Indirect Measurement and Trigonometry
Learn how to use the concept of similarity to measure distance
indirectly, using methods involving similar triangles, shadows, and
transits. Apply basic right-angle trigonometry to learn about the
relationships among steepness, angle of elevation, and
height-to-distance ratio. Use trigonometric ratios to solve problems
involving right triangles.
Exploring Borderland-Unit 2
Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldúa tells us that the border is "una herida
abierta [an open wound] where the lifeblood of two worlds is merging to form a third country — a border culture." This program explores the literature of the Chicano borderlands and its beginnings in the
literature of Spanish colonization. Learning activities that go with this lesson can be found at: http://www.learner.org/amerpass/unit02/index.html
The Arts in Every Classroom: Introducing Arts Education
This program includes three segments: What Is Arts Education? shows a montage of insights from teachers and administrators, plus examples of successful arts instruction in classrooms across America. What Are the Arts? presents teachers, administrators, students, and parents who offer thoughtful and sometimes humorous comments on what the arts mean to them. In How Do You Know They’re Learning?, educators from several schools tell how they know if their students are "getting it."
The Arts in Every Classroom: Teaching Theatre
Two specialists work on basic theatre skills with children of various ages, and use theatre education as a gateway to other kinds of learning. At Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Amanda Newberry’s lesson in improvisation with a third–grade class stimulates students’ imagination, heightens language and listening skills, and encourages critical thinking. At Barney Ford Elementary School in Denver, George Jackson teaches basic movement skills to a first–grade class, invi
The Middle East Conflict
Justin Zimmerman is a sixth-grade teacher at Magnolia School in Joppa, Maryland, about 30 miles north of Baltimore. Mr. Zimmerman explores the claims to land in the Middle East from three major religions — Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. After learning about the geography of the area, the students begin to explore the region’s political unrest and discuss the controversy over control of the land of Israel. Through this lesson, the students begin to make connections that relate their own li
Groups, Projects, and Presentations
This program examines how social studies teachers in any grade level can use groups, projects, and presentations to help students become
actively involved in their learning. Topics range from structuring
groups to creating scoring guides and rubrics. Through examples of
cooperative learning, decision making, and problem solving, teachers can examine how to use groups, projects, and presentations to promote powerful learning.
Assessment in Math and Science - Is This Going to Count?
Workshop 3. Is This Going To Count?; Embedded Assessment (90 min.)
'Assessment does not compete for valuable teaching time; it is teaching time. This workshop shows how embedding assessment into everyday curriculum turns performance tasks into learning activities. Well-designed assessment allows teachers to shape subsequent instruction according to what their students have and have not understood. Content Guide: Monica Neagoy.'
Assessment in Math and Science-That Would Never Work Here, Either!
Workshop 7. That Would Never Work Here, Either!: Seeing Assessment Reform in Action, Part II (90 min.)
'Involving students in assessment is often the key to engaging them in learning. This workshop will continue to follow Barbara and Scott as they use assessment to encourage their students to improve their performance. Providing opportunities for students to assess their own work and that of their peers will be the focus of this workshop. Content Guides: Mary Hibert Neuman and Jude
Teaching Social Studies-Workshop 1
Why do we teach social studies? This session focuses on the relevance of teaching social studies and discusses strategies for helping students gain a deeper understanding of social studies content. The onscreen teachers review standards and themes developed by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and view video clips from the Social Studies in Action video library to identify examples of powerful teaching and learning.
Teaching For Understanding Workshop 2
How do we plan for learning? This session focuses on the Teaching for
Understanding model, a framework for unit planning developed at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education. The onscreen teachers use the
framework to analyze unit planning in classroom videos, plan for their
own social studies units, and create a pictorial timeline of U.S.
history that outlines an entire year of learning.
Engaging Students in Active Learning Worshop 6
How do we engage students in active learning? In this session, the
teachers examine the elements of authentic instruction and cooperative learning to identify ways of engaging students in social studies content. They review the importance of questioning in relation to higher-order thinking and explore classroom strategies to stimulate
thinking and bring social studies concepts to life for their students.
Assessing Students Learning Workshop 7
How do we know students are learning? Because assessment often provides only small snapshots of learning, this session provides teachers with a variety of tools and strategies to assess students’ learning in formal, informal, ongoing, and culminating ways. The onscreen teachers analyze classroom video segments, develop criteria for assessment, and learn how to incorporate assessment strategies in a lesson on the most influential citizens in U.S. history.
Making Connections Workshop 8
How do we connect social studies to life beyond the classroom? In this
culminating session, the teachers demonstrate the major concepts they’ve learned throughout the workshop in social studies unit presentations.
Classroom video segments further illustrate effective ways of bridging
social studies concepts and the world beyond the classroom, and show creative examples of teaching and learning.
How People Learn: Introduction to Learning Theory -Session 1
This program introduces the main themes of the course. Teacher
interviews and classroom footage illustrate why learning theory is at
the core of good classroom instruction and demonstrate the broad
spectrum of theoretical knowledge available for use in classroom
practice
Learning As We Grow: Development and Learning -Session 2
This program examines the concept of readiness for learning and
illustrates how developmental pathways — including physical, cognitive, and linguistic — all play a part in students’ learning. Featured are a first-grade teacher, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher, and a senior physics teacher, with expert commentary from University of California at Santa Cruz professor Roland Tharp and Yale University professor James P. Comer.
Different Kinds of Smarts:Multiple Intelligences-Session 4
This program delves into Harvard University professor Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, describing how people have learning skills that differ in significant ways. Featured are teachers who share a class of five- through eight-year-olds, including several mainstreamed special needs students, and a ninth- and 10th-grade social studies teacher, with expert commentary from Howard Gardner
Feelings Count: Emotions and Learning-Session 5
This program introduces ways to create an emotionally safe classroom to foster learning and to deal effectively with emotions and conflicts that can be obstacles. Featured are a fifth-grade teacher and an eighth-grade band teacher, with expert commentary from Daniel B. Goleman, author of the book Emotional Intelligence, and Yale University Professor James P. Comer.
Teaching Diverse Learners Workshop 7
In this session, literacy expert Dorothy Strickland discusses how
teachers can meet the diverse needs of readers and writers in their
classrooms. Classroom examples and teaching strategies address different aspects of diversity, including culture, language, background, ability, and learning approaches.
Choosing Words Strategically Workshop 11
Caroline Cockman’s third grade class is learning how to revise
biographies using transitions and more descriptive nouns. A whole-group
exercise models the revision process, and small group instruction
focuses on students who need extra help in writing.
Reading Across The Curriculum Workshop 13
Gage Reeve’s class is learning new vocabulary in a lesson on global
warming. Students also use an idea tree to record main ideas and
supporting details and write their own questions to be answered after
reading the nonfiction text.
