District Administration - January 2010 - (Page 17)

Curriculum New Curriculum Explores 9/11 AN ORGANIZATION COMPRISED of September 11th victims’ family members, rescue workers, survivors and educators called the September 11th Education Trust has released a curriculum for grades 6-12 on the terrorist attacks and their aftermath. The September 11th Education Program includes comprehensive lesson plans with 70 video interviews and transcripts, primary source materials, handouts and questions for research and discussion. Piloted in a New Jersey high school in 2008, the curriculum is now in use in schools in six states and includes these lessons: • Visualizing 9/11 • The Historian’s Craft • The Post-9/11 Recovery Process • Designing a 9/11 Memorial • Honoring Heroes • Advocacy and the Role of Government • U.S. National Security and 9/11 Br iefings by marion herbert Michael Hutchison, a teacher at Lincoln High School in the Vincennes (Ind.) Community School Corporation, is using the curriculum with his 12thgrade government students. Until this year, he had never taught a unit specifically on the 9/11 attacks, although he says the topic would come up when discussing certain aspects of government policy. Calling the new curriculum “extremely well-designed,” he reports that his students, who were eight or nine years old when the attacks occurred, are able to interweave their own memories with what they learn in class. At Washington Academy in Rockford (Ill.) Public Schools, Deborah Johns will be integrating the curriculum throughout the entire year as she teaches the Constitution to seventh-graders. Referring to the “Remembrance” video that begins the curriculum, she says, “I believe the video changed the nature of the discussion that might have occurred, making the personal loss the focus rather than the action itself. I found this wonderfully refreshing, as students today tend to focus on action rather than outcomes.” At www.learnabout9-11.org, visitors can read more about the curriculum, read comments and place an order. —Don Parker-Burgard School House Hip Hop Brings Popular Music to the Classroom AmiD the wAr between pArents and popular music, a compromise has been drawn in schools across the country as rap music makes its debut in classrooms. the Flocabulary program, an educational hip hop music series, has been introduced as a means of learning facts and rote memorization. its founders, Alex rappaport and blake harrison, created their company in the belief that difficult material could be mastered if introduced in an engaging way. Flocabulary is a series of CDs and books targeted at students from third grade through high school. the team worked with educators to determine what information is required of students at each age. the series offers programs for vocabulary, writing, social studies, math and science. “i had the idea for this back in high school,” says harrison, Flocabulary’s creative director. “i was a good student but became a bad one as soon as i wasn’t engaged in the classroom material.” A november 2009 study conducted by indiana University professor roger Farr and the educational institute of America revealed that students using word Up, Flocabulary’s language arts series, received higher scores on state tests than those who did not use the program. Currently, word Up is part of the language arts curriculum for all schools in Jersey City (n.J.) public schools that serve students in grades 6-8. “we have seen a change in the karma in the Mark Hartman Flocabulary co-founders Blake Harrison (left) and Alex Rappaport (right). room,” says treniere Dobson, language arts supervisor for grades 6-8 in the district. “students are making the leap of incorporating those vocabulary words into their writing and speech, not just on their unit tests.” Flocabulary is now being used in over 10,000 schools nationwide. For additional information, visit www.flocabulary.com. www.DistrictAdministration.com January 2010 17 http://www.learnabout9-11.org http://www.flocabulary.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2010

District Administration - January 2010
Table of Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Health Update
Curriculum Update
District Profile
The Feud Over Food
Discipline Gets the Boot
Cutting Technology Costs with Refurbished Computers
Will Pensions Bankrupt Your District?
Tech Disruptions
Crisis Response
Supervisor’s Opinion
Product Focus
New Products
Online Edge

District Administration - January 2010