Social Studies
A History of Paterson: The Great Falls, Silk City and Labor Unrest
Presenter: Ron Romano
Tentatively Scheduled for March 24, 2025 AND April 7, 2025
Recommended for Educators of Grades 6-12
Paterson was the first planned industrial city in the US. The brainchild of none other than Alexander Hamilton, Paterson played a major role in the US moving from an agrarian to and industrial society. Come on an adventure through time starting in the 1700's and ending in the present day. Learn about the wonder of the Paterson Falls and the role they played in making Paterson an industrial powerhouse. Cotton and Silk Mills, the Colt 45 revolver, Locomotives, aircraft engines for the Wright Brothers as well as the first submarines were all built in Paterson. Paterson was the home to cultural icons including poets Allen Ginsberg and William Carlos Williams, comedian Lou Costello, Vice President Garret Hobart and Sen. Frank Lautenberg as well as the first African American baseball player in the American league Larry Doby who played in Hinchliffe Stadium one of the only remaining Negro League stadiums.
*Note this is a two-day workshop. The first day will take place in the classroom learning about the history with the second day visiting the locations where the events took place. Participants will be responsible for their own transportation
Colonial/Revolutionary War Tour of Northern New Jersey
Presenter: Ron Romano
Tentatively Scheduled for October 7, 2024 AND October 24, 2024
Recommended for Educators of Grades 6-12
New Jersey served as the battleground for much of the Revolutionary War with Bergen County playing a major role. Significant events occurred in our own backyard yet they have been left out of most history books. Come on an exciting adventure and learn the important role that our area played in the creation of our country. Topics of study and visits will include; Ft. Lee and the role of the Hudson River. The Baylor Massacre in River Vale and how this changed the view of the British. The greatest act of treason (Benedict Arnold/ West Point) and the trial of John Andre at the 76 House in Tappan.
*Note: This is a two-day workshop with the first day conducted in the classroom learning the history with the second day visiting the locations where the events took place. Participants will be responsible for their own transportation
Integrating Sports History into Your Social Studies Classroom - Part II
Presenter: Damon Affinito
Tentatively Scheduled for November 26, 2024
Recommended for Educators of Grades 5-12
From the ancient Olympic games to the modern civil rights movement, from the World Series to the World Cup, from Native Americans to celebrity athletes, from urbanization to apartheid, and from geography to economics, sports history connects to every social studies discipline at every grade level. This workshop will explore the many connections between sport and social studies, and will provide participants with lessons and activities for use in their classes. Through the use of primary source materials (including photographs), videos, lecture, and discussion, the workshop will enhance understanding of the relationship between sport and social studies, and will inspire participants to incorporate the workshop material into their lessons. Participants will leave the workshop with ready-to-use activities, ideas for greater extension, and a more complete understanding of how athletics intersect with geography, politics, race, class, gender, and other social studies themes.
Part II will focus on the intersection of sport and politics, and will introduce connections between sport and World History topics.
Monuments, Memorials, and Military History: Bringing Sacred Spaces into the Social Studies Classroom
Presenter: Damon Affinito
Tentatively Scheduled for February 4, 2025
Recommended for Educators of Grades 5-12
The modern-day history class, with its constantly expanding curriculum, often overlooks important themes involving service, sacrifice, triumph, tragedy, and patriotism. This workshop will explore ways to bring these themes and the places associated with them into the classroom, primarily through the use of online resources, including virtual tours. Participants will “visit” Civil War battlefields, overseas American cemeteries, the National Mall memorials, Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma City, Shanksville, and other sacred spaces. Time will be allotted for teachers to research and develop lessons around these themes and places.
Slavery in New Jersey
Presenter: Kevin Walter
Tentatively Scheduled for December 18, 2024
Recommended for Educators of Grades 6-12
This professional learning experience for social studies teachers will focus on the surprising, often hidden, role slavery played in New Jersey from the 1600s to the mid-1800s, with a special emphasis placed on the history of slavery in Bergen County.
Social Studies Roundtable
Presenter: Joseph Polvere
Tentatively Scheduled for January 15, 2025
Recommended for Educators of Grades Pre-K-12
This workshop will explore relevant social studies strategies for all grade levels. Participants will engage in dialogue on current challenges and best practices when teaching social studies while gaining an understanding of the newest 2020 NJ Student Learning standards and continuum of social studies instruction throughout a student’s academic experience.
Teaching Current Events in the Classroom
Presenter: Joseph Polvere
Tentatively Scheduled for September 25, 2024
Recommended for Educators of Grades Pre-K-12
It can be challenging to teach current events in the classroom while avoiding controversy, but this workshop will show participants how to do just that. Various current events from the domestic and international spheres will be addressed, allowing for an exchange of ideas between the presenter and participants; attendees will take away strategies to use in their classroom.
Using Value Tensions to Teach American History
Presenter: Ron Romano
Tentatively Scheduled for February 28, 2025
Recommended for Educators of Grades 6-12
Value Tensions are the conflicts between two equally desirable goals. Unity vs. Diversity, Law vs. Ethics, Private Wealth vs. CommonWealth, and Freedom vs. Equality. From the founding of our nation to the present day we grapple with these concepts on a regular basis. This workshop will assist teachers in teaching many of the controversial issues we have faced during our history. How do our values sometimes clash? When is the time to protest against laws that are unethical? How do we accumulate wealth and meet the needs of the community? How do we find the balance between too much freedom and equality for all?