Primary
Resources
Documents, online here and available through our partners, for teaching any American History class.
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General Seminar Information
Using ESSEX History (UEH) is designed to increase teachers' knowledge, understanding and appreciation of key events and issues in American history through an intensive, ongoing professional development program. All Essex County's middle and high school American history teachers are invited to participate and contribute to a renewal of American history that will lead to increased student interest and achievement in U.S. history courses.
Through day long seminars held on site at various historic sites and archives, Salem State College's American history faculty and other content experts will provide Essex County's middle and high school teachers with the increased content knowledge that will allow them to improve the quality of instruction given to their students. Seminar topics are selected to meet the self-reported needs of teachers in Essex County, correlate with the Curriculum Framework, and make use of existing sites and sources from the Essex National Heritage Area and National Archives and Records Administration- Northeast.
Daily seminars include:
- Discussion of assigned reading materials (provided at least one month prior to seminar).
- Information about the latest understandings and complexities of the subject.
- Identifying and analyzing canonical and local primary sources (several important textual and/or visual primary sources) related to the theme.
- Discussion and assistance in developing engaging, content-rich, primary-source based lesson plans and how they can relate to the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework.
- Breakfast & Lunch
Time will be provided, in and out of the classroom, for one-on-one work with experts from Salem State College, the Essex National Heritage Commission, the National Archives, and the education staff members of the museums and historic sites hosting the academic sessions.
By attending an entire seminar and preparing a quality lesson plan based on the materials and information discussed during the day, participating teachers will earn 1o PDPs and a stipend of $125. Please allow 3-4 weeks processing after due date.
