NCSS Virtual Conference - Post #1

Like I have with previous conferences I attend, I'm planning to post some material from good sessions I saw during the NCSS (National Council for the Social Studies) virtual conference in late June. I decided as I started creating the posts, though, that I was trying to include too much in a single theme. So as a result, I will turn this into three posts - each one featuring a different session at the conference, but then going beyond that to look at either additional materials the organization offers OR additional information on the subject of the session. So here is Post #1, focusing on a new 5-lesson curriculum unit related to unsung women in American History, and looking in more detail at the subject of one of those lessons . . .

Jay LeBlanc

7/9/20265 min read

I saw two good sessions on women's history during the second day of the virtual NCSS Conference, along with some new resources on other female characters outside the 250th anniversary (which was a major focus on the conference in general). I'm going to share elements of both presentations, as well as a couple of other recommendations for available resources on women's history in general. Please note that I am somewhat limited in what I can share from the conference itself (since it was a paid attendance event) - I can't share links to the actual presentation recordings, for example. But both of these presenters were representing larger nonprofits who maintain their own websites, so in most cases I can link you directly to their materials . . .

Session #1 - Fostering Viewpoint Diversity Through Unsung Women of the American Revolution:

This first session was presented by Kobi Nelson, representing both Sphere Education and the Prohuman Foundation. Those two groups are working together on this project to focus attention on "Unsung Women of the American Revolution" with a series of features and lesson plans. Let me start with an overview of the series at this point . . .

As you can see, they are beginning with 5 lessons on specific "unsung" women - I was somewhat familiar with 3 of the 5 going into the session, but learned a lot about all 5. Sphere and ProHuman are taking a little different slant on the material, so I will provide links below to both sources (as usual, the access is free but requires registration mostly to prove you are a teacher - not a student looking for the answer key!) Depending on the response from teachers, they may expand this project to other time periods (but short-term were connecting to the Revolutionary War interest around the 250th celebration).

Sphere's Lesson Plan on Anna Smith Strong

Here is more of a breakdown into one of the five lessons, focusing in this case on Anna Smith Strong (one of the two whose story I had not heard before, though I was familiar in general with the Culper Spy Ring):

Two things I want to mention here. 1) For some reason, though both sites have the general teacher lesson plan available, ONLY the Sphere website has the downloadable materials to go with the lesson (shown above at the bottom right). 2) I did not include any of those materials here, but the descriptions above give you some of the details about the reading and paired puzzle activity built into the lesson. They also include several possible extensions and discussion questions within the teacher lesson plan itself.

Below I am also providing some more information links about Anna Smith Strong, including a quick video clip used as an introduction in the lesson plan above . . .

Other Links/Resources About Anna Smith Strong (links at end of article):

Resources and Links for the "Unsung Women of the American Revolution" series from Sphere and ProHuman:

Prohuman K-12 Curriculum: Learning character through literature (website), ProHuman Foundation, https://www.prohumanfoundation.org/curriculum NOTE: Make sure you move down the page to find the "Women in the American Revolution" portion of their curriculum

"The Culper Spy Ring: Path through History" (video clip), Discover Long Island NY, Mar 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ChVGE00c4

"Women in the American Revolution (Explore the vital but often overlooked contributions of women during the American Revolution — from spies and soldiers to political organizers and rights advocates)" (lesson plan), Sphere Education, 2026, https://www.sphere-ed.org/module/105 REMINDER: Requires free registration as a teacher to access/download the lesson plan and materials

Preview page for "Women in the American Revolution: The Story of Anna Smith Strong" (lesson plan), Sphere Education, 2026, https://www.sphere-ed.org/lesson/399?from=module:105 REMINDER: You can preview the lesson, but have to register to download any of the materials or the actual lesson plan

"America's 250th (Sphere Education Initiatives' 250th collection integrates the study of civics across disciplines to help students identify, analyze, and evaluate the underpinnings of the founding principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence through the framework of civil discourse)" (unit plan), Sphere Education, 2025-26, https://www.sphere-ed.org/collection/19 NOTE: This is the larger unit containing all of Sphere's materials related to the 250th anniversary - women's history is only one portion of that

General Resources and Links on Anna Smith Strong (referenced above):

"Anna Strong: A Spy During the American Revolution" (children's book), written by Sarah Glenn Marsh, published Mar 2020, https://www.amazon.com/dp/1419734199

ALSO, I found this homeschool website lesson plan to go with the book if you are interested - https://letthembesmall.com/easy-lessons-anna-strong-spy-lapbook/

"Anna Smith Strong" (from the Honoring our Patriots series)", Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), 2026, https://honoringourpatriots.dar.org/patriots/anna-smith-strong/

"Anna Smith Strong: Handkerchief Code-Maker", Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, https://www.lowellmilkencenter.org/programs/projects/view/anna-smith-strong/hero

"George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring: Separating Fact from Fiction", Journal of the American Revolution, Jun 2021, https://allthingsliberty.com/2021/06/george-washingtons-culper-spy-ring-separating-fact-from-fiction/ For a more skeptical look at the story of Anna Smith Strong, but also much more detail about the Culver Spy Ring as a part of the history of the Revolutionary War.

"Revolutionary Spies: Women Spies of the American Revolution" (article), National Women's History Museum, Aug 2017, https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/revolutionary-spies

I'm also going to include the following blog article (from a historian) in case any of you watched "TURN: Washington's Spies", AMC's fictionalized television drama a decade ago about Revolutionary War spies. It had "some" good history in it about the Culper Spy Ring . . . and a LOT of fictionalized dramatization about their personal lives! In particular, using Anna - the only main female character - to provide romantic tension (even though they don't mention her husband and 7 children!)

"Abraham Woodhull and Anna Strong Revisited" (blog article), TURN to a Historian blog, Apr 2015, https://spycurious.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/abraham-woodhull-and-anna-strong-revisited/

AND FINALLY, call this a bit of a preview of Post #2 . . .

"Revolutionary Myth Making and Myth Breaking, Part 2: Anna Strong (from the Revolutionary Women exhibit)", Center for Women's History at the New York Historical, May 2026, https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/revolutionary-anna-strong

NOTE: We will focus more on their women's history resources when I post the 2nd NCSS session next week . . .