Discovery Education Speakers Bureau

This session compares and contrasts the 19th- and 20th-centuries' traditional way of teaching history and geography with our 21st-century digital approach. Taking themes and regions from currently adopted textbooks, the session will examine just how digital resources can place students in the London tunnels of World War II during the blitz, can put them in the California sun with Cesar Chavez and the migrant workers, can allow them to feel the elation Henry "Box" Brown felt when he arrived in Philadelphia a free man and no longer the slave in the box. In this same session, teachers will understand that because history is organic and protean, students must know what is happening now and how the past informs their present.

This session is a practical hands-on exploration with solutions to creating engaging units and weekly lessons, relying on technological tools and applications our students use everyday. Sessions include Modular Units and Model Lessons in both core content areas as well as cross-curricular approaches.

This session explores English/Language Arts and social studies curricula in light of innovative curriculum alignments--alignments enhanced by customized, digitally-embedded digital assets: video chapters, images, articles, interactives, writing prompts, and audio. The goal of this new innovative approach to curriculum development is to engage students within a familiar digital milieu and to take them where no text book can

Learn the astonishing the role women's slave narratives can have on literary history, politics, social change--both in the nineteenth century and the present. In a time when the curriculum can pull from all the strengths of the American fabric, learn what new voices can teach and how past strengths can better prepare learners for a future full of unexpected change.

The culture of the world has evolved and the culture of America reflects the world in which it takes the leadership role. The need for English Language Acquisition (ELA) and social study classes to include texts from a variety of authors and sources--African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Asian Americans, Africans, the Middle East, and other cultures has never been more important. In order to prepare our students for a global community and global conversations, the selection of texts is critical. Learn the factors for building a course of study that meets the needs of new learners while serving the curriculum.

This multiple-day workshop involves reviewing a district's curriculum, looking for texts that have or may pose challenges in instruction for students. Work through materials with an expert on curriculum integration and work out a plan that will serve the needs of 21st Century teaching and learning. The workshop includes candid conversation, recommended teaching strategies and approaches, and modeling with students when possible. NOTE: A full workshop is not always the appropriate path but an appropriate strategy to meet district needs can be adapted.

Explores the continuing place, relevance, and purpose for the library and the changing roles of librarians in a digital age. The pressures of budget, changing instructional media, and increasing knowledge creation has not changed some of the core decisions for librarians. With tides of change in the nature of resources, the responsibilities of librarians in regard to intellectual freedom have increased. The stakes have gone up in a digital age. Learn how to maintain the librarian's important role.

What are the factors in selecting works for contemporary, digital classrooms? The forthcoming national standards for reading and mathematics--the Standards of NCTE and IRA will force education to make important decisions. Using Mark Twain as an example, explore the relevant questions of which texts should remain in state curricula and which should not and the rationale behind an intelligent decision. This session explains the changing nature of 21st century students--their perspectives, their expectations from classroom teachers and core content areas--in this case, ELA and social studies--and our responsibility in this new instructional paradigm.

Learn from expert in both research and digital integration how teachers can and must meld rhetorical strategies for writing and invention with the needs for a late 20th and now 21st and global community. In a changing world, new strategies bring core learning needs into the 21st Century classroom.

This session introduces and explains why and how canonical classics from the Greeks forward AND historical works by people of color, such as Ann Plato, belong in the classroom--together. The benefits to student learning and student engagement are great.