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The Teaching
American History for All
grant is a three-year grant
awarded to the Mount Diablo
Unified School District, by
the U.S. Department of Education.
The grant serves teachers of
U.S. History and English-Language
Arts at the 5, 8, & 11th
grade level and is a partnership
with the UC Berkeley History-Social
Science Project. If you have
questions or would like more
information, please contact
Lauren Weaver, Grant Coordinator,
at lweaver@berkeley.edu.
Goal for the grant:
Increase student understanding
of and appreciation for American
history, improve students’
content literacy, and encourage
active involvement in the American
democratic process. To that
end, this grant will address
the particular needs of underperforming
students (English learners and
low literacy students).
Goals for professional
development: 1. Deepen
teachers’ knowledge of
American history content and
historical thinking skills and
2. Enhance teachers’ ability
to translate this knowledge
into student learning through
the use of expository reading
and writing strategies.
50 MDUSD teachers: 15 fifth
grade cadre and 35 in the 8
& 11th grade cadre
Teacher benefits:
- Receive stipends:
- $1600 for 2 week summer
institute in 2008; $800
for 2009 one-week institute.
- $280 for participation
in the four-part academic
year colloquia, 2007 -08
and 2008 -09.
- Packets of standards-based,
grade-specific primary and
secondary sources
- Model lessons for each
grade level (combining standards-based
content, historical thinking,
and academic literacy strategies)
- Historical resources
- UCB Professor workshops
and collaboration
- UCB graduate student collaboration
- Collaboration with committed
MDUSD and UCBH-SSP history
teachers at each grade level
and across grade levels
- Academic literacy workshops
demonstrating strategies to
help students acquire greater
proficiencies in reading,
writing, and thinking in history
Teacher Responsibilities:
- Attend all colloquia meetings
and Summer Institute
- Implement literacy strategies
on historical reading, writing,
and thinking
- Bring back student work=
- Develop and implement 2
history lessons in 2008-09
- Commit to the grant from
2007-2009
2006- 2007: Year 1
Overview
Fall and spring:
- Three Academic Year Colloquia-
Teachers attended introductory
meetings. Teachers were introduced
to reading comprehension strategies
and professors delivered content-area,
grade-specific presentations.
- Teacher Training: Teacher
leaders/coaches selected at
the 5th, 8th, and 11th grade
level. Teacher leaders were
trained for three and a half
days on peer coaching, reading
and writing strategies, and
curriculum development. Teacher
leaders/coaches received one
grade-specific lesson plan
that incorporated the strategies.
- Grade Level teams composed
of 2 teacher coaches, teacher
participants, and one UC Berkeley
graduate student designed
one lesson, with professor
input, for 2007 summer institute
presentations.
- Coaching: Project Director
and Coordinator modeled teaching
strategies in the classroom.
Summer:
- Summer institute: August
6 -10 and 13 -17, 2007: Daily
professor presentations were
delivered on different aspects
of citizenship from the colonial
era through the 1970s, discipline-specific
reading, writing and thinking
strategy workshops were presented,
collaboration time was allotted
to discuss classroom implementation
of strategies and content
learned from the presentations,
and grade level teams refined
and presented the designed
lesson plans.
2007 -2008: Year 2
Fall and spring:
- Four Academic Year Colloquia-
Teachers will use the model
lessons from the summer institute
with their students and bring
student work to designated
grant meetings for grade level
collaboration; professors
will deliver content-area,
grade-specific presentations.
Colloquia dates: 4 –
7:30 PM (with dinner), November
1st, January 31st, March 13th
and May 1st
- Teacher Training: New participants
will receive workshop training
during two release days in
late February.
- Coaching: In schools with
the greatest numbers of English
learners and low literacy
students, teacher leaders
will demonstrate history lessons
in teachers’ classrooms.
The lessons will fit into
the current history unit and
will incorporate the learned
academic literacy strategies.
Summer:
- August 2008 two-week summer
institute: (August 4-8, 11-15).
Teachers will develop one
history lesson plan to teach
during the 2008-2009 school
year in addition to content-area,
grade-specific professor and
teacher presentations.
2008 -2009: Year 3
Fall and spring:
- Four Academic Year Colloquia-
Participants will teach their
institute-created lesson plans
and bring student work to
designated grant meetings;
professors will deliver content-area,
grade-specific presentations.
Dates to be determined in
October, January, March and
May from 4 – 7:30 PM,
(with dinner).
- Coaching: Teacher leaders
will observe target grant
teachers’ lessons incorporating
content and academic literacy
skills.
Summer and fall:
- August 2009 one-week summer
institute (date to be determined):
This institute will include
professor presentations and
preparation time for the Fall
2009 Conference teacher workshops.
2009-2010: Year 4 (Extension Year)
Fall and spring:
- October 24th, 2009 Conference: Building Academic Literacy in the History Classroom. In collaboration with the UC Berkeley History Department, MDUSD grant teachers will present and demonstrate their proficiencies in history content and discipline-specific reading and writing strategies for underachieving students to Bay Area American history teachers.
- Two Academic Year Colloquia: Teachers will use the model lessons developed during the summer institute and bring student work to grade level meetings. Teachers will revise lessons and analyze student work. Professors will speak to teachers on grade-level specific history topics.
For more information
about the second Teaching American
History Grant , contact:
Lauren Weaver, Grant
Coordinator
lweaver@berkeley.edu
Visit our website
http://tah4all.org
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