Teachers! Just in time for the new school year, Teach It (teachitct.org), a program of Connecticut Humanities, has expanded its website to offer high-school-level activities for history educators. Teach It is an online resource that allows educators to incorporate Connecticut history into the classroom through the use of inquiry-based activities that reinforce the learning principles promoted in the Connecticut State Social Studies Frameworks. This is a crowd-sourced site that utilizes the expertise of educators and heritage organizations to provide intuitive and adaptable resources and prompts that address all four dimensions of the C3 Inquiry Arc (Developing Questions and Planning Inquiry; Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools; Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence; Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action).

In high school, Connecticut’s social studies frameworks recommend “students explore people, events, and movements in United States History from the 1870s to the present with a focus on inquiry into the changes in society, economic development, and the emergence of the U.S. as a global power.” An emphasis is placed on analyzing and evaluating documents, sources, and perspectives. Expanding out from the activities it provides for students in grades three, five, and eight, Teach It’s recent addition of inquiry activities for high school helps teachers address the frameworks’ recommendations while promoting critical thinking skills and engagement with the objects, maps, photographs, manuscript collections, and other resources that document our state’s unique history.

To see more, visit the Teach It site at teachitct.org, and maybe contribute your own activity to our burgeoning project by clicking on the “Build It” tab.

You can also plan an inquiry-based field trip to a number of exciting heritage attractions throughout Connecticut by clicking on “Search Field Trips / Programs” and entering your search parameters.

We hope you will consider taking advantage of all the resources Teach It has to offer. On behalf of everyone at Connecticut Humanities we wish you a rewarding and successful new school year!