Archives: May, 2011

On Saturday, the News and Observer reported that archaeologists had successfully recovered a 3000-pound anchor from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship intentionally grounded by the pirate Blackbeard in 1718.

For those students inspired by this incredible feat, or generally affected by pirate mania, we encourage you to share Nicholas Graham’s article “The Life and Death of Blackbeard the Pirate,” which appears in the colonial module of the North Carolina Digital History textbook. The article draws this description of the notorious pirate from a 1726 book about pirates:

In Time of Action, he wore a sling over his Shoulders, with three Brace of Pistols, hanging in Holsters like Bandaliers; and stuck lighted Matches under his Hat, which appearing on each Side of his Face, his Eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such a Figure, that Imagination cannot form an Idea of a Fury, from Hell, to look more frightful.

That description, along with the article’s account of the harrowing firefight that led to Blackbeard’s demise, is sure to satisfy even the most die-hard pirate aficionado. (And for those hungry for still more, you can browse our collection for other Blackbeard-related resources.)

The North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, a program of the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, is offering two free trainings this summer to any current middle or high school educator interested in teaching about local government.

2011 Local Government Training: What Does Local Government Do & How Do I Get My Students to Care?

June 27 & 28, 2011
Durham, NC

Every day, local government touches the lives of North Carolinians and provides the services essential for functional communities, growing businesses, and healthy families. It is local government that supplies water to our faucets, collects our trash, moves traffic through our downtowns, and cuts the grass in our parks and ball fields. It is also local government that delivers care and counseling to those facing difficult times and responds with qualified personnel to life’s emergencies.

Participants in this seminar will learn first-hand the role of local government in North Carolina and then explore pedagogical strategies for teaching young people about how local government in North Carolina works. Highlights of the training will include: meeting with elected and appointed local government officials, sharing dinner with the Assistant County Manager of Durham, and attending a Durham Bulls game! For more information and to register for this training, click here.

Challenges to Democracy

UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, Room 3301
July 11 – 13, 2011

Lee Hamilton said regarding American democracy, “Our democracy is not a product but a continual process. It is preserved not by monuments but deeds. Sometimes it needs refining; sometimes it needs amending; sometimes it needs defending. Always, it needs improving.” The Program in the Humanities & Human Values at UNC-Chapel Hill & the NC Civic Education Consortium are offering teachers the opportunity to analyze our democracy via a unique, three day exploration of the theme Challenges to Democracy.”

Through assorted lectures led by renowned professors and historians, participants will investigate the ways in which democracy has struggled and changed throughout various time periods. From scrutinizing a 1700s democracy that claimed “All men are created equal” while enslaving thousands of people, to discussing our democracy’s growing diversity, twenty participants will have a unique opportunity to examine our nation’s democratic principles through the lens of history and current events. Throughout the scholarly exploration of these topics, participants will also learn pedagogical strategies for teaching these issues in the middle and high school classroom.

To access the tentative agenda, click here. For additional information and registration details, click here. Registration for this free, three-day event is limited and based on a first-received basis, so sign up today!

It seems like September was only yesterday, but it’s suddenly May — which means we’ve reached the end of our year-long series on differentiated instruction. Through research-based articles by experts, classroom videos, slideshows of student work, interactive web conferences, and an online professional learning community, we’ve explored a variety of topics related to differentiation through the lenses of theory and practice.

The article series, Reaching Every Learner: Differentiating Instruction in Theory and Practice, will remain on the LEARN NC website, where readers can access the entire series or any one of the media-enhanced articles:

• Tiering to Avoid Tears: Developing Assignments That Address All Learners’ Needs
• Deaf Learners and Successful Cognitive Achievement
• Managing and Improving Behavior in Inclusive Educational Environments
• Who Cares? Using Real-World Perspectives to Engage Academically Gifted Learners
• Inclusion Strategies for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Inclusion in the 21st-Century Classroom: Differentiating with Technology
• Using Knowledge of Student Cognition to Differentiate Instruction
• The Power of Nonfiction: Using Informational Text to Support Literacy in Special Populations

Those who missed the web conferences, in which educators had a chance to bring their most pressing questions to the experts, can access the archived sessions.

And, as always, our landing page for differentiated instruction includes numerous additional resources, including many related to English language learners.

In closing, we’d like to extend our deep gratitude to the many people who made this project a tremendous success: the article authors who shared their extensive knowledge; the web conference presenters who responded thoughtfully to teachers’ questions; the teachers who let us film in their classrooms, shared student work, or participated in interviews; the web conference participants who spent time with us on Monday afternoons; and the PLC members who learned from each other throughout the entire year. We sincerely appreciate your participation.

The North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, a program of the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, “works with schools, governments, and community organizations to prepare North Carolina’s young people to be active, responsible citizens.” Each month the Consortium delivers an email newsletter with news and opportunities for civic engagement.

The first day of May was Holocaust Remembrance Day and the May newsletter from the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium provides lesson plans for eighth- and ninth-grade classes. The lessons are aligned to curriculum objectives of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and address the individual lives behind Holocaust statistics, the people that resisted the tyranny of the Nazi regime, the impact of anti-Semitic propaganda on the ultimate outcomes of the Holocaust, and more.

The newsletter also includes civic education news and opportunities for educators. The Consortium offers seminars and trainings throughout the year. In one seminar, teachers explore ways to encourage students to care about their local government, while another delves into the “Challenges of Democracy.” The third offering looks at the life and work of Mark Twain. K-8 public school teachers will also be interested in the NEA Foundation-Nickelodeon sponsored grants, with awards of up to $5,000. Applications for the “Big Help Grants” are due by June 1, 2011.

To read the newsletter, visit the Consortium’s website. To receive the newsletter, contact Anita Buie.

North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study is in the midst of a complete overhaul. In the 2012-2013 academic year, North Carolina will begin using new standards in teaching and assessment. LEARN NC is working to make sure that our collection of instructional resources aligns with the new standards and that teachers can easily find the materials they need on our website.

During the 2011-2012 school year, we’ll be aligning our collection of lesson plans to the new standards, and we’ll make those alignments available as we go. Teachers will be able to use the new Common Core and Essential Standards to navigate to lesson plans and other instructional materials, just as they can with the current Standard Course of Study.

For now, you can view the text of the new Common Core and Essential Standards on our curriculum standards page. The current Standard Course of Study is still available on that page as well, and can still be used to find resources for teaching.

We look forward to supporting teachers through this momentous change, and, as always, we welcome your feedback!

UNC-TV airs the final story in its series about critical languages in North Carolina with a feature on Japanese. This feature will focus on Japanese Language classes and students who have working to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross. The story will air as part of the nightly news magazine show North Carolina NOW on Wed, May 11, at 7:30pm.

Previous stories in the series featured Russian and Arabic language programs in North Carolina schools, including the work LEARN NC has completed with the Department of Public Instruction to produce a digital textbook for Arabic language instruction.