Announcements

Update on Curriculum Framework for 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning

CLICK HERE for a PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Update and Implementation: 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning and Online Instructional Resources." This was presented Virginia Social Studies Educators Conference on October 17, 2008.

The Virginia Board of Education adopted the proposed revised Curriculum Framework for the 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning on July 17, 2008. The document reflects the changes approved by the Board. The key that has been used is single underlines and single strikethroughs for changes that went to the Board for first review in June 2008. Double underlines and double strikethroughs were used for additional changes based on public comments from May 23 through June 27, 2008, and were included in the document that went to the Board for final review on July 17, 2008. The adopted proposed revised Curriculum Framework for the 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning can be found at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/sol.html#history.

Distribution of the 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework is anticipated by fall 2008. Full implementation of these documents is scheduled for the 2010-2011 school year, as outlined in Superintendent’s Memorandum Number 49, at the following link:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/info_centers/superintendents_memos/2008/02_feb/inf049.html

2009 Summer Teacher Opportunities

Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Summer Teacher Institute
Virginia School Teachers K-12
July 12-17, 2009
Become immersed in the history of 17th-century Jamestown and the 18th-century American Revolution. Practice new teaching methods in period costume while interacting with visitors at two living-history museums. Experience history through hands-on period activities. Participate in SOL-correlated programs, presentations and workshops. Take home a kit of reproduction artifacts to use in your classroom.12 hours using teaching methods to interact with visitors in period costume.
http://www.historyisfun.org/Teacher-Institute.htm

Colonial Williamsburg
Teacher Institute in Early American History
Summer 2009
Designed for elementary and middle/high school social studies teachers who teach United States history and government, these intensive week-long workshops will immerse participants in early American history "on location" in Williamsburg, the restored capital city of eighteenth-century Virginia, and nearby Jamestown and Yorktown. Twenty-five teachers and a returning mentor teacher will be selected for each session.
http://www.history.org/history/teaching/tchsti.cfm

Virginia Geographic Alliance
The Virginia Geographic Alliance will have a trip from June 29th-July 16th that begins in New England, and goes through Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Quebec.
http://www.geography.vt.edu/worldlandscapes/2009/

Pamplin Historical Park
Pamplin Historical Park and Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary offers three Teacher Institutes in 2009: June 22 - 26, July 13 - 17, and August 3 – 7, 2009.
http://www.pamplinpark.org/institute.html

Virginia We the People Summer Seminar
July 6-9, 2009
The Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier will host the Virginia We the People Summer Seminar for twenty middle and high school teachers. The seminar will begin on Monday evening with lectures, discussions and group activities and conclude on Thursday afternoon with a simulated congressional hearing. Room and board will be provided at no cost to the teachers. Travel reimbursement is also available. Teachers will receive a full classroom set of We the People textbooks. For more information, please contact Kelly Carmichael atkcarmichael@montpelier.org or 540-672-2728 x202.
http://center.montpelier.org/application

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars are designed to strengthen participants' commitment to high quality history teaching. Public, parochial, independent school teachers, and National Park Service rangers are eligible. These weeklong seminars provide intellectual stimulation and a collaborative context for developing practical resources and strategies to take back to the classroom. Application deadline: February 15, 2009.
Seminars offer:

Room and board
Books and teaching resources
Stipends of $400 (international seminar stipend of $500)

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/seminars1.html

Bill of Rights Institute Constitution Academy for Students
The Bill of Rights Institute is now accepting applications to the 2009 Constitution Academy. The Academy will take place July 19-25, and July 26-August 1, 2009. Led by their Director of Student programs, Jason Ross, PhD, students will receive instruction from university professors and read America's Founding documents along with selected Federalist Papers and works from important intellectuals of the Founding era. The program will also give students the opportunity to investigate landmarks sites in and around Washington, D.C., and earn three units of college credit from Ashland University. Selection criteria and other materials are available at http://www.BillofRightsInstitute.org/AcademyCS4.

George Washington Teachers' Institute for Mount Vernon Area Educators
As a special opportunity to teachers who live in the greater Mount Vernon area, the George Washington Teachers' Institute is open to ALL educators every summer for an intensive two day program. July 21-22, 2009.
http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/teachers_students/index.cfm/ss/116/

NEH Summer Institutes and Workshops for Teachers
Each summer the National Endowment for the Humanities supports rigorous national seminars, institutes, and workshops for American school teachers. Program participants receive stipends to help defray travel and living expenses. The application deadline is March 2, 2009 (postmark). Seminars and Institutes are 2-6 week projects which take place in the United States and abroad. They are intended to deepen the participants’ understanding of important subjects in the humanities. For a complete list of the 31 projects offered in the summer of 2009, along with eligibility requirements and contact information for the directors, go to the NEH website at: http://www.neh.gov/projects/si-school.html.

LANDMARKS OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, application deadline is March 16, 2009 (postmark). Landmarks of American History and Culture are 1-week workshops which take place at sites of historical or cultural significance across the nation. They provide teachers with the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture. For a complete list of the 20 projects offered in the summer of 2009, along with eligibility requirements and contact information for the directors, go to the NEH website at: www.neh.gov/projects/landmarks-school.html.

Transatlantic Outreach Program from the Goethe-Institut
Since 2001, Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP) has sought to give Social Studies educators the opportunity to experience Germany in the most dramatic way possible: in person. From Berlin to Frankfurt, from Stuttgart to Munich, from Hamburg to Kiel, from Dresden to Schwerin, and from Weimar to Leipzig, each corner of Germany is sampled through sight, sound, touch, and taste! These all-expense-paid study tours are two weeks in length and take place during the summer.
www.goethe.de/top

United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

Welcome to the official Web site of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The Commission was established by Congress in 2000 to plan the national observance of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 2009. The Bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth offers a unique opportunity to provide American youth with an understanding of the role Lincoln’s legacy played in shaping the United States. Lesson plans are available for grades K through 12.
http://www.lincolnbicentennial.gov/learning-about-lincoln/for-teachers/default.aspx

Primary Source Learning

Primary Source Learning helps educators quickly find and use primary sources related to specific curriculum standards in all subjects through the Teaching Materials database. Staffed by classroom teachers, Primary Source Learning connects pre-K-12 schools, university programs, libraries, and museums through collaborative programs that deepen student understanding of the curriculum and equip learners with Information Age literacy skills. Primary Source Learning was created by the Northern Virginia Partnership of the Teaching with Primary Sources program made available through a Library of Congress grant funded by the U.S. Congress. The purpose of this Web site is to share the resources and Learning Experiences developed by teachers in Northern Virginia with other educators.
http://primarysourcelearning.org/

Online Games about Government and Civics

The Texas Law-Related Education (LRE) Department of the State Bar has created 13 online interactive games about government and civics. Check them out at http://www.texaslre.org/onlinegames.html.

Virginia Vignettes

Virginia Vignettes http://www.virginiavignettes.org is a brief weekly column which concisely presents a question from Virginia history along with an interpretative answer by a noted historian or scholar of Virginia. Virginia Vignettes is brought to you by the Online Virginia Encyclopedia (OVE), which is scheduled to debut in 2007. The OVE will be a comprehensive compendium of Virginia history and culture and will serve as the first point of reference for information on Virginia.
Sign up at http://www.virginiavignettes.org/signup.html.