Using Folklife Magazine in the Classroom

In the fall of 2024, I had the unique opportunity to serve as an intern for the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH). As an 8th-grade Social Studies teacher I was selected to work with the online CFCH publication, Folklife magazine. Folklife is...
Embracing the Choque

Embracing the Choque

  Un choque. Choque pi ta pom ta ria. Choque pom. Pi ta. Pi pi pi ta. Ta ria. Choque pom. Ta ria ria pi ta ria ria pi ta ria ria pi ta choque pom. Pom pom. The onomatopoeia of the castañuelas speaks out. They are the disruptive force in the colonially induced quiet of...

Using Primary Sources to Foster Difficult Dialogues 

With candidates screaming at political opponents on the television and state legislatures across the country introducing or passing laws on how teachers speak about race and racism (Schwartz 2021), students in K–12 Social Studies classrooms need effective models of...