Executive Secretary, Missouri Council of the Social Studies
Before becoming the Education Director for The Genocide Education Project, Kerri Flynn was a high school social studies and English teacher in Missouri for 25 years. She taught dual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rights and Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award... Read More →
Friday February 21, 2025 7:45am - 8:25am CST
Lobby
Be sure to visit our incredible vendors! You received a check-in card at registration-visit each booth and have the vendors sign off on it, then drop it by the registration desk to be entered for prize drawings! Prizes will be given away on Saturday, and you must be present to win. Thank you to: Imagine Learning Studies Weekly State Historical Society Click and Learn The DBQ Project Bloomsbury/ABC-Clio Museum Interactive LLC U.S. Courts and the Judicial Learning Center Ford's Theatre Missouri Historical Society The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Northwest Missouri State University Teaching with Primary Sources Program Social Studies School Services National Geographic Society/Cengage Bellevue University Discovery Ed
Friday February 21, 2025 8:00am - 4:00pm CST
Matsun
This session will explore the new Missouri Holocaust Education Mandate which is required in public and charter schools for grades 6-12. The session will include an overview of effective teaching strategies, access to key resources such as survivor testimonies and historical materials, and time for educators to begin developing or refining their own Holocaust education plans. By the end of the workshop, attendees will be equipped to meet the mandate’s objectives with confidence.
This session will present the Grade 3 Missouri History Unit, "We the Missourians: Diverse Changemakers," developed in collaboration with local teachers and aligned with the state standards and the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Roadmap. The unit engages students in historical inquiry, exploring Missouri’s complex history through diverse changemakers using primary and customized secondary sources. "Changemakers" refers to civic participants who pursue a healthy constitutional democracy from a broad ideological spectrum. This unit highlights diverse experiences of social, racial, and economic groups in Missouri, helping young students relate this local history to their own lives and become capable changemakers.
Inquiry-based activities and primary sources, necessary for social studies standards but also a teacher favorite! Join us for a fun way to challenge your students in the classroom with a primary source crime scene mystery! The activity shared in this session will build the foundation for primary source analysis throughout the year. Students commonly misunderstand the nuanced nature of primary source documents, images, and artifacts. They want a group of primary sources to fit together perfectly, like a jigsaw puzzle, to tell a single, “true” account. Students want primary sources to be true or false, right or wrong, but historical research is never that easy.
Human impact on the environment is a theme that can be carried through instruction on World History and Geography. In this hands-on session, engage in activities that enable students to explore questions about how the environment has been affected by major shifts of civilizations including population growth, the spread of agriculture and cities and global interdependence. Presented activities include cooperative group problem solving, graphing and analysis, and role-playing simulations. Receive electronic lesson plans and background resources matched to state standards.
As the great-great grandaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott, Lynne Jackson has worked tirelessly to maintain the legacy of Dred Scott’s eleven-year fight for freedom. Ms. Jackson founded the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation which raised the funds for the Dred and Harriet Scott statue... Read More →
Friday February 21, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am CST
Windsor
Executive Secretary, Missouri Council of the Social Studies
Before becoming the Education Director for The Genocide Education Project, Kerri Flynn was a high school social studies and English teacher in Missouri for 25 years. She taught dual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rights and Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award... Read More →
Friday February 21, 2025 10:30am - 11:30am CST
TBA
Teaching traumatic history, like the Holocaust, can be tough. This presentation will show educators how to use AI, like ChatGPT and other AI models, to help. We’ll talk about strategies for using AI to make lessons engaging and how to navigate the ethical challenges of using this technology.
This session explores the unique demands of social sciences versus ELA writing and the impact of unified instruction. Through best practices in writing and source analysis, educators will gain strategies and scaffolding techniques to elevate student writing, foster skill transfer, and build cross-disciplinary language for critical thinking and analytical expression.
Education Director, The Genocide Education Project
A high school social studies educator in Missouri for 25 years, Kerri Flynn taughtdual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rightsand Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award in 2022 and serves... Read More →
The techniques shown during this presentation are directly applicable to assisting educators in complying with the State of Missouri's Holocaust education mandate. This presentation will show how the guidelines produced by the Missouri Holocaust and Education Awareness Commission can be used to inform AI models to assist educators in the classroom.
"DBQ-In-A-Day" will focus on ways to utilize bits-and-pieces of a DBQ unit in short one- or two-day lessons. The training will feature various strategies to help students with document analysis and increase writing skills through "DBQ Quick Writes." The goal is for participants to leave with a better sense of how they can utilize the DBQ resources beyond full units, worksheet packets and within their daily instruction.
Discover dynamic U.S. History resources enriched with primary sources, tailored for grades 3-5 and beyond. Immerse yourself in Bill of Rights Institute’s new elementary curriculum, exploring a lesson on the causes of the Civil War that fosters literacy and history. Gain practical strategies and ready-made lesson plans to reclaim valuable social studies time. This session equips teachers with tools for effective cross-curricular literacy instruction in upper elementary classrooms. Engage with BRI's innovative resources and participate in a lesson on the causes of the Civil War featuring text coding, primary sources, and informative paragraph writing.
Learn how simulations that involve physical movement, creativity, and problem-solving enhance student engagement, recall, and learning. This session will explore the science behind simulations and provide practical strategies for designing and implementing them in social studies classrooms. Avoid common pitfalls and discover how simulations can connect cultures, ideas, and histories to create dynamic, real-world learning experiences that foster critical thinking and deeper understanding.
Use stick figure graphic novel notes to teach the story of Martin Luther and how it led to the Protestant Reformation. Engage the kids with this unique story with a fun note-taking style.
Every elementary student in Missouri studies state history. Although popular Missouri textbooks include important information about the state's geography, institutions, explorers, politicians, and military heroes, little – if any – mention is made of the individuals whose entrepreneurial spirit led to the development of business and the growth of cities and towns throughout the state. The MO HiStory curriculum fills this gap by providing lessons based on age-appropriate biographies about 20 diverse entrepreneurial Missourians. Lessons include activities that apply skills in language arts, research, and critical thinking. Participants receive a free set of ready-to-use lessons to engage students.
The Armenian Genocide was committed by the Ottoman Turks during the midst of World War I from 1915 to 1917. Not only did the genocide include the murders, the remaining people were enslaved, abandoned in the desert, “reeducated,” or became refugees in other countries. The genocide continues as Turkey still has not acknowledged the event even occurred and is assisting Azerbaijan to systematically wipe Armenia from the map. Although this is a historical topic on the surface, it impacts our world today despite the lack of media coverage.
Help students understand history through political cartoons. Explore techniques for interpretation and analysis, opening a new world of primary documents. Empower students to grasp historical concepts effectively.
In this session, participants will be introduced to numerous structured literacy practices that can be quickly and easily implemented in Social Studies classrooms in order to develop content knowledge, facilitate critical thinking, assess student achievement, and improve reading fluency and comprehension. Attendees will have multiple opportunities for deliberate practice, meaningful collaboration, productive discussion, and active learning.
Executive Secretary, Missouri Council of the Social Studies
Before becoming the Education Director for The Genocide Education Project, Kerri Flynn was a high school social studies and English teacher in Missouri for 25 years. She taught dual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rights and Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award... Read More →
Brent Trout is the manager of the Emerson History & Genealogy Center at St. Louis County Library Clark Family Branch. With a background in museums, Brent previously served as the executive director of museums in Oklahoma and Florida. His interest in genealogy developed while in Oklahoma... Read More →
Friday February 21, 2025 3:00pm - 3:50pm CST
Windsor
Join us for a screening of the first installment of Holocaust Composer Stories, a free, digital education program from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Holocaust Composer Stories offers middle and high school social studies and music teachers a new entry point for teaching about the Holocaust. Each story in this series features a composer with a different experience of the Holocaust. Students will listen to their music, hear their stories, and deepen their own understanding of historical events. Created in partnership with the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum.
Friday February 21, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm CST
Windsor
Be sure to visit our incredible vendors! You received a check-in card at registration-visit each booth and have the vendors sign off on it, then drop it by the registration desk to be entered for prize drawings! Prizes will be given away on Saturday, and you must be present to win. Thank you to: Imagine Learning Studies Weekly State Historical Society Click and Learn The DBQ Project Bloomsbury/ABC-Clio Museum Interactive LLC U.S. Courts and the Judicial Learning Center Ford's Theatre Missouri Historical Society The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Northwest Missouri State University Teaching with Primary Sources Program Social Studies School Services National Geographic Society/Cengage Bellevue University
Saturday February 22, 2025 8:00am - 11:00am CST
Matsun
Executive Secretary, Missouri Council of the Social Studies
Before becoming the Education Director for The Genocide Education Project, Kerri Flynn was a high school social studies and English teacher in Missouri for 25 years. She taught dual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rights and Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award... Read More →
Saturday February 22, 2025 8:15am - 8:55am CST
Windsor
With a strong emphasis on ethnic studies classes and resources, educators often find it challenging to find materials that truly engage their students. Students are eager for lessons that bring value and impact to their lives. I invite you to join me and learn about resources that are ready to use in your classroom and have the potential to make a significant impact on your students.
Chronology - placement of historical events - is a challenge for students whose awareness of the world may be only a decade. Understanding chronology begins by identifying events in their own lives. This can be expanded if students visualize and personalize the passage of time with these three elements: draw a timeline, the math number line's social studies counterpart, to create a graphic organizer; designate it as a visual story line; and personalize the content with the first-person experiences of individuals in the students' lives. This presentation will demonstrate the strategy and engage participants in developing their own timelines.
Segregation isn't just about life--it's about death, too. Cemeteries offer insights into the role of Jim Crow in community history and a unique way to present that history. This content presentation discusses the "red-lining" of death and ways to present it to students.
This learning session shares a personal narrative of professional learning and sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of the Holocaust. Participants are encouraged to continue learning and exploring the history of World War II and the Holocaust. Lessons come from a conference I attended through Yahad In-Unum
For many teachers, primary sources serve as a new frontier. Primary sources sit at the frontier of content because they offer insights into stories of the past that might be unknown. Primary sources also sit at the frontier of pedagogy because teaching with primary sources such as documents, oral histories, cartoons, photographs, and paintings, requires innovative strategies to promote higher order thinking with these different source types. In this session, teachers will learn how to locate primary sources that uncover stories of the past while also learning engaging new strategies for teaching with them.
Throughout history, legislation has been crafted with the intent of solving an economic, political or social problem. History courses usually focus on the intended effects of those policies. In this session teachers will share with students examples throughout history that unintended consequences are more consequential and, in an active learning lesson, conduct basic cost-benefit analysis of decisions government makes every day.
Executive Secretary, Missouri Council of the Social Studies
Before becoming the Education Director for The Genocide Education Project, Kerri Flynn was a high school social studies and English teacher in Missouri for 25 years. She taught dual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rights and Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award... Read More →
Saturday February 22, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am CST
TBA
Jody Sowell is president of the Missouri Historical Society. He is, in fact, only the 7 th president in the 158-year history of the institution. MHS operates the Missouri History Museum, the Library and Research Center, and Soldiers Memorial Military Museum downtown. Jody has worked... Read More →
