“It gives me an appreciation of how it is now from how it was before,”– a student at William J. Johnston Middle School in Colchester

Teach It provides inquiry-based activities that reinforce the learning principles found in the state social studies frameworks. The lessons contain grade-specific content to help educators incorporate Connecticut history into the classroom.

Students at William J. Johnston Middle School describe working with Teach It lessons:

“It helps us think of different options … and helps us try to figure it out more. By asking more questions we’ll learn more.”

“We’re not just given the answer or given a sheet that we have to write on. We’re given a task to try to find out what happened and it’s more interactive.”

Laura Krenicki, a teacher at William J. Johnston Middle School, explains “that’s what inquiry is supposed to do, it is supposed to engage you and make you want to know more about the topic and how you pursue that instead of having the teacher be the expert.”

“It’s hard to believe that a war could happen around here or something really big back then could happen here.”

“It was a part of one of the most important parts of history in the United States.”

“Once they started to figure out, ‘wait a minute, there’s more to this story and it’s someplace I may have seen or been,’ then suddenly it becomes more exciting to them,” says Krenicki.

“That’s pretty cool because your living right there and you find out what happened before you set foot in Connecticut.”

Krenicki adds, “Getting kids to be excited about this is not as hard as it may seem and it’s nice that things like Teach It are out there so that we can have digital resources of Connecticut for the students.”

Formed in partnership with the Connecticut League of History Organizations and developed by educators for educators, TeachItCT.org provides lessons and activities for students in Grades 3, 5, 8, and high school.

Former Commissioner of Education, Dr. Dianna Wentzell, recommends teachers “visit TeachItCt.org to access lessons that will bring Connecticut history to life in your classroom.”