About This Workshop: Workshop
Components
Making Civics Real consists of eight one-hour video programs,
a print guide to the workshop activities, and this Web site. Use these
components for professional development in two-hour weekly group sessions,
or on your own. Link to Getting
the Materials for more information on obtaining these components.
Video Programs
Making Civics Real includes eight one-hour video programs. Each
program focuses on one classroom where a teacher and his or her students
are engaged in a constructivist lesson. Each program combines footage
of the lesson being experienced by the students with interviews with the
teacher and students about their experiences. The lessons are separated
into distinct activities to highlight all the parts necessary to make
the lesson work.
Workshop Session Guide
This workshop includes a guide to the workshop activities and discussion
questions to help you structure your workshop sessions and make the most
of the materials provided. The guide begins with an essay on the benefits
of using constructivist methodologies for civic education and provides
the following material for each video program:
- Workshop Overview: a brief summary of the video
program, including information on the teacher, the school, and the
course being profiled
- Key Concepts: a list of content-related and methodological issues
to keep in mind during the workshop session
- Before Viewing: a warm-up activity to engage you
in the concepts and strategies of the workshop program
- Watch the Video: discussion questions related to
the specific activity segments in the program
- Before Next Week: an activity that you can do between
workshop sessions to practice the strategies discussed
Web Site
The Web site expands on the topics shown in the program and provides tools
to help you adapt the lessons and strategies shown for your own classroom.
The Web site also provides extensive resources for teachers related to
constructivist methodologies and civics content. The Web site has three
main areas: Workshops 1 through 8, Tools for Teaching and Support Materials.
Workshops 1 through
8:
- Workshop Session: an overview of the content of that program and
the related resources available on the Web site
- Lesson Plan: information on the teacher’s method of teaching
the lesson, the national standards the lesson addresses, additional
resources and the teaching materials used for the lesson
- Teacher Perspectives: reflections from the teacher in the program
that pertain to the lesson and constructivist teaching
- Student Perspectives: reflections from the students in the program
about the lesson and how constructivist teaching strategies help them
learn
- Essential Readings: essays that elaborate on the key strategy or
strategies used in teaching the lesson
- Other Lessons: articles that suggest ways to use the strategies shown
with different content
Tools for Teaching:
- Lesson Collection: a database of the lessons provided in Workshops
1 through 8
- Teacher Perspectives: a collection of the reflections from the teachers
profiled in Workshops 1 through 8
- Student Perspectives: a collection of the reflections from the students
profiled in Workshops 1 through 8
- Essential Readings: a collection of the essential essays on teaching
civics and using constructivist strategies
- Primary Sources: a collection of primary sources offered on the site
- National Standards: the National Standards from the Center for Civic
Education and the National Council for the Social Studies
Support Materials makes
the workshop guide available online to read or print out.
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