For the online course dates, click here.

World Wise Schools matches Peace Corps Volunteers in the field with U.S. classroom teachers through its Correspondence Match program. The result? A vibrant two-year exchange that helps U.S. students in the classroom learn about the people, geography, environment, and culture of the world from the direct experience of volunteers living in other countries.

Click here to explore other resources World Wise Schools offers such as lesson plans, podcasts, slide shows, and the Peace Corps' monthly e-newsletter.

The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is offering C-SPAN Classroom members a free classroom poster to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth! The two-sided poster is a great resource for educators. The front displays a portrait of Lincoln while the reverse lists resources and suggestions to incorporate Lincoln’s legacy into the classroom. To request your free poster, click here or contact the Commission at (202) 707-6998.

Every student and educator can become involved in the Lincoln Bicentennial through the School Recognition Program and numerous other educational activities. Visit www.abrahamlincoln200.org to view web resources, search lesson plans, and find event ideas, classroom resources, and much more.

Additional Lincoln resources for teachers are available at C-SPAN: Lincoln 200 Years. Click here to visit the website.

Picturing America in Michigan is a collection of supplemental programs for Michigan's 955 schools participating in Picturing America , a National Endowment for the Humanities initiative that helps students gain a deeper understanding of America history through the study and understanding of its art.

For 2008-09, Picturing America in Michigan programs include:

* Museum Partnership: Students gain firsthand experience with American art through visits to the state's leading art museums. Tours customized to Picturing America curriculum. Transportation and admission
expenses are offset by Michigan Humanities Council grant.

* Speakers Bureau: Historians, museum curators, and other humanities professionals offering expert perspectives on historical themes in America art. Honoraria and travel fees offset by Michigan
Humanities Council grant.

* Teachers Institute: One-day seminar presenting an introduction to American art history and innovative techniques for incorporating Picturing America art into classroom activities. Registration fee and
travel stipend are provided by Michigan Humanities Council.

* Picturing Your Community in America Documentary Film Program:
High school social studies classrooms create documentary video projects exploring their community's place in the broader narrative of American history. Michigan Television video producers provide mentorship, guidance, and technical expertise; all necessary equipment and expenses supplied by the Michigan Humanities Council. Includes one-day teacher's workshop. Limited to ten Picturing America high schools. Contact the Council immediately for consideration for this program.

All programs are free for eligible Picturing America schools during the 2008-09 school year. Click here to learn more. Please contact Gregory Parker for more information.

The Michigan Council for Social Studies (MCSS) offers an opportunity for teachers to be part of change in the State of Michigan by joining MCSS. As a member, you will be able to share ideas and insights with your colleagues throughout the state, have access to new resource materials, and a wealth of useful services. You can develop and share ideas on the future of social studies in schools, especially the concerns of teacher preparation and innovative methodology.

The Michigan Council for the Social Studies offers several opportunities that make our membership invaluable, including:

1. MCSS provides a voice in statewide decision making through advocacy and legislative education.

2. MCSS offers you social studies contacts across the state:

o Interest area networking at the Annual Conference gives you an opportunity to meet social studies professionals from other parts of Michigan.

o Conference events provide members and opportunity to meet professionals from your own region.

o Members maintain a presence on the Board of Directors through an elected District Representative

3. MCSS presents annual awards recognizing Educator-of-the-Year, Outstanding Social Studies Students and Educators.

4. MCSS provides you and your students with the opportunity to participate in the annual Michigan Social Studies OLYMPIAD.

5. MCSS exposes you to new materials, texts, and lesson ideas through the Memorandum and the Journal.

6. MCSS helps with your textbook selection and evaluation process by bringing all the major publishers together at the Annual State Professional Development Conference.

7. MCSS has the answers to your thorniest teaching or curriculum problems by putting you in contact with members who have experienced similar situations.

8. MCSS testifies at educational hearings and maintains representation in the Department of Education Committees and in the National Council for the Social Studies.

Visit http://www.michcouncilss.org/ to learn more about MCSS membership.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is seeking nominations for the annual History Teacher of the Year Award. The award honors one outstanding history teacher from each state and U.S. Territory. This year, only middle and high school teachers are eligible for nomination. The state winner will receive a $1,000 honorarium and will be in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award to be selected this fall. His or her school library will receive a core archive of history books and materials.

The History Teacher of the Year Award is designed to promote and celebrate the teaching of American history in classrooms across the United States. The selection of the state winner is based upon several criteria, including: experience in teaching American history for at least three years; a deep career commitment to teaching American history; evidence of creativity and imagination in the classroom; and close attention to documents, artifacts, historic sites, and the other primary materials of history.To nominate an exceptional history teacher for the award in Michigan, contact:

Whitney Moses
The Gilder Lehrman Institute
19 W. 44th Street, Suite 500
New York, NY 10036
Tel: (646) 366-9666
Fax: (646) 366-9669
Email: moses@gilderlehrman.org

Fellowship Overview

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 for the purpose of improving teaching about the United States Constitution in secondary schools.  The James Madison Fellowships were created to honor Madison’s legacy and Madisonian principles by providing support for graduate study that focuses on the Constitution -- its history and contemporary relevance to the practices and policies of democratic government.

The Fellowships are intended exclusively for graduate study leading to a master’s degree. James Madison Fellows can attend any accredited institution of higher education in the United States. Each individual entering the James Madison Fellowship Program will be expected to pursue and complete a master’s degree in one of the following (Listed in order of preference):

Master of Arts degree (MA) in American history or in political science (also referred to as "government and politics" or as "government");

Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree concentrating on either American Constitutional history (in a history department) or American government, political institutions and political theory (in a political science department);

Master of Education degree (MEd) or the Master of Arts or Master of Science in Education, with a concentration in American history or American government, political institutions, and political theory.

There are two types of fellowships:

Junior Fellowships are awarded to students who are about to complete, or have recently completed, their undergraduate course of study and plan to begin graduate work on a full-time basis. Junior Fellows have two years to complete their degree, and

Senior Fellowships are awarded to experienced teachers who wish to undertake work for a graduate degree on a part-time basis through summer and evening classes. Senior Fellows have up to five years to complete their degree.

Fellowship Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for a fellowship, you must be:

A U.S. citizen or U.S. national;

A teacher, or planning to be a teacher, of American history, American government, or social studies at the secondary school level;

If you already have a graduate degree, you must wait at least three years from the time that degree was awarded before applying for a Fellowship.

Fellowship Criteria
Applicants are evaluated on their demonstrated commitment to a career teaching American history, American government, or social studies at the secondary school level; demonstrated intent to pursue and complete a program of graduate study that emphasizes the Constitution and offers classroom instruction in that subject; demonstrated devotion to civic responsibility; demonstrated capacity for graduate study and performance as classroom teachers, and their proposed courses of graduate study. Applicants compete only against other applicants from the states of their legal residence.

Application Process

Persons interested in applying for a James Madison Fellowship must submit an application form. An independent Fellow Selection Committee evaluates all valid applications and recommends to the Foundation the most outstanding applicants from each state for James Madison Fellowships.

A well-prepared application is essential to an applicant's chance of success. The following are suggestions for applicants to follow:

• It is essential that applicants restrict their answers to the spaces provided. Selection committee members will read many applications before recommending applicants for appointment. Additional sheets will not be considered.
• The strongest applications will most fully and convincingly reveal the applicants' reasons for wishing to become teachers. Any influences, events, experiences, or circumstances that have contributed to the choice of a teaching career should be noted and briefly discussed where relevant.
• Because teaching is a civic activity, applicants should provide information about involvement in civic endeavors that have been important to them. Applicants who have not engaged in civic activity should provide information about whey they have not. It is the full texture of an application that will leave an impression, therefore applicants should be candid about their limitations, frustrations, and regrets.
• Applicants are asked to provide information about their prospective graduate programs. Therefore, it is essential that they make early efforts to learn about the programs to which they will apply. The Foundation recognizes that, in most cases, notice of graduate school acceptance will not have been received by the closing date for the fellowship application, nor will it be possible to know precisely which courses listed in graduate school catalogs will be offered in any term or year. Fellows will have the opportunity to adjust their proposed graduate programs as conditions warrant.
• All questions are asked to help the Fellow Selection Committee understand the candidates' collegiate courses of study, their career choices, and their lives. No single response to any question can provide that understanding, but the entire application can do so. Applicants need to prepare their applications as a single, revealing text.
• The 600-word essay, like other parts of the application provides essential information about applicants' use of language. It will also reveal their ability to express their visions of education and their future roles as teachers of history, government, and social studies. Applicants need to relate their personal visions to the realities of society, schooling, and civic life as they understand them.
• Applicants should select their evaluators with care and emphasize to the evaluators the importance of assessing the applicants in all areas noted on the evaluation forms. It is critical that the evaluations be specific and relevant to the purposes of the James Madison Fellowship Program. Evaluators must prepare their letters on letterhead of their professional affiliation.
• Applicants are urged to take the Graduate Record Examination and to apply formally for graduate study by the deadlines established by the institutions at which they hope to matriculate.

Award Value and Conditions

The maximum amount of each award is up to $24,000, prorated over the individual period of study, thus making the James Madison Fellowship the leading award for secondary level teachers undertaking the study of the Constitution. Fellowship payments cover the actual costs of tuition, required fees, books, room and board, but cannot exceed $12,000 per academic year. Normally, Fellows receive less than these maximum amounts. Failure to complete the program requirements will necessitate the repayment to the Foundation of all funds paid to the Fellow or on his or her behalf plus interest.

The Fellow’s proposed plan of graduate study should contain substantial Constitutional course work. Fellows are encouraged to choose institutions which offer courses that closely examine the origins and development of the U.S. Constitution, the evolution of political theory and constitutional law, the effects of the Constitution on society and culture in the United States, or other such topics directly related to the Constitution.

As part of the James Madison Fellowship program, each Fellow attends the four-week Summer Institute on the Constitution held at Georgetown University. The academic focus of the Institute is a graduate course entitled "The Foundations of American Constitutionalism."

After earning a master’s degree, each James Madison Fellow must teach American history, American government or social studies in grades 7-12 for no less than one year for each full academic year of study under the fellowship.

Applications are now available. For additional information, visit: http://www.jamesmadison.com/.

The application deadline is March 2, 2010.

Have you ever wanted to give your history-loving students a way to continue their exploration of the subject outside the classroom? If so, perhaps you will consider forming a history club chapter at your school this year and joining the National History Club (NHC). Created in March 2002, the NHC was formed to help history clubs from around the country communicate and share ideas and activities with each other through a biannual Newsletter and other programs. There are now chapters in 42 states and over 7,000 students involved.

Clubs are given the flexibility to choose the activities in which their members want to participate, and this has allowed for a wide range of projects. Some activities have included: interviewing World War II veterans, visiting Abraham Lincoln's home and neighborhood, a lecture on the Civil Rights Movement, traveling to Washington D.C., and holding a Ben Franklin look-a-like contest.

Go to www.nationalhistoryclub.org to learn more about starting a History Club at your school. For additional information, contact Bob Nasson, NHC Executive Director, at rnasson@nationalhistoryclub.org. You can help train the next generation of historians and history teachers.

Fresno Pacific University helps teachers meet their professional needs by offering the two following online courses.

INT 925: Elementary Curriculum on the Web
Unlike intermediate and secondary educators who usually specialize in teaching a single subject-matter curriculum, elementary educators are expected to teach a broad range of subjects. Locating appropriate resources to support, enhance, and enrich this diverse curricula can be a real challenge. This course will introduce elementary educators to the wide array of resources for all of the elementary subject-matter curriculum that has become available on the World Wide Web.

SOC 949: History/Social Science on the Web
This online course will explore the wide range of History/Social Science curriculum resources that have become available on the World Wide Web. Course participants will explore web-based instructional support resources including digital archives, online museums, map libraries, virtual field trips and lesson plan collections. They will also develop online research skills that will enable them to locate additional web resources to support thir History/Social Science curriculum.

Each coures is worth three college credits. Each course is $357 ($297 tuition, plus materials and online fees of $60). Visit www.cotwcourses.net for detailed information on each course. Register online at www.fresno.edu/register or call 1-800-372-5505.