This three-day seminar for 8th-grade Chicago Public Schools Language Arts and Social Studies teachers will explore ways to teach the Holocaust through the lens of literature. It will explore literature through fiction, nonfiction, poetry, short stories, and diaries. (Priority will be given to schools involved in the Choices in Little Rock initiative.)

This seminar explores the Facing History and Ourselves resource book, Choices in Little Rock—a collection of teaching suggestions, activities, and primary sources that focus on the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. These efforts led to a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as "the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War." These resources explore a range of civic choices—the decisions people make as citizens in a democracy. Those decisions, both then and now, reveal that democracy is not a product but a work in progress, a work that is shaped in every generation by the choices that people make about themselves and others. This workshop will consider ways to engage students in the issues raised by this history and its civic implications for their lives today. Choices in Little Rock can be used not only to teach history but also to deepen and enrich a study of civics, government, and literature.

This seminar explores the Facing History and Ourselves resource book, Choices in Little Rock—a collection of teaching suggestions, activities, and primary sources that focus on the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. These efforts led to a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as "the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War." These resources explore a range of civic choices—the decisions people make as citizens in a democracy. Those decisions, both then and now, reveal that democracy is not a product but a work in progress, a work that is shaped in every generation by the choices that people make about themselves and others. This workshop will consider ways to engage students in the issues raised by this history and its civic implications for their lives today. Choices in Little Rock can be used not only to teach history but also to deepen and enrich a study of civics, government, and literature.

Using Facing History's principal resource book, Holocaust and Human Behavior, as well as video, primary sources, and presentations by survivors and leading scholars of the Holocaust, participants will experience a rigorous encounter with this powerful history. During the Seminar, a wide range of innovative teaching strategies are used to help teachers confront the Holocaust. At the conclusion of the Seminar, participants leave with a thorough grounding on how to incorporate these teaching tools into their classrooms in ways that will help students connect the history of the Holocaust to the ethical choices they face today. Participants at this Seminar follow Facing History's scope and sequence. The Seminar begins with an exploration of questions of identity in life today and then moves to questions of group membership in history. These early sessions lay the foundation for an intensive examination of the steps that led to the Holocaust and the eventual mass murder of millions of Jews and other victims. The Seminar then ask participants to think about questions of judgment and memory, considering who bears responsibility for crimes against humanity and how to confront or memorialize the past. The Seminar concludes by challenging participants to reflect on questions about what it means to participate responsibly in a civil society. Following this Seminar, participants receive complete access to Facing History's Educator Resources, including downloadable unit plans, lessons, and online conversations. In addition, participants are invited to borrow videos, dvds, and books from Facing History's lending library. Finally, each participant is assigned a Facing History Program Associate, who is available to provide ongoing support services. Seminars provide educators with an interactive exploration of Facing History's content and teaching strategies. Each seminar introduces teachers to leading scholars and offers experiences that can deepen and enrich their students' encounters with the past.

Celebrate Oklahoma Voices is a statewide digital storytelling project empowering learners to become digital witnesses, archiving local oral history and sharing that history safely on the global stage of the Internet. In this 2.5-day workshop, participants will focus on digital storytelling and oral history interviewing skills. Participants receive $500 in digital recording and computer equipment along with hands-on training. Current classroom teachers, librarians, administrators, instructors, and professors in Oklahoma are all eligible to participate.

Celebrate Oklahoma Voices is a statewide digital storytelling project empowering learners to become digital witnesses, archiving local oral history and sharing that history safely on the global stage of the Internet. In this 2.5-day workshop, participants will focus on digital storytelling and oral history interviewing skills. Participants receive $500 in digital recording and computer equipment along with hands-on training. Current classroom teachers, librarians, administrators, instructors, and professors in Oklahoma are all eligible to participate.

Participants will step back in time to a simpler life on uninhabited St. Helena Island. Participants will be immersed in the life and times of Great Lakes lighthouse keepers, including history, culture, and songs. Educators and youth leaders will sleep in the lighthouse bedrooms, cook with each other in the summer kitchen, and keep watch on the lantern deck as lighthouse families did 100 years ago. Activity classes, all based on the Michigan State Standards, offer the participant a means to integrate real world Great Lakes concepts into their classrooms. Some examples of these activities include topographical mapping, lens/prism and sound technology, use of primary reference materials, storytelling, journal entry, and decision making, to name just a few.

Congress in the Classroom® is a national, award-winning education program now in its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress. The Center joins with the new Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service to conduct the workshop.

The 2008 program pays special attention to the upcoming congressional and presidential elections. Participants will gain experience with The Dirksen Center website which features online access to lesson plans, student activities, historical materials, related Web sites, and subject matter experts. The workshop consists of two types of sessions: those that focus on recent research and scholarship about Congress or elections and those geared to specific ways to teach students about Congress or elections.