Part 2 of 2 Become inspired to synthesize content with literacy theory for the purpose of developing your own classroom-ready curricula, including meaningful readings.  Learn how to create an engaging and beneficial curriculum around the concept of narrative and connections, in which students can bridge together the short excerpts, aka "dots", provided to read intently in class in order to see and understand the bigger picture. Textbooks are compiled, not written and this creates a problem for teachers who are trying to implement the new Common Core literacy standards.…

This session helps teachers understand some of the common misconceptions when teaching about Hinduism. It goes over Hinduism’s core philosophies, as well as important points to keep in mind when discussing the religion and social practices in India. Teachers will be equipped with new teaching strategies, as well as updated, accurate, and culturally competent resources for their classrooms. What if everything you knew about Hinduism was wrong? What lessons have been learned from controversies around the country in World Religions Classes, like field trips, guest speakers, or trying on burkas…

Educators are teaching about religion in an increasingly volatile atmosphere. Islamophobia is on the rise as are incidents of anti-Semitism. Many Americans do not even know it’s legal to teach about religion. In recent years, uproars over world religion lessons, particularly on Islam, have caught teachers and school systems by surprise. In many cases, teachers had used the same activity for a decade, including letting students try on burkas and hijab. Should teachers avoid dress-up exercises, field trips and guest speakers? Or can they put in safeguards to avoid controversy? In this webinar,…

During the past decade the learning curve for using Geographic Information Systems in the classroom has decreased incredibly and accessibility to K-12 institutions is at all-time high! IN 2014 ESRI announced a $1 billion gift of ArcGIS Online software to support the Obama Administration’s ConnectEd initiative. Any public or private school in US can now have organization GIS for up to 500 users free of charge.

Part 3 of 4 Change as Demonstrated Through Popular Culture How can teachers demonstrate changes in America using popular culture from the 1950s and 1960s (movies, television, art)? This webinar will provide suggestions on how to source material for classroom use.

Part 1 of 2 Become inspired to synthesize content with literacy theory for the purpose of developing your own classroom-ready curricula, including meaningful readings. Learn how to create an engaging and beneficial curriculum around the concept of narrative and connections, in which students can bridge together the short excerpts, aka "dots", provided to read intently in class in order to see and understand the bigger picture. Textbooks are compiled, not written and this creates a problem for teachers who are trying to implement the new Common Core literacy standards.…

Explore easy and powerful ways to teach and learn about change over space and time using web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and mapping tools. Tools, such as ArcGIS Online and story maps, can be effectively used to analyze historical events, population and demographics, land use, watersheds, natural hazards, and economic data from local to global scale. This webinar will demonstrate how to teach with these free online tools, data sets, and curricular components, and how you can get started.  

Webinar Series: Part 2 of 4 A "case study” in the importance of music to many social movements in American history. Songs of the labor movement, the civil rights movement and the women’s movement will be featured; we will also be listening to songs that oppose social change. In all of the webinars we will continue to explore effective strategies that teachers can use when including music in classroom lessons.  

Explore what the Library of Congress has for teachers, including primary source sets and lesson plans for teaching with primary sources, and professional development opportunities. Take a quick tour of ways to connect with experts from the Library and tap into the Library’s vast collections to find even more resources for your classroom. Find out why one Summer Institute participant described the Library as having “layer upon layer of awesome.”

Webinar Series Part 3 of 4 A “case study” analyzing themes that have been found in American popular music made during wartime. We will study songs created during the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and recent wars in the Middle East to identify common themes; we will also see that popular music has taken on different roles during certain American wars.