Start of Distance Learning Season!
School shopping lists checked off, yellow buses rumbling down the street, and classrooms bustling with activity are all sure signs the school year has begun again. Another indication here at the Museum is that our distance learning programs are now in full swing. With a successful year of connecting with close to 18,000 students across the country and internationally, we’re ready to start it all again. With three distinct virtual connections, there’s a program perfect for every classroom, no matter the technology, budget, or length of time. Check them out:
In-depth, hour long programs with a Museum Educator about specific topics in WWII that are videoconferenced LIVE into classrooms across the country. Guided by a Museum Educator, students analyze maps, photographs, artifacts, posters, speeches, and songs as they explore the chronologies, strategies, motivations, and outcomes behind these fascinating chapters of WWII history. Popular topics include D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Science and Technology in WWII, and the Home Front. Cost: $100/session
Be sure to check out our latest program, Choosing and Using Primary Sources with WWII High School Yearbooks. It’s perfect for introducing or reinforcing the basics of historical research with your students, especially at the beginning of the school year! During the program, students explore and analyze our primary source yearbooks from across the country.
Not to miss during November’s Native American Heritage Month is our new and improved program on American Indians in WWII. Students will hear first-hand accounts from our oral history collection of Medal of Honor recipient Van Barfoot, Crow Indian Chief Joe Medicine Crow, and Code Talker Thomas Begay. Students will focus in on the importance of American Indian languages, both during wartime and today.
15-30 minute Q&A and lesson follow-up sessions utilizing the most familiar online communication platform: Skype. Connect with a Museum Educator for further questions and analysis after completing one of our lessons or explore our pavilion spaces. Be sure to check out Mystery Skype, the geographical guessing game invented by teachers. Have your students guess the subject and location of the Museum, broadcast right in front of our Higgins Boat! Cost: Free
One-time-only, live connections that are broadcast to classrooms throughout the country. Students have the opportunity to interact with authors, historians and Museum experts to explore a broad of array of topics that bring WWII history to life. Covering important anniversaries, special events, and the latest Museum exhibits and projects, each program is unique. We’re hard at work planning webinars for the 2014-2015 school year and will post them soon. In the meantime, check out recordings of last year’s programs featuring authors Graham Salisbury and Robert Edsel, and poet Brian Komei Dempster. Cost: Free
Don’t forget about Operation Footlocker traveling trunks, bringing authentic WWII artifacts right to your classroom. It’s a perfect hands-on companion with any of our distance learning programs!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
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