The seminar will be held on June 9, 2012 from 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at UNC-Chapel Hill. The tuition is $125.00 ($110.00 if registered by May 23). Tuition for teachers is $62.50 ($55.00 if registered by May 23). Educators will receive ten contact hours for one unit of renewal credit. There will be an optional lunch that will cost $15.00. For more information, visit the UNC Program in the Humanities website.

April’s newsletter provides lesson plans about the Civil War for both middle and high school students. The plans include topics on secession, the contribution of African American troops in the Civil War, and more. One of the lessons, “‘As the War Turns’ Exploring the Drama of the Civil War” is particularly rich in the use of readings and primary source documents.

This month’s newsletter provides information on upcoming seminars, conferences, and teaching resources for educators. For ninth and tenth grade students, there is information about the annual County Government Essay Contest. This year’s topic is “How does my county government improve the lives of its citizens?” The contest deadline is April 30, 2012.

Another opportunity for K-12 students is the “Prepare to Lead 2012 ” contest. Students must submit an original essay or multimedia product to the N.C. Press Foundation, Newspapers in Education program. Topics vary by grade level. The deadline for submission is June 1, 2012.

To read the newsletter, visit the Consortium’s website. To receive the newsletter via email, contact Paul Bonnici.

We at LEARN NC hope you each are enjoying the springtime weather and that your school year is finishing strong. We have been quite busy ourselves, adding new resources, lesson plans, and courses to our collection — some of which are shared below. We’re also busy adding — people! That’s right; LEARN NC is hiring. So, if you are energetic, innovative, passionate about education, and want to live in one of the coolest towns in America, visit the UNC jobs website and apply today:

• Managing Editor
• Instructional Designer

Standards: Common Core & North Carolina Essential Standards

LEARN NC offers thousands of lesson plans already aligned to the Common Core Standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts and to the NC Essential Standards in other subject areas — and we are aligning more each day. We are in the process of making these lessons available from the Common Core and NC Essential Standards area of our website. For example, you can go into third grade social studies and click on the “Find aligned resources” link to find lessons plans for each of the strands. Soon, all Common Core and Essential Standards strands will have this link, allowing you to search for resources according to all the new standards

Lesson Plans: Commemorative landscapes

LEARN NC is partnering with the History Department and the University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to encourage critical inquiry into the construction and revision of North Carolina’s history through an examination and study of North Carolina’s monuments, markers, and other commemorative landscapes. The lessons plans being developed facilitate student engagement with primary documents and digital media to promote a broader understanding of North Carolina history, familiarity with historical discourses and practices, and thoughtful approaches to research. For example, did you know that the Edenton Tea Party meeting in North Carolina has been referred to as “the earliest known instance of political activity on the part of women in the American colonies?” Visit LEARN NC in May to experience our digital narrative of the Edenton Tea party using a collection of primary documents from the Commemorative Landscapes database and examine how the event has been commemorated across North Carolina.

Research: The Well

If you haven’t visited The WELL yet, come see how the research being conducted here by our colleagues in higher education is having immediate impact, right now, on education in our classrooms. Recent articles and videos deal with issues such as: engaging parents in urban communities, creating a “commonplace” book to support pedagogical reading, and a longitudinal study on the positive effects of high quality early childhood education.

Courses enrolling now!

As you make your summer plans, consider joining the thousands of teachers across North Carolina who have taken one of our engaging, relevant online continuing education courses. This summer’s offerings are organized according to the following three clusters:

1. Beginning teachers/Pedagogical development
2. Teaching diverse populations
3. Integrating Common Core — including Algebraic Thinking in Elementary Schools, Developing Your Classroom Management Plan, Teaching Writing in Middle Schools, and Embedding Gifted Strategies into AP Instruction.

Each content area course we offer has Common Core-aligned resources embedded within to help you with your transition. And, of course, our Carolina On-Line Teaching (COLT) certification program is preparing the next generation of K-12 teachers to extend their abilities and reach into the world of online teaching themselves. Visit the COLT site to join our next cohort. NOTE: Ask us about how our Invest in Teachers program can help make our courses even more affordable for you!

• Courses available for enrollment
• COLT program courses

Staying Connected

Thank you to all of our new Facebook friends and Twitter followers. It has been exciting to engage in conversations with each of you around the great resources we all are finding and sharing. With over 2,300 followers, it is easy to connect and find interesting ideas and tools to bring into your classroom. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and join our YouTube channel to see what new and interesting resources we are finding throughout each day and to stay in touch.

Thanks for being a part of the LEARN NC network. Connect with LEARN NC, and let us know how we can continue serving you.

Best,

Steve
—
Stephen C. Bronack, Ph.D.
Executive Director, LEARN NC

http://www.learnnc.org

bronack@unc.edu

The UNC Science Expo is part of the North Carolina Science Festival, a two week celebration of science highlighting the importance and relevance of science for everyone. The UNC Science Expo is just one of the many activities being held across the state from April 13-29, 2012.

The UNC Science Expo runs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and there will be events for all ages. A map shows where these events will be held. Parking is free and offered throughout campus.

After the Expo, head on over to Kenan Stadium for the Carolina spring football game at 3 p.m. Admission is FREE!