Year One: A Nation is Born, 1492-1815

Program Overview

May 2010 – June 2011

May 17, 2010Orientation Seminar

June 14-25, 2010 Year one: A Nation is Born, 1492-1815

Two-week summer seminar at Rice University will include content-rich faculty lectures exploring the grant themes. (Download the Agenda (.doc).) 

• Theme one, Foundations of Democracy, will provide an in-depth analysis of the establishment and underpinnings of our democracy. Participants will examine how the principles of freedom and democracy articulated in the nation’s founding documents have shaped America’s struggles and achievements and its social, political, and legal institutions and relations.
• Theme two, Movers and Shapers: Profiles in Leadership, will provide an investigation of key figures and movements in American history that have shaped the future trajectory of the nation. Through the investigation of critical documents in American history, the emphasis of theme two will be on how the words and deeds of individual Americans have determined the course of our nation, and how the work of various individuals builds to something greater than the sum of their parts.
• Theme three, the United States and the Global Community, will examine U.S. engagement with foreign powers over time. The emphasis of theme three will be on significant issues, episodes and turning points in the history of the United States and the global community with an emphasis on U.S. foreign policy.
• Additionally, we will incorporate pedagogy seminars into the institute to reinforce strong strategies for teaching traditional American history.
• Readings will be assigned by professors in advance for discussion at the seminar.

Field study to Williamsburg and D.C.  

Each year, the grant cohorts will participate in an experiential field study. The itineraries will vary in order to highlight the diverse themes and time periods being addressed in that particular grant year.

The year one field study will emphasize Colonial America and the Founding of the Republic. Participants will visit, among other things, Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, Mount Vernon, the Supreme Court and the National Archives.

Inter-district planning meeting

Teachers will attend an inter-district planning meeting which will be held several times throughout the school year. The meeting will be run by the curriculum and content specialists and will serve as a platform for discussion of upcoming themes and lessons. The planning session will provide an opportunity for teachers to share their original lessons and seek peer input and review throughout the development, execution and evaluation of their lessons. Additionally, it will provide a forum for the discussion of vertical teaming among colleagues. 

Bill of Rights Institute Workshop
“Being an American”

Inter-district planning meeting

Law Related Education Workshop
“The Supreme Court and TAKS”  

8:30 – 12:30, Rice University
“Anglo-American Relations, 1748-2003
Dr. Patrick Allitt, Emory University

12:45-3:30, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston“Incorporating Art into the American History Classroom” 

May 5, 2011 Inter-district planning meeting

 

This final meeting will provide an opportunity for participants to share their original lessons with their colleagues and for overall program wrap-up and discussion.