Description
Social Studies and Humanities pose distinct challenges for struggling learners, including extensive discipline-specific vocabulary, difficult informational texts–including complex primary sources, and a need for background knowledge. Yet the authentic sources, important ideas and connections to issues of these subjects also offer vital tools for differentiation and potent means to motivate students.
This course supports content instruction for Students with Disabilities in History-Social Studies and Humanities (including literature, art, music, and language); and for Special Education teachers. Grounded in a decade of practice by history educators, historians, and experts in Special Education, and based on current research and innovative classroom practices, this course features models of best practices and employs primary sources and analysis tools.
Participants will:
- Gain and apply practical classroom strategies.
- Integrate History of Disability through issues of citizenship, private and government responsibility to provide services, and struggles for empowerment.
- Create/adapt lessons: Universal Design for Learning and brain-based language learning.
This fully online workshop will run 2.5 hours per week for six weeks. You may complete it at convenient times for you. There will be one scheduled 75-minute webinar (with the option to watch the recording). Each week will include a mix of readings, online activities, and video clips. You will write responses to prompts in a class forum, and reply to your classmates' posts. Over the six weeks, you will find and create a text set of primary sources and write a lesson plan that employs techniques of access for students with disabilities.
Please note: This is a graduate-level course. Click here for details about course expectations and assignments. All participants will be required to prepare for the start of the training by completing several short readings and a writing assignment to share in the TPS Teachers Network. More about this assignment will be emailed after registration is complete.
Audience
Teachers in Social Studies or Humanities, including literature, art, music, and language; Grades 4 - 12
Credits
Maryland teachers will earn 15 Continuing Professional Development hours through a partnership with Maryland Humanities.
Massachusetts teachers will earn 22.5 PDPs upon completion of this training, in addition to outside reading and assignments (as per DESE regulations). Note that these PDPs will satisfy the ELL or Special Education-related requirement for recertification.
Participants may choose instead to take this course for 1 graduate credit in partnership with Westfield State University. To earn PDPs or Graduate Credit, participants must complete all assignments. Graduate Credit from Westfield State University costs $125. Registration for Graduate Credit takes place in the first class, with payment accepted by credit card or check.