you explore a focused topic in depth, with examples, resources, and application for K-5 teachers.
Module structure:
- Reading and exploring strategies and resources: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Reflecting on and applying learning: 2 hours 30 minutes
Using Inquiry Strategies to Support Social Studies and Civics in the Elementary Grades
Inquiry is a foundational approach for high-quality instruction in social studies, and specifically for civics. This module aims to enhance your use of inquiry approaches for civics and social studies by presenting a practical framework for planning to include different modes of inquiry-based learning and offering specific inquiry-based strategies suited to instruction in social studies and civics.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
Teaching Hard Histories in Grades K - 5
Even for our youngest learners, social studies includes topics that can be fraught. How can you help students learn and develop their ideas about these topics while maintaining a safe classroom environment? This module offers resources and strategies you can use to help your students build their capacity to engage with and manage hard histories and other complex issues.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
Developing Media Literacy in the Elementary Grades
Well before entering school, children are inundated by messages through television, books, digital content, and the physical environment. Media literacy—the ability to analyze and critique media we encounter and produce—is a critical skill at any age. This module will help you to identify the ways in which media literacy is already a part of your instruction (it is!) in your elementary classroom, and it will support you in enhancing your current practices to develop media literacy for all of your students.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
Enhancing Content Learning through Civics, Grades K - 5
At its core, civics is about acting as a thoughtful, responsible, and engaged community member. In turn, civic skills and dispositions can enhance learning across the curriculum as students work to be a learning community. This module presents strategies and specific tools in the elementary classroom for leveraging civics for content learning in any subject.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
Reinforcing Civic Learning in the Literacy Block
Regardless of the literacy program you use, your regular literacy instruction offers myriad ways to include, and benefit from, civic learning. In fact, in the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework (as is true of many states’ civics standards), literacy standards are listed alongside social studies content standards for every grade level. This module discusses how civic learning and literacy learning support each other and offers approaches and tools you can use to enhance students’ literacy development by incorporating civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
Authentic Civic Participation in Grades K - 5
Children are not future citizens–they have values they can act on to contribute to their communities right now. This module explores how elementary students can participate in meaningful civic activities guided by their identity as community members. You will gain ideas and strategies for enhancing students’ civic participation in your classroom, school, and community.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
Assessing Civic Learning in the Elementary Grades
Civic learning is not only a critical part of a young person’s development, but also an important element of the Massachusetts HIstory and Social Science Framework at every grade, similar to civics standards in other states. To know how best to support students’ civic learning, we need to be able to assess their civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This module will help you deepen your understanding of what it means to assess civic learning and add to your strategies for doing so.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, April 28, 2025
PEER-TO-PEER LEARNING HOUR (1 hour / 1.5 PDPs each)
FOR 2024-25, OPEN ONLY TO MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS
Thursday, Feb. 6, and Thursday, Mar. 6, 2025; 7-8pm via Zoom
Engage with other teachers to exchange ideas and plan for applying your learning from the pathway. Facilitated by DESE civics teacher leaders.
Registration deadline: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 5pm, and Wednesday, Mar. 5, 5pm
Use the same form to register for one or multiple sessions.
Register (Massachusetts Public School Educators) Register (All Other Educators)
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