Project Goals:

Participants will learn inquiry-based strategies for teaching Georgia and American history through the Georgia Historical Marker Program and primary sources from the Library of Congress and the Georgia Historical Society. Throughout the course, participants will utilize what they learn to create teaching units featuring project-based activities based on the Inquiry Design Model.

Participants should anticipate spending one to two hours on each module.

Each week participants will explore creating inquiry-based lessons utilizing primary sources and Georgia Historical Markers. Some of the major weekly themes include:

• Finding and using primary sources from the collections of the Library of Congress and GHS.
• Utilizing inquiry-based strategies for primary source analysis.
• Forming a historical inquiry based on the Inquiry Design Model.
• Conducting historical research and developing evidence-based arguments.
• Develop project-based learning activities with primary sources and historical markers.
• Utilize literacy strategies for reading, writing, and analyzing historical markers.
• Explore bias, difficult histories, and the limits of historical research.
• Explore how historical markers relate to the context of their geographic location.

Dates of course:

Teaching with the Georgia Historical Marker Program is a self-paced asynchronous course. Participants can register and complete the course based on their own schedule.

Who can participate:

Eligible participants will include but are not limited to, classroom teachers, school administrators, media specialists, curriculum specialists, and pre-service teachers who teach Georgia or United States History.

Time commitment:

Each week participants should expect to spend one to two hours on each module.

Course registration:

Please follow this link to register.

Who is eligible to participate in the teacher training course?

The course will be open to registrants who meet the eligibility requirements. Public, private, parochial, homeschool, and pre-service educators, administrators, media/literacy staff, or curriculum specialists that teach United States history and/or Georgia Studies are eligible to register for the course.

How do I register for the course?

Please follow this link to register.

When and where does the training course take place?

The teacher training course will be held online through a learning management system. Participants should anticipate spending 1-2 hours per week on completing weekly units and coursework. The course consists of six, one-hour asynchronous lessons and the implementation of a final lesson plan.

The course is asynchronous, with the participant setting the course’s pace.

How much does it cost to participate?

The teacher training course is free to participants.

What can I expect to learn?

Participants will learn inquiry-based strategies for using the Georgia Historical Marker Program. Coupled with the use of primary sources from the collections of the Library of Congress and the Georgia Historical Society, participants will learn how create and implement lessons featuring project-based activities designed with the Inquiry Design Model.

Historical Marker Program

The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) administers Georgia’s historical marker program. Over the last 25 years, GHS has erected over 300 new historical markers across the state on a wide variety of subjects. GHS also coordinates the maintenance for more than 2,100 markers installed by the State of Georgia prior to 1998. Online mapping tools allow users to design driving routes based on historical markers, and a mobile app helps visitors locate and learn about markers nearby. Learn more.

Library of Congress and Teaching with Primary Sources

The Library of Congress awards grants to a wide variety of organizations, including K-12 schools, universities, literacy organizations, centers, clubs, historical societies, museums, libraries, associations of home-schooling parents and care-givers, honor societies, and other community, civic, professional, state, regional, and national groups that expand the body of innovative strategies, tools, and materials for meaningful teaching and learning with Library of Congress materials. Learn more.

The Inquiry Design Model (IDM) is a distinctive approach to creating curriculum and instructional materials that honors teachers’ knowledge and expertise, avoids overprescription, and focuses on the main elements of the instructional design process as envisioned in the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (2013). Unique to the IDM is the blueprint, a one-page representation of the questions, tasks, and sources that define a curricular inquiry.

Georgia Historical Society

Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is the premier independent statewide institution responsible for collecting, examining, and teaching Georgia history. GHS houses the oldest and most distinguished collection of materials related exclusively to Georgia history in the nation.

Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources

The Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Eastern Region program at Waynesburg University supports K-12 education by offering free professional development and resources to educators across the Eastern Region.

The mission of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program is to build awareness of the Library's educational initiatives, provide content that promotes the effective educational use of the Library's resources, and offer access to and promote sustained use of the Library's educational resources.

The Library achieves this mission through collaborations between the Library and the K-12 educational community across the United States. The program contributes to the quality of education by helping teachers use the Library's digitized primary sources to engage students, develop their critical thinking skills, and construct knowledge. Learn more about the Library's TPS program and other resources available to teachers via the Teachers Page.