History on Tap

Just a reminder that tomorrow, June 8, at 4:15pm we’ll have a “What’s New” workshop for grades 3-6 to introduce curriculum changes that will be in effect next year.  We’ll meet at Wilson High School in the library.

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.

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

The 6th grade content review workshop will be held on Tuesday, March 23rd, at 4:15pm.  It will be in the library at John Tyler Elementary.  I need an RSVP from everyone attending by Friday, March 19th.  There are some materials I need to purchase this weekend, and I need a head count.  I will only have materials for those who RSVP.  Send your RSVP to mary.jones@pps.k12.va.us.

The Institute of International Education and the Toyota International Teacher Program are offering a fully funded seminar to the Galapagos Islands for 2010.  Full time classroom teachers of all subjects and librarians for grades 6-12 are eligible to apply. 

The seminar will take place from November 20th thru December 4th, so you’ll have to have permission from your principal.  However, the program does award your school $500 to help offset the cost of your absence. 

Applications are due May 26th.  For more information and to apply, visit http://www.toyota4education.com/pmwiki.php?n=Main.WelcomeToTheToyotaInternationalTeacherProgramWiki?from=Main.HomePage.

The National Council for Social Studies has organized several workshops this summer.  They’ll take place in a few different cities, with the closest ones to us taking place in Washington, D.C.  For more information and instructions on how to apply, visit http://members.socialstudies.org/Scripts/4Disapi.dll/4DCGI/events/ConferenceList.html?Action=Find_Events.

I’ve got information on a couple of seminars coming up, as well as a Civil War conference in the fall.

First, in April, there will be a 3 day residential seminar at Mt. Vernon.  It is a completely funded program, and will take place from April 9th thru the 11th.  (Please note that April 9th is the Friday of Spring Break.)  Participants will be housed on the estate.  I’ve included the announcement, application, and schedule.  For all other questions concerning the seminar, contact education@mountvernon.org. 

Weekend_with_GW_announcement[1]

Mt. Vernon Seminar Application

Mt. Vernon weekend schedule

This year’s Presidential Academy will be held from July 11-29 in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Gettysburg.  The application for this seminar is due March 15th.  We had a teacher who attended this a few years ago who had a wonderful experience, learned a lot, and brought back many many materials.  To apply, visit http://presidentialacademy.org/.

And finally there will be a one day conference on the Civil War in September, at Norfolk State University.  This is a free conference and registration is open to the public, although seating is limited.  The conference is entitled “Race, Slavery, and the Civil War:  The Tough Stuff of American History and memory.”  It will take place on September 24th, 2010, which is a Friday.  You can find a list of topics that will be covered, as well as the historians who will take part in the conference at  http://www.virginiacivilwar.org/2010conference.php.  Registration information is also available on their homepage.   

We encourage you to apply for these opportunities!  They often give away lots of materials, and you walk away with new information to add to your lessons.  Good luck!

There is a workshop for middle and high school teachers on February 23rd at 3:15 in Conference Room 1 at IRC.  Participants will receive a unit plan for teaching the Holocaust.  Please RSVP to Mrs. West at mary.west@pps.k12.va.us.

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.

 Economics in Ancient Civilizations for Grades 2-3

Thurs., Feb 25, 2010    4:30 – 6:30pm 

Virginia Beach Higher Education Center

        Need help finding quality, interactive lesson plans on Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, and Mali? This workshop combines hands-on activities and children’s literature to help your students master these interesting yet difficult SOL concepts. Play Ancient Workers relay, teach about specialization, and focus on resources in this workshop.  Each participant will receive classroom materials, a children’s book, and lesson plans. SOL 2.1, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.1, 3.2, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9.  Free.

 Decision Making: Addressing the New SOL Skill in Grades K-12

Thurs, March 4, 2010    4:30 – 6:30pm 

Virginia Beach Higher Education Center

Teachers will leave this session understanding how economics really is a “life skill” and not a dismal science! Kudos to the Virginia Board of Education for adding these essential skills to the revised 2008 History & Social Science SOL to be effective in 2010-11. This session will get teachers ahead of the game by demonstrating various K-12 grade-appropriate decision-making models and cost-benefit analyses as they apply to everyday life. Participants will then divide into grade-specific groups and apply these skills to respective subject content.  Free.

 Picture This!  Bulletin Board Economics

Tuesday, March 16, 2010    4:30 – 6:30pm

Virginia Beach Higher Education Center 

        Receive a set of 12 posters when you attend this workshop.  These posters, illustrating economic and financial literacy concepts, give teachers innovative teaching tools to cover the SOL economics strand.  During the workshop we will review the K-3 economics concepts and learn great tips on teaching them in your classroom.  Connect the concepts with the provided list of children’s literature and you have ready-made interdisciplinary lessons.  Free