Educator Services Teaching & Learning Curriculum Resources
Spring Content Institute Descriptions

February 1998

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is sponsoring four spring content institutes. There is one institute in English Language Arts and three in History & Social Science. Institutes are held outside of traditional school day hours, allowing classroom teachers to attend without being absent from the classroom. Stipends are available for participants.

The Department reviewed proposals from many providers and selected the following four institutes for funding through a competitive process. This announcement of the four institutes is informational in nature, as sponsors are marketing their institutes directly.

History and Social Science Institutes

1. Where We Live: Exploring National Historical Trends through Local History

Provider: University of Massachusetts - Amherst, History Department
Time Periods: Saturdays: March 7, April 4, May 2 and 16
Grade span: 5-12
Stipend: $100
Graduate Credit: one credit available through UMass Amherst, Continuing Education
Registration Information:

Lisa Middents

History Institute

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003

Ph. 413-545-1330

Email: history@history.umass.edu

An institute focusing on the Massachusetts History and Social Science framework, particularly U.S. history. Features include:

• presentations by experts on frameworks and on three aspects of the history of western Massachusetts: Shay’s Rebellion (18th c.), wealth and poverty (19th c.), the Cold War (20 c.);
• site visits to Wistariahurst Museum (Holyoke), Easthampton Lodging House, the Strategic Air Command bunker (East Coast headquarters, Amherst); and
• training in surfing the Internet for materials relating to local history.

2. Making the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework Work: Ancient Civilizations for Pre-K through Grade 4 Educators

Provider: Massachusetts Global Education Consortium at Framingham State College
Time Periods: Saturdays, 9am - 1pm, May 2, May 9, May 16, May 23
Grade Span: PreK-4
Stipend: $125
Graduate Credit: one credit available through Framingham State College, Continuing Education
Registration information:

Susan Dargan

Framingham State College Center for Global Education

100 State Street

Framingham, MA 01701

Ph. 508-626-4037

Email:sdargan@frc.mass.edu

Educators will learn strategies for teaching elementary school students about ancient civilizations in Europe, Asia the Americas, and Africa. They will:

• receive and review age-appropriate teaching materials on archaeology, geography, everyday life, the role of cities;
• learn about resources in local museums and on the Internet for studying ancient civilizations; and
• develop units based on these materials and the Learning Standards in the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework.

3. People of the Coast

Alan Lee Hankin

Hankin Environmental and Educational Services>

1365 Tucker Road

North Dartmouth, MA 02747

Ph. 508-993-4176

Email: alhankin@aol.com

This institute is designed to increase teacher knowledge and ability to instruct about Native American and early colonial uses of the coastal environments in Massachusetts during the period from 1000 to 1700 A.D. Participants will learn about:

• the similarities and differences in how the Wampanoag people and European settlers used resources;
• field and laboratory research methods used by historians, archaeologists, and environmental scientists to gain evidence about cultures, economies, and resources;
• how to relate the environmental and cultural changes of the 17th and 18th centuries to changes in the world today; and how to use this material and the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework to develop projects and assessments.

English Language Arts

4. Linking the English Language Arts Framework to Instructional Practice for Diverse Learners

Provider: Center for Social Development and Education & Department of Continuing Education, University of Massachusetts - Boston
Time Periods: (37 Hours)
Fri., 3/20, 4-7pm Sat., 3/21, 8:30-3
Fri., 4/3, 4-8pm Sat., 4/4, 8:30-3
Fri., 5/1, 4-8pm Sat., 5/2, 8:30-3
Sat., 5/16, 8:30-3
Grade Span: 9-12
Stipend:
Graduate Credit: three credits
Registration Information:

Janice Magno

100 Morrissey Boulevard

Boston, MA 02125

Ph. 617-287-7250

Email:CSDE@umbsky.cc.umb.edu

This institute is designed to provide teaching strategies in English language arts to high school teachers, especially those working with students with mild to moderate special needs in substantially separate or alternative education programs. Some of the topics to be addressed are:

• strategies to increase students’ comprehension of literary texts and research materials and their capacity to communicate orally and in writing;
• collaboration among regular and special education teachers on adaptations of curriculum in all subject areas;
• curriculum adaptations for block scheduling and flexible groupings of students;
• teaching practices that will provide opportunities for more students to meet the high standards of the English Language Arts Curriculum Framework.