1
HWRSD Social Studies Department Newsletter Fall 2017
+ In this Issue
page 2 High School
Welcome Miles Teachers Attend
River Middle Historical
Research and
School 8th Grade Writing
Civics Teacher, Symposium
Mr. Fengler page 3 Curriculum
Highlights from
Miles River Middle
page 3 School
page 4 Media Literacy
+ Panel Discussion
Held at the High
AP US History School
Students Launch page 5 AP Psychology
Local Oral History Students Use
Movement to
Project Learn Essential
Psychology Terms
page 2 page 5 Mr. Ristaino Leads
Teacher Workshop
Volunteers Needed for History Fair
papers. These projects demonstrate
Find yourself longing for the next Ken extensive historical research on student
Burns documentary to be released? chosen topics.
Spend all of your vacation time at Working either individually or as a
historical sites and in museums? If you team, students connect their research to
answered yes, then come be a guest this years National History Day theme
judge at this years HWRHS History Fair "Conflict and Compromise in History".
night. No prior experience required.
If you are interested in participating as
The HWRHS History Fair will take place a judge for this years History Fair,
on Wednesday, December 6th from please send an email to Kristen Borges,
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the High School. 6-12 Social Studies Curriculum Leader
The Social Studies department is at:
looking for History Fair Judges who will
[email protected] help provide feedback on student
documentaries, exhibits,
performances, websites, and research
1
2
3
Social Studies Department Newsletter Fall 2017
Bob Hicks working with AP US History students
AP US Students Explore the Power of Oral History to
Preserve Local Residents Stories
Anne Pages 12th grade AP US interviews will be conducted at the celebrate, preserve and share the
History students are participating in high school and taped by students rich history of the towns
the town of Wenhams yearlong in Fine Arts teacher Bill Melvilles residents. Mrs. Page also plans to
375th anniversary celebration by Broadcasting and Media Class. incorporate this oral history
embarking on an early twentieth- project into an annual capstone
century oral history project. The Wenham 375th Committee plans assignment for AP US History
Working in pairs, students will to host a public screening of the students with the intent of
research the history of pre-World final project sometime in late recording citizens recollections
War II Wenham by accessing local March. AP US History teacher, Mrs. of specific 20th century events and
historical resources and conducting Page, and local resident and milestones. Stay tuned for future
interviews with residents who lived historian, Bob Hicks, are guiding updates on this pilot project!
through the era and volunteered to the students in their research. Mr.
participate in this project. Hicks has been instrumental in For more information about the
helping students select a diverse 375th Town of Wenham
The participating residents group of interviewees. Anniversary Celebration, check
represent a cross-section of the them out on facebook at:
Wenham population. Final The goal of this project is to https://www.facebook.com/wenham375/
High School Teachers emphasized why historical writing best practices. Department
research papers remain important members discussed ways the
Participate in Historical to student learning. Attendees department can effectively teach and
Research and Writing learned about existing student support students throughout the
Symposium opportunities too explore local research process.
histories for potential research
Teachers Vinnie Bucci, Johann Knets, subjects and the many ways to
and Anne Page participated in an access a wealth of local history
educators symposium focused on repositories.
the benefits of teaching the historical
research process to middle and high Following the symposium, Mr.
school students. Bucci and Mr. Knets led a 6-12
Social Studies department meeting
The presenters at the symposium focused on historical research and
2
1
2
3
Social Studies Department Newsletter Fall 2017
Meet Mr. Fengler: Miles River Middle Schools New
8th Grade Civics Teacher
The Miles River Middle School eighth Mr. Fengler moved to Hamilton over the
graders have a new Civics teacher this summer to be closer to family, after
year. Eric Fengler joined the HWRSD spending the last decade in Colorado. He
Social Studies Department this past loves the tight-knit community Hamilton-
summer after relocating to the east coast Wenham offers and is impressed by the
from Denver, Colorado where he taught level of student engagement and parental
middle school social studies for the last support that he has experienced thus far.
five years.
Eighth graders in Mr. Fenglers classes
Mr. Fengler brings a solid middle school are learning essential skills that will help
social studies teaching experience to them navigate the rights, responsibilities,
Miles River. He served as a department and duties of citizenship. In his classes,
chair and was part of a grade-level team students experience dynamic activities
of teachers who piloted a 1:1 that focus on the foundations of American
Chromebook program, pre-Google democracy. This year, he is most looking
classroom. He was also part of a district forward to opportunities to try new
level leadership team that helped revise lessons in the classroom and collaborate
and realign the 6-8 social studies with teachers from other content areas.
curriculum. The HWRSD Social Studies Department is
thrilled to have him as our new colleague.
Miles River Middle School Curriculum Highlights
The Miles River Middle School Students then created their own current events, and using their
social Studies department kicked off cave paintings that communicated pocket Constitutions that were
the school year with a focus on a conclusion about life during the generously donated by the
essential social studies skills. Paleolithic period. They Hamilton-Wenham League of
Students are engaged in authentic communicated their conclusions by Women Voters. All the while
experiences that connect the social replicating the images and they are learning about the
studies with the world beyond the techniques used by the Paleolithic foundation of American
classroom. cave artists. government and practicing their
analytical skills using political
6th graders in Jen Marshs and Anne 7th graders in Elsbeth Flanagans cartoons. They also had the
Matthews World History classes put and Anne Matthews Geography opportunity to explore Bostons
on their detective hats and learned classes have been introduced to the Freedom Trail a culminating
how to Think Like Historians. This five themes of geography. These field trip that integrated English
year they are investigating the past themes will guide the curriculum as Language Arts and Civics.
by analyzing primary and secondary students learn how to analyze maps
sources, examining historical and synthesize information from There are also several ambitious
artifacts, and drawing conclusions multiple sources in order to develop 8th graders who are in the initial
about the past based on evidence. a deeper understanding of the research stages for their
For example, students explored how world. National History Day projects,
people in earlier times used art as a which they will enter in a spring
way to record stories and 8th graders in Tyler Walkers and competition against middle
communicate ideas by closely Eric Fenglers Civics classes have school students from around the
examining cave paintings. been very busy trying to pass the state.
U.S. Citizenship Test, exploring
3
Social Studies Department Newsletter Fall 2017
League of Women Voters Host For more
information on
Community Media Literacy Panel Media Literacy
On Tuesday evening, October
3rd, the League of Women Voters check out the
hosted an interactive panel following
discussion in the Ferrini
Auditorium in the HWRHS High websites:
School. Social Studies teachers
encouraged students to attend
this community event entitled
Decoding the Media in 2017: Left, Civic Online
Right, and Center. The panel Reasoning by
featured media professionals Stanford Universitys
from the New England area who History Education
discussed the crucial role of Group (SHEG)
media in shaping a healthy
democracy. The panel The News Literacy
emphasized the skills needed to identify fake news and encouraged the Project
audience to be skeptical, but not cynical when examining sources. The audience
heard from the experts and had the opportunity to ask questions about this critical Making Sense of the
topic. The discussion centered on skills people can use to evaluate the reliability News: News Literacy
and credibility of their media diet. Lessons for Digital
Citizens by State
Many social studies students wrote reflections on the event. One student wrote, I
learned to pay more attention to the author of the news I read. Another student
University of New
wrote, You should always corroborate your sources with other sources to check York at Stony Brook
for the truth. Social Studies teachers emphasize the importance of these skills by in partnership with
teaching their students to use the historical thinking skills of Sourcing, the University of
Contextualization, and Corroboration. Another student commented, They kept Hong Kong
talking about how we can use our thinking skills to evaluate the news. The Social
Studies Department would like to thank the League of Women Voters for
organizing this event.
Join us for History Fair!
December 6, 2017
4:00pm 7:00 pm
This Years Theme:
Conflict and Compromise in History
4
1
2
Social Studies Department Newsletter Fall 2017
AP Psychology Students Use Movement to Learn
Students in Lori Maneys AP Psychology classes got
creative during their brain psychology unit. One
objective of this unit is for students to be able to
correctly identify the different parts of the brain and
its functions. Ms. Maney stated, by asking students to
physically demonstrate the concepts, they are able to
understand and retain difficult psychology terms.
Students must be able to demonstrate the concept of
the sequence of the brain and how information travels
from the stem to the brain. Students used movement to
visually represent this sequence. When asked, one
student said, by doing the movement activity we
were able to visualize brain sequencing and it helped
me remember the path information travels. Ms. Maneys AP students demonstrating a visual display of the
brain stem, limbic system, cerebrum, and cerebral cortex.
Mr. Ristaino Leads Workshop for Area Teachers
High School social studies teacher Nick Ristaino 2003 decision to
recently led a teacher workshop for one of Primary invade Iraq from the
Source organizations educational conferences. The perspectives as
workshop entitled The Dynamics of the Modern Middle members of
East was held at Canton high school. Primary Source is President George W.
an education nonprofit organization that offers Bushs
professional development and curriculum resources to administration. The
K-12 educators for more culturally responsive, globally groups read and
inclusive teaching. analyzed the
declassified
The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District is an documents members
educational partner of Primary Source. Partnership of President Bushs
gives school districts the benefit of reserved seats in cabinet would have
courses, library membership and access to special seen in the days
programs and resources. Members of the HWRSD leading up to the
Social Studies Department have also served as teacher war.
leaders in a number of Primary Source courses and
workshops. The culminating activity was a class-wide debate on
whether the intelligence warranted an invasion of
During one of the Dynamics of the Modern Middle East Iraq. After Mr. Ristaino led the teachers through the
conference sessions, Mr. Ristaino was a panelists for simulation he facilitated a discussion about the lesson
Teaching the Israeli-Palestinian Dispute panel itself. Mr. Ristaino shared observations and insights
discussion where he offered insights into teaching the hes gained from teaching this lesson over several
complicated issue of Israeli-Palestinian relations and years.
discussed his own teaching strategies and experiences
with his peers.
During another conference session, Teaching the 2003
Invasion of Iraq: a Primary-Source Based Decision-
Making Activity, Mr. Ristaino walked teachers through
a lesson he created where small groups debated the
