Updated citizenship test questions

You may be interested to see the updated bank of questions used for citizenship tests. The new test takes effect tomorrow, Dec. 1. According to this USCIS press release, "The revised test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of U.S. history and civics, in line with the statutory requirements, and covers a variety of topics that provide the applicant with more opportunities to learn about the United States as part of the test preparation process."

You can see the bank of 128 questions here

Indigenous Music

You may be interested in these -- recommended by this week's Scout Report - go there for descriptions.

RUMBLE ON: MORE NATIVE AMERICAN MUSICIANS YOU SHOULD KNOW

INDIGEFI

The Great Thanksgiving Listen

I posted this on Homeward Bound and thought you might be interested as well:

Thanksgiving Activity: Interview Family Members

We hope you all enjoy your (likely, smaller and cozier than usual) Thanksgiving holiday gatherings this weekend. A great activity, whether you are with your family in person or connecting with them by phone or video call, is to interview each other to uncover family stories. 

The nonprofit organization StoryCorps is a fantastic resource and encourages you to participate in #TheGreatThanksgivingListen, "a national movement that empowers young people—and people of all ages—to create an oral history of the contemporary United States by recording an interview with an elder, mentor, friend, or someone they admire."

StoryCorps has an app you can use for in-person interviews with built-in questions to choose from and the ability to upload those interviews to the Library of Congress. There is also an online component, StoryCorps Connect, which allows you to record interviews that are conducted online from separate locations.

You don't need technology to have these conversations -- all you really need are insightful questions, and StoryCorps has them! We encourage adults to interview their children, as well as children to interview their elders. 

2020 may sometimes feel like a year to forget -- but in the future we will look back and want to remember what we were doing and feeling. StoryCorps interviews are a great way to do it! 

Thanksgiving Resources

I put a Google Slides up on the Be Brave Board in celebration of Native American Heritage Month, which is in November. It includes a few videos, a Google Voyager activity, and a bunch of book recommendations. It's mostly not "about" Thanksgiving, although there is one video that touches on it. I also created a Land Acknowledgement, with may be worth showing to classes - it contains a link to an article that explains what land acknowledgements are.

Sam Tetreau provided these resources to us as well:

Hope your week is going well. With Thanksgiving coming up I started thinking about some of the harmful activities I personally used to do as a kid, such as making "Headdresses." So I thought I would share resources that help with teaching the Holiday in a culturally appropriate way and with Indigenous Peoples point of views. I'm sure many of you already have some great resources but I hope this helps!

A Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving for Educators and Families (there are SO many resources here - all grades) - One of my friends from another district teaches middle school and like this activity You are the Historian . It is an interactive self paced digital activity! 

The NEA provides resources from Native Educators (all grades I believe). My favorite was this resource that gives detailed lesson plans!

Fact Checking

The Duke Reporters’ Lab maintains a database of global fact-checking sites. Snopes is one of the best-known, but there are others. You can use the map to explore sites around the world or use the menu below. (Here’s more how they identify fact-checkers.)

The World Health Organization has 7 tips on how to spot false information about the pandemic.

1. Assess the source
2. Go beyond headlines
3. Identify the author
4. Check the date
5. Examine the supporting evidence
6. Check your biases
7. Turn to fact-checkers (they cite the International Fact Checking Network)

Here is an animated GIF from theWorld Health Organization (WHO) from an article Let’s flatten the infodemic curve.

World Geography Week - Scout Report

This week's Scout Report highlights MS and HS lessons for World Geography Week. Follow these links for more details on each resource.

• World Geography Lesson Plans
• World Geography Games
• 10 Map Types in Visualization: Make Your Data Eye-Catching
• The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) YouTube Channel

Elect the Best Books of 2020

This might be a fun thing to offer to your students and spur a few conversations about who has read which books. Voting closes on Monday 11/9.

Elect the Best Books of 2020
https://www.kidsvoteforbooks.com/

While adults are voting at the polls, kids and teens across Massachusetts have the opportunity to virtually vote for their favorite book.

Voting is open from 10/26/20 - 11/9/20.

Results will be available on 11/12/20 on the website - and I'll send out that info to share with students.

Interested in getting books for yourself or your students? Check this document for details about apps and links to other info.