Project Activities – 2006-2007

Lead Teacher Organizational Meeting - October 26, 2006

Middle school American history teachers from fourteen public school districts around the Greater Capital Region of New York State meet in Albany to begin their three-year project. Our kick-off meeting focused on familiarizing Lead Teachers with the project and what will be accomplished during the grant period, with emphasis on:

• the role and responsibilities of a Lead Teacher
• an overview of the project, including goals, activities, and timelines
• more specific information about 2006-07 meetings and summer institute.

Workshop: Using National History Day Techniques to Enrich Instruction - November 16, 2006

Techniques used to prepare students for National History Day competitions are equally appropriate in regular social studies classrooms. This presentation provided teachers with methods and strategies for developing engaging, hands-on lessons that support their established curriculum.Strategies and activities include:

• focusing on the differences between primary and secondary sources
• supporting instruction with historic documents
• accessing appropriate primary source documents on the web
• teaching note-taking and research strategies

In the photo above, John Buchinger (standing), New York State History Day Outreach Coordinator, reviews the work of Karen Kanarkiewicz (Duanesburg), Kim Sprenger (Burnt Hills- Ballston Lake), Peter Thomas (Shenendehowa) and Rob Messia (Averill Park).

Workshop: Using Local Historical Societies to Research Classroom Materials - January 11, 2007

In this workshop, Rensellaer County Historical Society Curator Stacy Pomeroy Draper (standing) and Executive Director Robert Engel described the many local resources available for the teaching of state and national history. Participants reviewed a packet developed by the society that shows how primary resources can be spun together to give students a glimpse of the past, using the major fire of 1862 in the city of Troy as an example. They also participated in a photograph analysis exercise.

Established in 1927, RCHS connects local history and heritage with contemporary life and offers visitors and members a wide range of tours, exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive local history research library.

Workshop: NYS Grade 8 Assessment: Getting the Best Results - February 15, 2007

Gary Warren of the Office of State Assessment, New York State Education Department, gave an overview of how to prepare students to obtain the best results on middle school social studies tests, including the Grade 8 State Social Studies Test. The presentation included:

• a overview of the State's social studies testing program
• a review of how to write good document-based question test items
• information about the three formats used at the State level when developing DBQ's for the Grade 8 Assessment.

Mr. Warren was followed by a presentation by Kathleen Maxwell, Instructional Research & Data Analysis Coordinator, Capital Region BOCES, who described how teachers and districts can access data from the Grade 8 Social Studies Test for analysis and interpretation that can lead to improved student achievement.

Field Visit: Albany Institute of History & Art - March 10, 2007

This workshop began with a gallery presentation by Douglas McCombs (center), Curator of History for the Institute, on the life and historical framework surrounding Paul Cushman (1767-1833), a founder of the regional stoneware industry. This was followed by a visit the research library to examine historic documents from the museum’s collection conducted by Erika Sanger, Director of Education, and Rebecca Rich-Wulfmeyer, Chief Librarian and Archivist. Participants also participated in a behind-the-scenes tour through the institute’s collections storage areas.

Founded in 1791, the Institute is one of the oldest museums in the United States. It is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley.

Field Visit: Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site - April 28, 2007

Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the Erie Canal as one of the 19th century’s greatest commercial and engineering projects. It is one of the few places in the state that contains structures from all three eras of the canal: the original that opened in 1825, the 1840 enlargement, and the 1917 Barge Canal that follows the path of the Mohawk River.

Tricia Shaw, Educational Coordinator for the site, described the creation and operation of the canal, explained the sites outreach and visitation program, and led a tour of historic canal locks and the massive aqueduct that once crossed the Schoharie Creek.

Workshop: To Make the World Anew: Social Reform Movements in Upstate New York, c. 1820-1850 - May 17, 2007

Dr. Milton C. Sernett, Professor Emeritus, Syracuse University (standing) presented an illustrated lecture that examined the many reform movements that took root in the old "Burned-over District" of Central and Western New York during the first half of the 19th century. Among his topics were temperance, education and prison reform, abolition, the women's rights movement, and a variety of religious movements including Mormonism and millennialism. Dr. Sernett’s presentation provided a paradigm for examining the power of the altruistic imagination to improve self and society.

Summer Institute 2007 - Union College, Schenectady, NY
July 9 – August 3, 2007

The topic of the 2007 Summer Institute was “Conceived In Liberty: Creation and Development of the United States in the 18th and 19th Centuries.” It took place from July 9 to August 3, 2007, on the campus of Union College in Schenectady, NY. In addition to sessions on classroom methodology, National History Day and the “We The People” competition, participants attended content lectures on the following topics:

• Colonial Antecedents: From the Mayflower Compact to the French and Indian War
• Events and Factors Leading to the American Revolution
• Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution
• Effects of the American Revolution on Women and Others
• Military Combat During the American Revolution
• Magna Charta to the Articles of Confederation
• The Constitutional Convention and the Constitution
• Slavery and the Constitution
• Ratification and the Bill of Rights
• The New Government: Washington and Adams
• Thomas Jefferson
• Case Study: Election of 1800
• Jefferson, Madison & Monroe: From Louisiana to the Monroe Doctrine
• Andrew Jackson, Force Removal and the Nullification Crisis
• Territorial Expansion: Texas, Oregon and the War with Mexico
• The Erie Canal, Transportation and the Economy of New York State
• Working Life in the Early 1800s

The following made presentations at the Summer Institute:

• Dr. Patrick Allen, Dean of the School of Education, Union Graduate College
• John Buchinger, Outreach Coordinator, New York State History Day
• Dr. Bruce Eelman, Assistant Professor of History, Siena College
• Dr. Paul Finkelman, Senior Fellow, Government Law Center, Albany Law School
• Dr. Andrea Foroughi, Assistant Professor of History, Union College
• Susana Giberga, coach of the 2007 New York State We the People Championship Team
• Dr. F. Daniel Larkin, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, SUNY College at Oneonta
• Dr. Tadahisha Kuroda, Professor Emeritus, Skidmore College
• Garet D. Livermore, Vice President for Education, New York State Historical Association
• Dr. Barbara Reeves-Ellington, Assistant Professor of History, Siena College
• Ellen M. Sullivan, Assistant Director, Greater Capital Region Teacher Center
• John Vallely, Adjunct Professor of History, Siena College

Institute attendees also participated in field visitations to Van Buren National Historic Site in Kinderhook, NY and the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, NY (see below):