Summer Opportunity for K-12 Teachers

American Antiquarian Society Sponsors Defining Freedom:

A Professional Development Project

The Defining Freedom summer professional project will examine how Americans conceived and promoted both individual and communal liberties and responsibilities from 1763 through 1863. The project seeks to create a series of professional development experiences in which participating teachers will examine the imperial crisis, the American Revolution, the Early Republic, the antebellum period, and the Civil War.

Defining Freedom is a collaborative professional development project presented by the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), and the Worcester Public Schools (WPS). PDPs and graduate credit available.

An important component of Defining Freedom will be to familiarize teachers with the online resources available and to encourage the development of media literacy among their students. Teachers will not only explore the materials available on the AAS sponsored website Teach U.S. History (http://www.teachushistory.org/) and those developed by the MHS, including The Coming of the American Revolution (www.masshist.org/revolution); they will also play a role in making suggestions for adding materials to both websites. Teacher’s curriculum units and assessment strategies may also be added and/or linked to these sites so that additional teachers in other districts can access them as well.

Dates: July 22, 23 & 28, 29, 30, 2009

Place: The American Antiquarian Society (Worcester) &
The Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston)

To register, please contact:

Amy Sopcak-Joseph
Education Coordinator, American Antiquarian Society
email: asopcak@mwa.org
Phone: 508-471-2129

Visit the Defining Freedom website to learn more.