From the Primary Source website:

"How can American art be used to deepen your students' understanding of democracy in American life? Bringing together educators from across the country in conjunction with the NEH Picturing America program, Democratic Vistas will show you new ways to incorporate important works of visual art in the core humanities curriculum. Day One of the institute explores democratic values and aesthetics as a theme in American art; Day Two highlights the "art of the people" - folk and traditional art, as an expression of American creativity. The course takes advantage of Boston's unique artistic and historical resources with a downtown walking tour of civic monuments, a museum field trip (Boston's Museum of Fine Arts) and presentations by leading scholars in the field.

Following the course, participants must complete a lesson plan or school project highlighting one of the works in the Picturing America collection."

From the Primary Source website:

"How can American art be used to deepen your students' understanding of democracy in American life? Bringing together educators from across the country in conjunction with the NEH Picturing America program, Democratic Vistas will show you new ways to incorporate important works of visual art in the core humanities curriculum. Day One of the institute explores democratic values and aesthetics as a theme in American art; Day Two highlights the "art of the people" - folk and traditional art, as an expression of American creativity. The course takes advantage of Boston's unique artistic and historical resources with a downtown walking tour of civic monuments, a museum field trip (Boston's Museum of Fine Arts) and presentations by leading scholars in the field.

Following the course, participants must complete a lesson plan or school project highlighting one of the works in the Picturing America collection."

From the North Dakota State University website:

"Experiential learning is at the heart of Prairie Earth, Prairie Homes. Participants in the field school take part in the restoration of an amazing and significant historic property - the Hutmacher Farmstead, in Dunn County, North Dakota. The Hutmacher house and outbuilding walls are constructed of sandstone mortared with clay, both quarried on the farm. The roof uses ridgepoles and rafters locally cut and covered with successive layers of brush (chokecherry, plum), flax straw, clay, and aggregate. The house was built by the children of German-Russian immigrants and was occupied into the 1970s.

In order to broaden the learning experience, participants also will tour and study examples of the earth building traditions of the various cultures to occupy the West River country of the northern plains:

* Mandan & Hidatsa earth lodges
* Sod houses of Anglo-Americans
* Earth houses of the Germans from Russia

Depending on the enrollment option chosen, students will engage in preparatory readings and study prior to the field experience, write curricular materials adapted from the content of the course, or pursue independent research projects springing from it."

From the California History-Social Science Project website:

"Celebrate the best of Teaching American History in the region! Join us and participate in three of the 50-minute workshops offered per grade level.

At each interactive workshop led by teams of 5th-, 8th-, and 11th- grade teachers from Sacramento and Placer Counties teachers will share lessons developed through programs funded by federal Teaching American History grants.

You will leave refreshed with classroom-tested ideas and resources from your fellow history teachers."

From the California History-Social Science Project website:

"Dr. Janice Reiff of the UCLA History Department will introduce the Hypercities program and other mapping technologies to teachers at all levels."

From the California History-Social Science Project website:

"A new interactive online exhibit from the California Council for the Humanities (CCH) – We Are California – will explore the history and stories of those who have immigrated or migrated to California. A new partnership between the Council and the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP) will help to bring this exciting resource to the classroom.

The topics of the workshops will be 'The Sikhs of Yuba City' and 'Sam Brannan and the Mormon Settlements of California.' Both presentations will include classroom ready materials aligned with the California History-Social Science Standards."

This PhilaPlace project workshop will suggest approaches for developing local history mapping lessons and discuss ways to incorporate immigration and oral history into such projects.

The Archives of American Art, National Portrait Gallery, and Smithsonian American Art Museum have collaborated to create a series of teaching posters on themes such as Westward Expansion and the Harlem Renaissance. Attendees at this workshop will receive a set of the posters and explore ways to use the images, documents, and activities in the classroom.

All participants in this Montpelier-sponsored program will receive a free set of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution textbooks; a lecture by Constitutional Scholar Stephen Frantzich and a signed copy of his book; lesson demonstrations by teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; Representative Democracy of America free resources and training (DVDs and books); elementary, middle, and high school resources for the teaching of Constitution Day; and Project Citizen sessions for middle and high school teachers with free textbooks.

The workshop is open to teachers in Northern Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George County, Maryland.