The History Matters Campaign is a project of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. The more history young students know, the more they want to know. That’s one of the joyful discoveries that teachers are making in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, which uses a content-rich, knowledge-building elementary social studies curriculum.
In this episode, host Barbara Davidson speaks with elementary school teachers Angela Barfoot and Lauren Cascio. Both teachers describe the rewards of using the Bayou Bridges curriculum, which sets high expectations for student work, in combination with a high-quality ELA curriculum, Louisiana Guidebooks.
Extensive teacher notes, rich texts, engaging visuals, and tie-ins to virtual field trips make for exciting history study in the elementary grades, the teachers say. For example, after studying Native American communities in class, students visited the nearby Poverty Point World Heritage Site and were cheering with excitement on the bus, Barfoot says.
“We’re not even there yet, and the kids start screaming, ‘The bird mound! Mound A!’ And they’re just—they can see it and they are just thrilled out of their minds. . . they were just beyond thrilled that they knew all this!”
Students are also choosing to read about historical topics at the school library, Cascio reports. They are reaching for historical fiction and non-fiction texts about what they’ve learned in social studies.
“Fifth graders love a fact,” she says. “It excites me because I want them to read different genres, and because that’s part of what I need them to do.”
Learning about different people, places, and times is enriching in multiple ways. Between knowledge-building instruction and engaging texts in their social studies and ELA curricula, students are being shown “a world that they’ve never seen before,” Cascio says.
“It is teaching them to think,” Barfoot says. “And to not take things at face value, but to really dive deep.”
Ouachita Parish was recently featured by the Knowledge Matters School Tour; visit our website for more information, including videos of lessons and interviews with students and teachers.
This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork, on behalf of the History Matters Campaign. Follow the History Matters Campaign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Search #historymatters to join the conversation.
Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.
Episode Transcript
Lauren Cascio
One chapter, it’s on the black plague, the black death. And let me tell you, it just engulfs their attention and they get so wrapped up in it. And like they become little doctors, like they just, you know, they want to know everything about it.
Barbara Davidson
Welcome to the History Matters podcast. I’m your host, Barbara Davidson, President of Standards Work and Executive Director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign.
In today’s episode, I’m joined by Angela Barfoot and Lauren Cascio, elementary school teachers in Ouachita Parish Schools in West Monroe, Louisiana. Angela teaches second grade and Lauren teaches fifth at Highland Elementary School where the Knowledge Matters School Tour visited this past spring.
We had a delightful conversation about their experience using the Bayou Bridges curriculum and how students in their classes have responded to the increased expectations that it sets. Enjoy.
Barbara Davidson
How had you been approaching social studies in your elementary school prior to the adoption of this and the implementation of this curriculum that the state has made available to you? Did you have textbooks? Did you, did you dedicate time to it? What was the state of play?
Angela Barfoot
Well, we had textbooks originally. And then for a few years in between we had um ーI don’t know what you call that Lauren ー [laughs]
Lauren Cascio
Like a source book, (yeah) like a source workbook. But these were just not well done. They were not well put together. Tiny writing, horrible black and white pictures that were grainy. You couldn’t really read the maps. You know, we have our standards to teach and we were supposed to kind of be able to do it with inadequate materials. And it was very frustrating and it was not enjoyable for anybody.
Angela Barfoot
The difficulty and the lack of, I guess, support for us, you know, it was just: here are these sources, show them to your class, read them and get ー you know try to match that to your standard and get something out of that.
There was no consistency, I would say. I bet every teacher in the parish, even on the same grade level, probably taught it differently because we were just kind of left out there to do what we felt like was best and that can vary a lot.
Lauren Cascio
And I don’t, I don’t think anyone was confident teaching it either.
Angela Barfoot
Oh no.
Lauren Cascio
I mean, I know I wasn’t. I was just doing my best. I mean, I taught at the time, I taught Louisiana history in third grade. And obviously I know about Louisiana, but it just wasn’t in a way that helped the students grasp the ideas that we were trying to get across.
Barbara Davidson
So what’s changed? Tell us about history instruction in your classrooms now.
Angela Barfoot
I mean we went from trudging through mud to like we are tiptoeing through the tulips. [laughter] We are just having a good time. [laughs]
Lauren Cascio
[laughs] Yes.
Angela Barfoot
It is just ー it is fun for them. It is fun for us. You know, your day is not static. It’s not: we’re going to read this passage and then we’re going to dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. It’s very ー there’s a lot of different types of questioning and all of the readers and the maps and everything that comes with it is just so beautiful. The kids are just so interested.
And I would also have to say that the materials provided to us, the background information, I mean, there are just gads for the ー for teach ー we can do as deep of a dive as we want to prior to teaching it to get ourselves ready. You know.
Lauren Cascio
So, I mean, you know, I’m teaching right now we’re in medieval Europe. I was in 10th grade when I learned about that ー that was a very long time ago. But I can read that teacher notes. And it’s a couple of pages, and it’s, it’s reteaching you before you teach this to the kids.
It’s just, I feel knowledgeable and I feel confident teaching it. And I think that that makes all the difference because when we, when we seem like we know what we’re talking about, the kids are interested.
Barbara Davidson
So one of the things that I’ve been hearing an awful lot about in classrooms where there’s this kind of engagement, is the power of the story. Can you, can you tell us a little bit more about how history is taught in this story sort of rich way?
Lauren Cascio
Well, I think everything is very organized in that way. I think also having taught ー still teaching ELA and reading, I’m a natural storyteller in that way. I’m used to presenting things that way: visualize this, imagine you’re here, imagine this is happening to you. And it’s teaching them that skill of ー You know, I always say if you visualize, you’re gonna remember it better. And I think that with the sources being so wonderful, it just kind of comes naturally to ー for it to tell a story in that way.
Angela Barfoot
Also, you know, in the readers, when they, when they choose the visuals to go with the stories, you know, kids love picture books and the visuals that they choose are not just some stodgy portrait of George Washington or whoever you’re teaching about.
Lauren Cascio
Right. It’s not the portrait of George Washington we’ve all seen a million times.
Angela Barfoot
Right.
Lauren Cascio
It’s a new or different one. It’s a new or different one ー
Barbara Davidson
Crossing the Delaware. Yeah.
Lauren Cascio
Exactly. It’s ー every picture, every map, every source within the text is completely what we need for the lesson.
Angela Barfoot
Very intentional. You can see how intentionally they chose those things.
Barbara Davidson
So you mentioned teaching ELA ーand obviously you do that as well as elementary uh classroom teachers. How does that curriculum and ー which is Louisiana Guidebooks ー and Bayou Bridges work together?
Angela Barfoot
I would say I was very excited this year, you know, when I went from fourth to second, and we don’t use guidebooks, but we do use CKLA ー which is very, you know, science of reading, and it’s an excellent curriculum as well. And actually in our next knowledge domain, we have a knowledge domain, and we will be learning about the Indus Valley civilization. Well, guess ーguess what I taught in fourth grade social studies? The Indus Valley civilization.
So we are finding that what we’re doing in ELA is preparing or reinforcing concepts that we’ve already found in our social studies curriculum because they are covering similar topics.
Lauren Cascio
So for example, in fifth grade, right now we’re reading a wonderful novel called The Birchbark House. And it’s about the Ojibwe Native Americans and a family ー it follows a family. But we’re building so much ー I mean, the first week, we’re only building background knowledge about Native American ways of life.
My kids have so much knowledge that when we get to our social studies unit on the civilizations of North America, and we study ーI think it’s six different Native American regions ー they’re gonna already have so much knowledge and be able to access that to better understand our social studies curriculum.
So it’s just amazing that it just overlaps in such beautiful ways that, you know, the students feel con ー like confident learners and that’s what we want.
Angela Barfoot
And you know, I think it take ー it teaches them something too. And this just occurred to me, Lauren. But just how, you know, in life, um everything ー it’s a flow. You don’t just learn today and never learn it again. You can apply what you’re learning over and over and over and over. And I feel confident that things they’re learning here in elementary, they’re repeating again ー well, I know they are in middle school.
Lauren Cascio
Right. Right.
Angela Barfoot
You know, and how you can just apply your knowledge that you’ve learned to life itself! You know, make you a better citizen and ー
Lauren Cascio
Yes! And that’s what I always try to tell my kids is we’re doing ー what we do is for a purpose and we’re just building our knowledge and we can’t forget what we learned because we’re going to need it later. Everything we do in school builds and it’s set up that way to help you be successful.
And so I think there ー I’ve always said that but I feel like in recent years, they’re finally making those connections and they understand.
Barbara Davidson
You know, I maintain that one of the opportunities that we have right now for more and better history instruction at the elementary grades is because of what we’re learning about the science of reading and not just that ー the importance of background knowledge and content knowledge, but the kinds of things that we can do when we study history that, that really are very much what we are asking our students to do as they’re, as they’re learning to read.
So how is ー how is that showing up for you all? Would you, would you make an argument that says that your history instruction is improving literacy results in your district or in your school?
Angela Barfoot
Well, I think so because it is so interesting and engaging and because of the way it’s written, you know, kids want to read what they like. And so any time you read more because you like it, that is naturally going to develop your reading skills. I mean, you know, the more well-read you are, you know, the more knowledgeable and usually the stronger you are academically.
Lauren Cascio
Well, and I’ll just say like we can be reading a topic in social studies and I’ll have kids when they come to the library at school, they check out nonfiction because ー or even a fiction book about like a historical fiction ー about what we’re learning about in social studies because they want to know more.
I find that fifth graders love a fact. I think it’s just broadened their horizons in that they’re learning about things they never have heard about before. It excites me because I want them to read different genres and because that’s part of what I need them to do also. So if they’re practicing reading an informational text, then that’s only gonna help in reading also.
Barbara Davidson
Well, you know kids wanna be little experts. I mean, who doesn’t want to? It’s what we call agency.
So, are there parts of the curriculum that the kids like more than other parts of it? I’m talking specifically about the history curriculum.
Angela Barfoot
I think that they build in a lot of extra things like virtual field trips. They always love a virtual field trip. I mean, we can’t get in an airplane and go to Egypt [laughs] but, you know, we can get ー we can find the link with the virtual field trip and we can go see and look around at the pyramids and things like that. So, there’s a lot of interactivity, I would say, in the different types of things that go along with the readers.
Lauren Cascio
Last year we were learning about Machu Picchu. We Google mapped it and dropped our little human on the map and we looked around Machu Picchu. And, you know, I mean it’s just things like that, that like ー like Angie said, we can’t go on a field trip. I wish we could. But um it’s just making it interactive. But then, just getting them hyped like they’re there is, I think, helpful. And you can look at a picture all day, but when you can actually kind of feel like you’re there, I think that’s important as well.
Barbara Davidson
Was there a specific lesson or activity that each of you can think of that was the real turn on for some of the kids in your classroom?
Angela Barfoot
I don’t know if I would say one lesson, but we ー at the end of fourth grade, part of our curriculum, we learned about the people of Poverty Point, which is right here in our area. And so as we were on the bus, it was the best moment I’ve ever had in my entire teaching career, I think.
Lauren Cascio
[laughs] Oh wow!
Angela Barfoot
We’re on ー we are on the bus and we are, we’re not even there yet, but the kids just start screaming, “The bird mound! Mound A!” [laughs] And they’re just, they can see it and they are just thrilled out of their minds.
And then when we go in and we watch the little introductory video in the museum before you start, you know, doing all the tour, I was watching their faces as they would watch what was on the screen. And then they would just flip their head around and look at me and just, [gasps] “We know this, we know this!” You know? And they were just beyond thrilled that they, they, knew all this!
And they, you know, they still had opportunities to ー but it’s almost like they were re-experiencing ー it was just like a joy. They were having so much joy and it gave me so much joy to watch them go through that, you know.
Lauren Cascio
One chapter, which I’m getting to soon, it’s chapter three of unit one. It’s on the black plague, the black death. And let me tell you, that is just, I don’t know why such a morbid ー I guess it’s morbid curiosity. It just engulfs their attention and they get so wrapped up in it. And like they become little doctors, like they just, you know, they want to know everything about it.
And, and, but I ー look, I’ll give you more information, as much as I can to help you want to learn more. You know, I want to pique your interest. So I think just, I think they’re always excited when they can say, like Angie said, we know this, we know about this.
Barbara Davidson
Yeah. I have a question I’m asking everyone on the podcast, and that is, what gives you hope about the future of history or social studies instruction?
Angela Barfoot
I think it is teaching them to think. And to not just take things at face value but to really dive deep. And it’s giving them, you know, not just a US perspective. But we go all over the globe.
Lauren Cascio
Right.
Angela Barfoot
You know, in all of our social study ー which do different places and different time periods. You know, we’re growing up here in Louisiana, but now suddenly they have visions of what it’s like in other parts of the world and maybe they want to go there. And like Lauren was saying with the black plague and them wanting to be little doctors, maybe they will be inspired to be doctors. You know, I just feel like it is adding so much to the scope of what they could become.
Lauren Cascio
And I’ll say in my classroom, I kind of have this rule that I talk about, especially when we talk about different cultures or different religions that are different from our own. We don’t really compare in a right or wrong kind of way. It’s more about learning and understanding someone else’s point of view and way of life that might be different from ours. But instead of making judgments, we make inquiries instead. And we don’t have to agree. But I think that that’s really important. And that gives me hope that maybe by me helping them realize that everybody lives differently and we don’t live ー we live in our own little bubble here in Louisiana and people live differently in other places and that’s okay.
And I think through this just rich instruction and the guidebooks and ELA and the texts in social studies, I think that it’s showing them, like Angie said, a world that they’ve never seen before. And I think that that’s important. But it just, it gives me hope that maybe they’ll be a little more understanding and accepting of other people and their ways of life.
Barbara Davidson
To learn more about our visit to Ouachita Parish Schools, click the link in our show notes.
This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign. You can learn more about our work at knowledgematterscampaign.org.
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