Reading Strategies for Teaching Social Studies

Description

From the Goucher College website:

"What are the important reading strategies for the secondary social studies classroom? What are the important organization literacy patterns that can help unlock the social studies? What impact do they have on planning, delivery, and assessment of social studies content? This practical, hands-on course will focus on strategies and approaches that help students with non-fiction reading in the social studies. You will examine eight organizational patterns, including description, cause and effect, compare and contrast and problem solution, which help provide structure for informational text used in social studies. Additionally, we will examine and apply how to use anticipation guides, the role of prediction and related strategies, and how to evaluate and assess outcomes. Finally, all skills will be applied in 'how to do historical investigations.'"

Contact name
Peggy Altoff
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
National Council for the Social Studies; Goucher College
Target Audience
Middle and high school social studies educators
Start Date
Cost
$700
Course Credit
"Two graduate credits are available through Goucher College for an additional $200."
Duration
Three days
End Date

Washington, DC We the People Summer Seminar

Description

The Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier will host the Washington, DC We the People Summer Seminar for middle and high school teachers. The seminar will begin with lectures, discussions, and group activities and conclude with a simulated congressional hearing. Teachers will receive a full classroom set of We the People textbooks.

Contact name
Rydstrom, Justin
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Center for Civic Education
Phone number
202-861-8800
Target Audience
Upper elementary, middle, and high school
Start Date
Cost
Free
Course Credit
Participants will receive documentation of the Seminar's contact hours to qualify them for professional development from their local school system, according to their own school policies.
Contact Title
Program Manager, Center for Civic Education
Duration
Four days
End Date

Maryland We the People Summer Seminar

Description

The Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier will host the Maryland We the People Summer Seminar for middle and high school teachers. The seminar will begin with lectures, discussions, and group activities and conclude with a simulated congressional hearing. Teachers will receive a full classroom set of We the People textbooks.

Contact name
Taylor-Thoma, Marcie
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Center for Civic Education
Phone number
410-767-0519
Target Audience
Upper elementary, middle, and high school
Start Date
Cost
Free
Course Credit
Two MSDE professional development credits will be offered at the successful completion of the seminar.
Contact Title
Social Studies and We the People Programs, Maryland State Department of Education
Duration
Four days
End Date

Virginia We the People Summer Seminar

Description

The Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier will host the Virginia We the People Summer Seminar for middle and high school teachers. The seminar will begin with lectures, discussions, and group activities and conclude with a simulated congressional hearing. Teachers will receive a full classroom set of We the People textbooks.

Contact name
Carmichael, Kelly
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Center for Civic Education
Phone number
540-672-2728
Target Audience
Upper elementary, middle, and high school
Start Date
Cost
Free
Course Credit
Participants will receive documentation of the Seminar's contact hours to qualify them for professional development from their local school system, according to their own school policies.
Contact Title
Education Outreach Manager and Virginia We the People State Coordinator
Duration
Four days
End Date

Connecticut Teacher Institute in Environmental History

Description

This teacher institute, presented by the Forest History Society, is especially geared toward Connecticut Social Studies teachers (grades 6–10). Participants will learn more about the Society's If Trees Could Talk curriculum to introduce students to environmental history. Discussion topics, hands-on activities, critical thinking skills, team teaching suggestions for other subjects, and more are included in these free, online modules.

The institute will also introduce The Greatest Good, a U.S. Forest Service Centennial film. Educators will learn to use the film in conjunction with the If Trees Could Talk curriculum and hear from guest speakers on various environmental history topics.

Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Forest History Society
Phone number
919-682-9319
Target Audience
6-10
Start Date
Cost
Free
Duration
Three days
End Date

Advanced Session: Using Library Resources to Create Lessons

Description

Teachers who have attended the Library of Congress's previous summer institutes, or who have served as American Memory Fellows, now have the opportunity to build on their skills with this advanced institute. Participants will work closely with Library specialists to improve their skills in searching the Library's website, to learn more about using collections at the Library, and to develop inquiry-based primary source teaching materials for use in their own classrooms. In addition to attending training sessions with Library specialists, participants will undertake intensive individual research in the Library's collections to discover primary source documents that support their teaching goals. By the conclusion of the institute, each participant will have created the initial stages of a lesson plan or other primary-source-based learning experience that they can take with them and integrate into their teaching. For previous summer institute participants or American Memory Fellows only.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Library of Congress
Target Audience
4-12
Start Date
Cost
Free
Course Credit
No college or professional development credits are provided for those participating in the Teacher Institutes.
Duration
Four days
End Date

Hatton W. Sumners Institute

Description

The institute is divided into three levels, as follows:

101: This 40-hour training begins with an in-depth study of the Declaration of Independence. Participants will then be taken through the ancient and European origins of the U.S. Constitution, followed by the American origins. The training will continue with a famous Federalist debating a famous Anti-Federalist over whether a New York State convention should vote to ratify the Constitution in 1788.

Then attending teachers will be taken on a walk through the seven articles of the Constitution. The remainder of the time will be spent studying the First Amendment and famous Supreme Court cases on the First Amendment, including the current term cases.

The agenda is divided into blocks of time spent with scholars, followed by break-out sessions where activities are demonstrated on the curriculum covered in the scholar sessions.

201: Available to those teachers who have completed the 101 session, the advanced session begins with a look at the "Ladder of the Bill of Rights." The remainder of the three-day, 18-hour institute is spent studying Amendments Two through 10, along with Supreme Court cases decided under each of these amendments. Break-out sessions follow each scholar session with activities on the Bill of Rights.

301: The one-day, seven-hour Update Session is available to those teachers who have previously attended both 101 and 201. Participants will spend most of the time discussing Supreme Court cases that have been decided during the past few years with the scholars. They will also receive a new activity guide, which includes lessons on Federalism and writing.

Contact name
Greenwood, Yvonne
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
Law Focused Education, Inc.
Phone number
800-204-2222
Target Audience
3-12
Start Date
Course Credit
The State Board for Educator Certification approves the institute for continuing education credit for teacher certification, and optional graduate credit is available through the University of St. Thomas in either Political Science or Education.
Contact Title
Coordinator
Duration
Five days
End Date

Social Studies, Science, and Careers in Conservation

Description

Participants in this institute will interact with scientists studying Maine's unique environment; explore the wide range of National Park Service resources available to teachers; visit an offshore island and learn how early artists, Native Americans, and coastal environments can intersect in your classroom; and develop multidisciplinary activities to take back to their classrooms.

Sponsoring Organization
Acadia National Park
Phone number
207-288-8808
Target Audience
K-9
Start Date
Cost
$450. Stipend and scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Course Credit
Credit for two CEUs is possible through the University of Maine.
Contact Title
SEA Director
Duration
Three days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [MA]

Description

This workshop provides a varied program of lectures, demonstrations, analysis of documents, independent research, and group work that introduces teachers to the holdings and organization of the National Archives. Participants will learn how to do research in historical records, create classroom material from records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students' skills and enthusiasm for history, social studies, and the humanities. Each participant selects and prepares to research a specific topic, searches the topic in the records of the National Archives, and develops a teaching unit that can be presented in his or her own classroom.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Five days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [TX]

Description

This workshop provides a varied program of lectures, demonstrations, analysis of documents, independent research, and group work that introduces teachers to the holdings and organization of the National Archives. Participants will learn how to do research in historical records, create classroom material from records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students' skills and enthusiasm for history, social studies, and the humanities. Each participant selects and prepares to research a specific topic, searches the topic in the records of the National Archives, and develops a teaching unit that can be presented in his or her own classroom.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Five days
End Date