Realizing the Potential of a Global Studies Course.  Michael Abraham, New Milford High School, Cara Abraham, Brookfield High School

This workshop will provide strategies for creating a dynamic Global Studies curriculum that allows teachers and student to learn about fundamental aspects of world culture such as geography and historical impact events while at the same time giving them the opportunity to perform case studies and simulations focusing on the critical challenges faced by the global community today.

Human Geography: The Impact of Immigration on Local Cultural Landscapes.  Ken Keller, Danbury High School

This session will introduce a student project related to observing and analyzing local cultural landscapes and the associated impact of immigration patterns.

Facing Our Greatest Challenge: Nuclear Weapons.  Lucy Mueller, Choices Education Program

Many experts today consider the danger of nuclear weapons to be the pressing challenge facing the United States today; this session gives teachers an effective method to help sort out and understand various approaches to this complicated topic.

Students as Oral Historians.  Kimberly Jalet, Woodstock Academy

In this workshop teachers will learn about a well-established oral history project and gain the tools to make this project their own.  The pros and cons of using oral history in the classroom will also be discussed.

Turtle Island/Writing across the Curriculum.  Laura Toffenetti, Dorothy Goodin Elementary School

During this workshops participants will be introduced to a project where students create their own society; the role play that ensues provides a wonderful opportunity for narrative writing.

How to Present Sexual Orientation in the Social Studies Curriculum.  David Knapp, Stonewall Speakers Association

During this presentation participants will learn how to approach the very sensitive topic of sexual orientation in the context of the social studies; this material is especially appropriate for psychology, sociology, and contemporary issues classes.

The Local Is Global: Hometown Glimpses of World History. Michael Marcus, Berlin High School

Participants in this workshop will explore the fact that the effects of historical events that happened long ago are often right in front of our eyes; this session aims to demonstrate a “way of knowing” about the world that can make these effects visible to students.

Bringing It Home: Connecting Students to Their Town’s History.  Maureen Festi, Witt Intermediate School, Daniel Coughlin, EASTCONN

Participate in an interdisciplinary local history unit that excites students about their town’s history and begins to teach them the skills of historians; workshop participants will view a brief PowerPoint presentation, analyze primary source materials, and discuss the value of local history case studies in teaching American history.

The 2006 NCTA China Study Tour: Integration of Professional Experience into the Middle School Curriculum.  Donna Couzens & Jay Cullen, Granby Middle School

Past-participants in the NCTA China Study Tour will present the goals and highlights of the seminar and study tour and demonstrate how this information can be integrated into the social studies curriculum.

Salem Speaks.  Linda Towne Clifford, Composer & Performer, Ivoryton, CT

During this session the story of three of the victims of the Salem witch hunt will be told, in song and in spoken word, by a direct descendent of Rebecca Nurse, who was hanged for the crime of witchcraft in 1692; the program concludes with an interactive reading of the trial of Rebecca Nurse.

So, Is This a Social Studies or an English Class?  Eileen Foley & Jim Sheridan, Wilton High School

This workshop will focus on the development of concept-based curriculum and lesson as the foundation for an integrated approach to teaching western civilization or world history; lessons combining language arts, the social studies, and the fine and visual arts will be analyzed.

When Israel and the Arabs Were Allies.  Peter Feinman, Institute of History, Archaeology and Education, Purchase, NY

Participants in this workshop will examine primary sources from the ancient Near East, primarily Egypt and Assyria, that relate to the origins of both Israel and the Arabs in the archaeological record and their relationship with each other. 

Using Oral History to Understand Our Past.  Barbara Wood & Richard Diedrichson, Bunnell High School

This workshop will present an overview of the Stratford Teaching American History Grant: The Story of American Freedom.  The presenters will share unit plans developed by teachers through their participation in the grant, including an oral history unit.

Teaching the American Revolution in Connecticut.  Steve McGrath, Central Connecticut State University, Charter Oak Collaborative

Teaching the American Revolution on the local level can help students to personalize the larger events of the Revolution and build lasting understanding.  This workshop will utilize several key documents focusing on the Revolution in Connecticut to examine how the Revolution affected the lives of ordinary people.

Five Performance-Bases Assessments on Chinese and Japanese History that Your Students (and Your Curriculum Coordinator) Will Love!  Sara Kaplan, Five College Center for East Asian Studies

These units are designed to turn students into active learners, and include a trial, an experiential lesson on Chinese philosophies, a letter-writing exercise, cultural research, and a persuasive writing piece.

How to Live a Life without Hate (and How to Invite a Holocaust Survivor to Your Classroom).  Joe Korzenik, Holocaust Survivor

Joe Korzenik was 14 years old when the Nazis invaded his small Polish town; he survived six years as a slave laborer.  Joe will tell his story during this session; lesson plans will be provided, and it will be possible to book Joe to come into your school.

USA at 300 Million: A Population and Resource Use Lesson Plan. Sheila Spellacy, Connecticut Geography Alliance, Karen Paruolo, E.O. Smith High School 

Commemorate an important demographic milestone with hands-on human geography activities that explore U.S. population history and resource consumption trends and projections for the future; engage in role-playing simulations, concept mapping, cooperative group problem-solving and more. 

Soldiers’ Songs from World War I through Vietnam. Michael McCann, Soldiers’ Songs

A former paratrooper and Green Beret, Michael McCann knows what he’s singing about in Soldiers’ Songs.  Drawing on his combat experience, his knowledge of military history and his satchel of songs from World War I, World War II, and Vietnam, Mike will demonstrate how Soldiers’Songs can be used to help teach history through music. 

Research + Narrative Writing + Role Playing = Amazing Immigrant Stories.  Robert Gold, Two Rivers Magnet Middle School

Bring the classroom alive with stories from America’s immigrant past.  Part research project, part creative writing assignment, and part multimedia presentation, this three-week history has students working in collaborative groups to develop a factional character with an immigration story to tell.

Hints on Preparing a BEST Portfolio.  Matt Cieslowski, Manchester High School, Jennifer Bancroft, Mansfield Middle School

During this session two teachers who have both written and scored BEST portfolios will explain what to do, and what not to do, as you complete your portfolio.  Questions are welcome!

First Amendment Rights of Teachers and Students.  Martin Margulies, Quinnipiac College of Law, Ethel Sorokin, Center for First Amendment Rights

During this interactive session participants will learn about the rights of teachers under the First Amendment and the rights that students have in school (as well as what limitations on these rights exist).  How this material can be used in the classroom will also be discussed. 

Teaching Connecticut’s Cold War.  John Tully, Central Connecticut State University

This workshop will present ideas about teaching the Cold War, concentrating on how examples of how Connecticut’s economy can be used as a microcosm for the wider Cold War.  The workshop will also offer participants the opportunity to discuss the latest historiography of the Cold War, especially recent works on its causes, conclusion, and culture. 

The Power of the President in Time of War.  Attorney Hope R. Metcalf, Connecticut Bar Foundation

During this session participants will discuss how the power of the President of the United States changes in time of war; the presenter will help participants analyze the actions of the Bush administration in the Iraqi war in light of the United States constitution.  The session will also introduce a new curriculum designed for the Connecticut Bar Foundation’s 2006-2007 Statewide High School Essay Contest on this topic.

Flying Saucers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Radioactive Mamas: The Atomic Bomb and American Popular Culture, 1945-1985.  Stephen Armstrong, West Hartford Public Schools

This workshop will analyze various ways that fears of the atomic bomb became imbedded into American popular from the early 1950s through the 1980s.  Music, films, and excerpts from television shows will all be analyzed to discover various ways that Americans reacted to the bomb during the Cold War era.

Panel Discussion: Critical Issues Facing Social Studies Educators in Connecticut.  Ken Keller, President, Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, Dan Gregg, Connecticut State Department of Education, Alan Marcus, University of Connecticut, Matt Warshauer, Central Connecticut State University, Stephen Armstrong, Board of Directors, National Council for the Social Studies

This session will analyze important issues facing social studies teachers as they deal with their students and local boards of education.  The continued implications of No Child Left Behind, changes in state testing, and the ramifications of the declining emphasis on social studies at the elementary level will all be discussed.

Reading Like a Historian.  Joe Modzelewski, Holt, Rinehart and Winston

If you would like to help your students become better readers of history, then this is the workshop for you!  We will be discussing ways to improve reading test scores while teaching social studies content. 

Meeting the Needs of All Learners in the Social Studies Classroom.  Jennifer Olsen, Irving A. Robbins Middle School

Social studies teachers face the challenge of an increasingly heterogeneous population of students in our classrooms.  In this workshop participants will explore instructional strategies that meet the needs of all learners and challenge them to think deeply about social studies content.

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