Teaching American History to Develop a Community of Learners and United States Citizens
The Bayonne School District will increase their elementary, secondary and special education teachers' knowledge of traditional American History and enhance their effectiveness in teaching this information to their students. Partnering with St. Peter's College, the Bayonne School District will provide a series of sessions and field trips for American History teachers of students in Grades 5 and 6 and secondary school. The sessions for elementary educators will focus on the chronological view of American History from the Colonial period to the present. Seminars for secondary school educators will focus on historiography, new trends or information on historic topics, and lectures by guest experts focused on the development of the American nation from the American Revolution to the present. Teachers will take field trips to historical sights, including Ellis Island, museums in New York and Philadelphia, and Waterloo Village. In the final year of the project, teachers enrolled in the program will be trained in developing lesson plans to effectively engage students in American History. The student population to be served is an economically disadvantaged and diverse group of first and second-generation immigrants.