History on Tap

I know it’s a little too early to think about next summer, but the Fulbright Hays Seminars Abroad applications are up for summer 2011.  These are fully funded travel abroad opportunities for K-12 teachers.  This year the elementary seminar options are Argentina, India, and Turkey & Greece.  (The Turkey and Greece seminar will probably be six weeks, since it covers two countries.)  The secondary seminar options are China, Mexico, and Thailand & Vietnam.  (Again, most likely a 6 week program.)

The seminar description and application information are available online.  Eligibility information, seminar descriptions, and the link to the online applicaton are available there.  Applications are due by 4:30pm on October 6th, 2010.  Applications are rather lengthy (4 essays) but the program is worth it.  I traveled to Poland on a Fulbright grant in 2009, so if you have any questions about the program and what it entails, please email me.

We hope everyone had a great summer, and want to welcome you back for another school year!

We have begun to post revised materials for 4th and 6th grade on the blog, so check out those pages.  We’ll be updating it periodically throughout the year as we revise more materials.

Just a quick note about power points.  Since they seem to slow down the pages, instead of having each individual power point listed under the SOL’s, they will all be stored on Slideshare.  The link to the Slideshare site is listed at the top of each page.  Hopefully this will speed things up a bit. 

Again, welcome back and we hope you enjoy the first week!

We finally made it to the last day of the school year!  Now everyone gets a well deserved break. 

Lisa is traveling to Germany on a study tour for two weeks this summer.  She hopes to be able to blog regularly while she’s gone, so if you’re interested you can check out her blog at http://lisapennington.wordpress.com.  (She tends to be rather long winded though.) 

We hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing summer, and we’ll see you next year!

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is offering three summer workshops (in August) for recertification points.  The workshop descriptions are included in the attached file.  They sound interesting, and each workshop description states the SOL’s that it is aligned to. 

HRNM Summer Workshops

We’re sure you’re well aware that the standards change next year for Social Studies.  Sarah and I will be working to revise the materials that we currently have on the blog to make them match the new SOL’s put out by the state department. 

We will remove all the materials from the blog on June 18th.  If there’s anything you think you’ll need, please save it before then.  We’ll begin to post revised materials before next school year. 

We just wanted to give everyone a heads up so you’re not shocked if you check back over the summer and all the materials are gone!

Sorry it’s a little late, but Sarah and I just want to wish everyone good luck during testing this week!  Thanks for all your hard work this year!

NBC has launched a website chronicling 60 years of the Civil Rights Movement.  “Launching the Dream” is a free video series available for teachers, students, and parents.  The site currently has over 100 videos, grouped into ten thematic units, with plans to add additional video content.  This is a great resource to allow students to hear from those who were personally involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

There is also a summer workshop about the Civil Rights Movement, through the VA Historical Society.  Textbooks and reading materials are free, and meals and lodging will be provided for out to town participants.  Each participant will also receive a $250 stipend upon completion of the workshop.  Visit http://www.vahistorical.org/education/application2010.htm to apply. 

And finally, the Civil War Preservation Trust will have a teacher institute in July.  The workshop is free, and includes meals, although a $100 refundable deposit is required to hold your space.  The workshop will take place in Hagerstown, Maryland, and includes a day long tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield.  Visit the CWPT website for more information and to apply.

These guys have great workshop.  There is a list of sample lesson plans, although I only included the ones relevant to USI.   There were many more designed for USII.  Registration information is at the bottom of the post. 

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION

People’s choices have consequences that lie in the future.  Can teaching about US History using economic theory help our students to make better choices in their futures?  In the country’s future?  Absolutely!

 Focus: Understanding Economics in US History: Grades 6-12

Saturday, April 10, 2010  9:00am – Noon

Virginia Beach Higher Education Center

Mysteries abound in U.S. history.  Students, acting like detectives, solve these mysteries by searching for clues and sifting through evidence in an effort to gain new insights into familiar subjects.  Using the interactive lessons from Focus: Understanding Economics in US History, students use economic reasoning to engage and learn.  These 39 lessons use a unique mystery-solving approach to teach U.S. economic history to your high school students. The activity-based lessons will give you a new, refreshing way to meet your U.S. History content goals, and infuse eye-opening economics material at the same time.  Lessons are correlated to the Virginia Standards of Learning. Each participant will receive the curriculum guide with 39 lessons, a $60.00 value, FREE.   Worth three recertification/professional development hours.  Registration information at the bottom of this email.  

 A sampling of some of the 39 lessons in the curriculum.

Lesson 5: Indentured Servitude: Why Sell Yourself into Bondage?

Lesson 6: Specialization and Trade in the Thirteen Colonies

Lesson 7: The Costs and Benefits of American Independence

Lesson 8: Problems Under the Articles of Confederation

Lesson 9: The US Constitution: Rules of the Game

Lesson 11: How Did Cotton Become King? The Economics of Cotton and Everything Else.

Lesson 12: Francis Cabot Lowell and the New England Textile Industry

Lesson 16: Andrew Jackson and the Second Bank of the United States

Lesson 17: Free the Enslaved and Avoid the War

Lesson 18: Why Did the South Secede?

REGISTER ONLINE at the Virginia Council on Economic Education’s workshop page http://www.vcee.org/workshop/home and search by SPONSORING CENTER (ODU) for more information and to register for the workshops. *If you do not immediately receive a confirmation email then your registration did not go through.   Try again, or email Ruth Cookson ASAP at rcookson@odu.edu.

There’s an interesting story today on CNN about the 555th Parachute Infantry Company, which was the first African American Paratrooper unit in the United States.  They were formed during WWII and are finally being honored for their services. 

The 555th, or “Triple Nickle” (incorrect spelling intentional) served by making over 1200 jumps on the West Coast of the United States-the only area in the US mainland that was hit during the war by incendiary bombs from Japan.  The paratroopers were responsible for putting out fires the bombs started before they could grow into huge forest fires.  This was an important task, and also a secret task because the government did not want the public to find out what actually started the fires. 

Only 3 of the original 17 members of the 555th are alive today, but they are being honored at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

A couple of workshops through ODU…

Old Dominion University Center for Economic Education

 NEW REGISTRATION PROCEDURE:  REGISTER ONLINE at the Virginia Council on Economic Education’s workshop page http://www.vcee.org/workshop/home and search by SPONSORING CENTER (ODU)  for more information and to register for the workshops. *If you do not immediately receive a confirmation email then your registration did not go through.  Try again, or email Ruth Cookson ASAP.

 Recession Economics: Basic Lessons for Helping to Understand the Current Crisis

Wed., March 24, 2010 4:30 – 6:30pm 

Virginia Beach Higher Education Center

Should we worry about inflation? What should the role of government be?  How does fiscal policy work?  This session will demonstrate basic lessons to help your students better understand current economic events.  Lessons will focus on Civics and Govt. topics such as monetary and fiscal policy, the role of the Federal Reserve and unemployment, and inflation.  Each participant will receive classroom materials and lesson plans.  For Teachers Grades 6-12. Free.  Refreshments provided.

 Focus: Understanding Economics in US History: Grades 6-12

Saturday, April 10, 2010  9:00am – Noon

Virginia Beach Higher Education Center

        Help your students to not just understand “what happened” but “why it happened” using active- learning lessons from the Council on Economic Education.  These 39 lessons, ranging from early Native Americans property rights to the economic problems faced in the 1970’s, use a unique mystery-solving approach to teach U.S. History to your high school and middle school students. Lessons are correlated to the Virginia Standards of Learning. Each participant will receive the curriculum guide Focus: Understanding Economics in US History – a $50.00 value – FREE.  Registration is limited to 25 teachers. This program made possible with support from the CEE with funding from the U.S. Dept of Education Office on Innovation and Improvement and the Virginia Bankers Association Education Foundation.  Coffee and danish provided.  USI.1, USI.5, USI.6, USI.7, USI.8, USII.1, USII. 4, USII.6, USII.9, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3, VUS.6, VUS.8, VUS.9, VUS.10, VUS.15