Contact Lynne Manring 413-774-7476 x330 or by email for current information.
After-School Workshops
After-school workshops offer the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics, bringing together 1) specific history content as the primary focus; 2) modeling of active learning instruction using primary sources; 3) the use of high quality Web site resources to support content learning; and 4) materials and strategies for classroom integration.
All workshop offerings meet the Common Core standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History / Social Studies. They are also aligned with the Massachusetts State Curriculum Frameworks and support an integrated curriculum in content areas of History and Social Science, and English Language Arts, as well as other areas where specified. Workshops are designed for teachers of grades K-12 unless specified otherwise. We can also customize in-service, onsite, professional development offerings for your school. Contact Lynne Manring for more information.
Workshops are scheduled from September through May.
All Workshops take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Deerfield Teachers'
Center, 10 Memorial Street, Deerfield, Massachusetts. Contact
Us for directions and map.
Sign Up for After-School Workshops!
Workshops cost $40 per workshop, per person. Participants will receive a
“Certificate of Attendance” after each two-hour workshop.The
Deerfield Teachers’ Center is a PDP provider in Massachusetts. For
more information about receiving PDPs for your work at the Teachers’
Center, please contact Lynne Manring by phone at 413-774-7476, ext. 330,
or by email.
Workshop registrations are accepted until the day of the workshop. Once the workshop is filled, a waiting list will be created. Those on the waiting list may be contacted as late as the day of the workshop if space becomes available. Once registered, participants are urged to notify the Teachers’ Center as soon as possible if unable to attend a workshop, even on the workshop day, in order to make space available for other waiting participants.
A sampling of workshops previously offered
Constitution Day
In 2004, the United States Congress designated September 17th as "Constitution
Day and Citizenship Day," to commemorate the signing of the United
States Constitution on September 17, 1787. Accompanying legislation requires
all public schools “to hold an educational program on the United States
Constitution” every September 17th. Join us as we explore resources
and literacy-building activities through which educators can heighten K-12
students’ civic awareness and understanding of the oldest written
national constitution in the world. Grades K-12.
The Production Line Pressure Cooker
What were the wages and working conditions of immigrants and other factory
workers in turn-of the-20th century America? Why did labor unions form?
Nothing will help your students understand this and other issues more than
by becoming a mill laborer, and this workshop offers teachers an opportunity
to be a part of this effective and engaging simulation of an early assembly
line. Workshop participants will experience the impact of increased demand
for the goods they produce. How will the workers respond? Will fair treatment
and safety suffer for productivity? Grades 3-12.
Sea Dogs of the Caribbean: Pirates, Privateers and Early Explorers Part
1 & 2
This workshop is a two-part series. Participants must register for and
attend both sessions.
Modeling multiple teaching techniques and using a variety of media, this
workshop explores the world of Caribbean pirates and privateers in the
16th through the 18th centuries. Participants will examine primary sources
including maps, letters of marquee and pirates’ codes in the context
of the age of exploration and discovery and the triangle trade. They will
study the lives of real pirates, handle pieces of eight and doubloons
as part of a math lesson, and sleuth a mysterious pirate letter to determine
its authenticity. Participants also will compare the real world of pirates
and privateers with Hollywood’s version and literary stereotypes
as they analyze and discuss clips from The Seahawk (1940) and Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl (2003). Grades 1-12.
Picturing the Past: Utilizing Picture Books in the Classroom with
Creative Activities
Teachers will be introduced to the design elements of a picture book and
details which will assist them to choose books for their students. They
will also work in small groups to help create an engaging picture book
from a collection of images and text. The workshop will supply them with
a review of recent picture books and classroom-based activities to accompany
these and also with steps toward helping their students create their own
picture books. Grades K-6.
Learning to Look: Much to Do with Maps
As we examine different types of maps we will consider the many ways in
which maps can be used in the classroom to deepen and enhance our understanding
of history as well as geography. We will discuss vocabulary, symbols,
topography and the way maps both shape and reflect our world view. In
this hands-on workshop, teachers will create a simple map, and work with
historical maps of towns in their area. Grades K-12.
New Americans Make New Holidays
Beginning with the Pilgrims, each new immigrant group offered new
perspectives on existing celebrations or introduced their own holidays into
the national mix. Come and explore a variety of primary and secondary sources,
picture books and other resources as we investigate the roots of our familiar
celebrations and consider the ways in which Americans continue to contribute
to holiday foodways and other traditions. Grades K-12.
Vote, Vote, Who’s Got the Vote?
While today virtually every American over the age of 18 has the right
to vote, the story of suffrage in America is one of starts, stops, advances
and reversals. Employing a variety of primary and secondary sources and
multiple perspectives, participants will construct a timeline that documents
the complicated history of voting rights in this nation, from the rise
of universal white male suffrage before the mid-nineteenth century, through
Reconstruction and the ratification of the 19th amendment to the passage
of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Grades 5-12.
Keeping Thanksgiving
Explore the evolution of the celebration of Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving
dinner. Dispel some popular myths and consider multiple perspectives on
this widely-celebrated and fascinating American holiday while gaining
historical insights into the lifeways and cultures that have contributed
to its enduring relevance and popularity. This workshop will include work
with visuals and manipulatives as well as content-rich, hands-on approaches
to teaching historical concepts to younger learners, with particular emphasis
on Massachusetts 17th and early 18th century history. Grades K-12.
Speak Up! Elocution, Recitation & Public Speaking for your Classroom
Up to the mid-20th century, elocution was considered an indispensable
skill for every citizen of a democracy to master. From the silent "tableau"
to vibrant oratory, this lively, participatory program is guaranteed to
awaken your hidden theatrical talents. Historic offerings of recitations,
sayings and poems will be used, with special emphasis on literacy building
skills for a range of English Language Arts learners. Grades K-12.
Looking at History: Ten Images that Define a Nation
America has been thought of as a mosaic of people and cultures. What are
the ideas, values, struggles and accomplishments that define who we are?
In this workshop, we will learn about images that reflect the history of
our nation, and work together to decide which images illustrate our most
defining moments. Grades K-12.
Children Working: Child Labor in Massachusetts
In this working session, participants will examine a variety of primary
sources, including period legislation and compelling images recorded by
child labor activist Lewis Hine, as we compare the reality of working conditions
for children in Massachusetts at the turn of the 20th century to the idyllic
pictures of children at work portrayed in turn-of the 20th century photographs
by Francis and Mary Allen. Grades 3-12.
George Washington: American Cincinnatus
To this day, George Washington remains among the most recognizable American
figures in the world. Washington's rise to fame began in his lifetime. By
the 1800s, he was a symbol of the new republic and an object of civic devotion.
Workshop participants will work with a variety of sources, including art
as they separate fact from myths and learn how 19th century Americans celebrated
the life of George Washington. Come and make period "toasts" to
the first president and browse the Teachers' Center picture books and other
resources about the president who remains "first in the hearts of his
countrymen.
Grades 3-12.
The Tea Tax Tempest
In the years leading up to the American Revolution, colonists created a
new type of protest: the boycott. Using textiles, newspaper ads, tea cups
and other primary sources, participants will explore the politics of consumption
in the years leading up to the Revolution, with particular emphasis on the
Connecticut River Valley. Learn how and why colonial resistance to taxes
on tea, paint, playing cards and other imported items helped launch a revolution.
Grades 3-12.
Math in History Part 1 & 2
This workshop is a two-part series. Participants must register for and
attend both sessions.
Who needed to know what kinds of math in the 18th and 19th centuries? From
quilting to cooking, from maritime navigation to weaving, carpentry and
more, participants will find answers to this question through hands-on activities,
and they will examine what changes in math knowledge the Industrial Revolution
introduced. Grades 4-12.
The American Revolution in Western Massachusetts
What was it like to be a Loyalist or a Patriot in the Connecticut River
Valley in the years leading up to the American Revolution? What impact did
the war have on the men and women of Western Massachusetts? Accessing primary
and secondary sources, including records of the towns of workshop participants,
we will explore how the Revolution affected the daily life of local residents,
such as a Longmeadow merchant, a Deerfield physician and loyalist, and a
Heath resident who became a Colonel in the Continental Army.
Grades 3-12.
"Is it Catching?" Epidemics and Disease in American
History
From ancient times to the modern era, the effects of epidemics have at times
outweighed those of war, governments and leaders. This is particularly true
of American history from the 16th through the 20th centuries. We will look
at a timeline of major disease outbreaks in North America and analyze this
information with the help of a variety of primary sources to gain a deeper
understanding of what has directed the course of history. Grades K-12.
Three Worlds: Early Encounters
Participants will use a variety of primary and secondary sources, including
maps, images and documents to examine the early encounters between Western
Europeans and the people of Western Africa and Western Europeans and Eastern
Woodland Native Americans. We will keep in mind what each group might
have perceived about the other and how their different belief systems
bolstered, influenced, or guided these different perspectives and decisions.
Grades 3-12.
Debating Freedom
In this workshop, participants will debate what was for many 19th century
Americans would become "the" question of the hour: “By what
means do we liberate the slaves?” Primary and secondary sources will
be brought to bear on developing understandings of the multiple perspectives
on emancipation, including gradual emancipation, colonization and immediate
abolition. The stances of several prominent abolitionists, including some
local to Massachusetts, will be included. We will also take a brief look
at anti-slavery activity within our state. Grades 3-12
As If Things Could GET Any Worse: Bad Weather, Hard Times
“The Great Earthquake”, “The Great Gale”, “The
Year Without a Summer”: Weather-related disasters are an important
part of the oral and written history of our region and a compelling entry
point into history for students. Riveting for their dramatic stories of
survival and loss, these events also had far-reaching economic and political
effects. This workshop places weather disasters within their historical
contexts, focusing in particular on the hard-knock times Massachusetts suffered
during the Depression. As if the economic conditions of the Great Depression
were not enough of a burden, the economic effects of the Dustbowl and other
severe weather events deepened the difficulties of this “Worst Hard
Time.” Grades K-12.
How the Other Half Lived: Tenement Houses
In 1890, New York police photographer and journalist Jacob Riis shocked
Americans with his expose on life among the city's poorest residents. An
immigrant himself, Riis' images and writings made middle class Americans
aware as never before about the nature of tenement life in the densely-populated,
desperately poor tenements of the Lower East Side. Workshop participants
will work with primary and secondary sources, including maps, documents
and images as they explore tenement life and the movement to reform them
in urban centers like New York City. Participants will try their hand at
redesigning a tenement to conform to a 1901 reform law. In a related activity,
they will gain deeper insights into multiple perspectives as they take on
the roles of tenants and landlords during a discussion of the impact of
tenement reform. Grades 3-12
Salem 1692
In January 1692, a small girl fell ill in Salem Village, Massachusetts.
Her alarming symptoms defied medical explanation. Worse, other young girls
began showing the same symptoms. The attending physician decided that the
only possible explanation was that the girls had been bewitched. The year-long
“witch hunt” that followed claimed the lives of 20 people, sent
hundreds more to prison, and permanently affected the community. Together
we will explore how the witchcraft hysteria and its aftermath affected Salem
Village and beyond in the context of Puritanism and New England lifeways
of the 17th century. Grades 3-12.
Teaching about Native Peoples of Colonial Western New England
Although teachers at specific grade levels are required by the Massachusetts
History and Social Science Frameworks to teach about the Wampanoag people,
the study of other Massachusetts Native groups can add richness, and an
important local tie to that story. In this session we will discuss which
groups lived in the area at various points in time, and things to keep in
mind when studying their history, employing a variety of primary and secondary
sources and classroom resources. We will also examine a particular incident
from King Philip’s War, the assault on Peskeompskut (Turners Falls)
in 1676, through the eyes of two young women: one English and one Pocumtuck.
By examining multiple perspectives regarding one event, we can learn how
cultural differences influence values, needs and problem solving techniques
and gain a better understanding of how some misunderstandings came to be.
Grades K-12.
How the States Got their Shapes
Looking at why a state's borders look like they do is far more important
than just knowing where they are. As Mark Stein reminds us, “A state
border is both an official entrance and a hidden entrance. The official
entrance is the legal threshold to a state. But its hidden entrance beckons
us to the past. Here at the state line we can come in contact with struggles
long forgotten.” Explore the fascinating reasons why and how the “States
Got Their Shapes” and explore maps, other resources and literacy-building
strategies for engaging students in this fascinating topic. Grades K-12.