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In July, Humanities Texas will offer online teacher professional development webinars for Texas social studies and English language arts teachers. Programs include "Using Primary Sources to Teach Major Topics in U.S. History in their Constitutional Context" (July 7–9), "The High School Canon: Then and Now" (July 7–8), "Teaching Film Adaptations" (July 14), and "Using Last Seen Ads to Teach Slavery and Reconstruction" (July 15–16).
All programs will emphasize close interaction with scholars, the examination of primary sources and texts, and the development of effective pedagogical strategies and engaging assignments and activities.
Using Primary Sources to Teach Major Topics in U.S. History in their Constitutional Context (Webinar Series)
"Using Primary Sources to Teach Major Topics in U.S. History in their Constitutional Context" will take place over Zoom from 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. CT on July 7, 8, and 9.
The series will provide social studies teachers with resources and tools to teach about milestone topics in U.S. history in their constitutional context. Each day’s three-hour session will be presented with a mix of content and pedagogy and include hands-on work with primary sources. Participants will have opportunities to join in large and small group discussions. Links to online primary sources and lesson materials will be provided for each session. Charles Flanagan will lead the webinar series.
Using Last Seen Ads to Teach Slavery and Reconstruction (Webinar Series)
"Using Last Seen Ads to Teach Slavery and Reconstruction" will take place over Zoom from 1:00–2:30 p.m. CT on July 15 and 16.
This webinar series will introduce teachers to the Last Seen Project and teaching materials developed for fifth– through twelfth-grade students. In the post-emancipation period, thousands of formerly enslaved people placed ads in African American newspapers published across the country. In these ads, they searched for family and loved ones from whom they had been separated as families were torn apart and trafficked through the domestic slave trade.
The Last Seen Project database has over 4,900 of these ads that teachers can use to teach this history. The website also has several freely downloadable ready-made lesson plans and a wide array of select primary sources that teachers can use to create their own sets of primary sources.
During the webinars, participants will analyze ads, collaborate on ways to use ads in the classroom, create individualized collections of ads, and read short-story narratives based on the ads created especially for students. Teachers will receive concrete strategies and materials for using the ads to teach about slavery, the domestic slave trade, the lives of the enslaved, and Reconstruction. Signe Peterson Fourmy (The University of Texas at Austin) will lead the webinar series.
Teaching Film Adaptations (Webinar)
"Teaching Film Adaptations" will take place over Zoom from 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. CT on July 14.
The webinar will explore the process of teaching film adaptations of literary texts in the secondary English language arts classroom. The presentation will cover some of the differences between teaching film and literature, as well as important terms and approaches in film analysis. Specific adaptations to be covered include The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Diary of Anne Frank. Donna Kornhaber (The University of Texas at Austin) will lead the webinar.
The High School Canon: Then and Now (Webinar Series)
"The High School Canon: Then and Now" will take place over Zoom from 1:00–3:00 p.m. CT on July 7 and 8.
Topics to be addressed in the series include changes and continuity in the canon of most commonly-assigned books since the 1960s and past and contemporary approaches to teaching classic texts. Jonna Perrillo (The University of Texas at El Paso), Andrew Newman (Stony Brook University), and Rebecca Guerrero (El Paso Independent School District) will lead the webinar series.
More information about each program is available in the Education section of the Humanities Texas website. Teachers interested in attending should complete the online application form as soon as possible.
Please note that you must be a registered participant to attend any of the webinars.
Participants will receive CPE credit and a wealth of curricular materials. CPE hours will be based on Zoom attendance and adjusted if a participant misses any portion of the program. Registration for the secondary-level program series will remain open even after each series has already begun.
These programs are made possible with support from the State of Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities.