New Netherland History Teacher Workshops Set

The New York State Social Studies frameworks for grades K-8 place a greater emphasis than ever before on the history of the Dutch colonies in the Americas. Teachers and students are being asked to trace colonial history from New Netherland through to the English colonies and to recognize lasting Dutch contributions to American life and history.

But what is that history? And how can it best be taught?

The New Netherland Institute in conjunction with the New York State Museum, the New York State Archives and the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center, is offering a three-part workshop to give teachers of fourth and seventh grades a thorough grounding in the history of New Netherland and best practices for teaching it to students.

In the first full-day workshop, teachers will hear presentations and engage in discussions with eminent scholars of New Netherland about the reasons for Dutch settlement in the colony; political and economic characteristics of New Netherland; daily life in the colony; relations between the Indians and the Dutch; and Dutch lasting contributions and legacy.

Teachers will also get a behind-the-scenes tour of the rich collections of the New York State Museum related to Dutch colonial history and consider ways to incorporate historical artifacts into their teaching. Teachers will then be provided with primary source-based lesson plans written by certified teachers to use with their students. These lessons will allow teachers to teach not only the content of Dutch colonial history, but foster the engagement with primary sources and evidence-based argumentation called for in the new frameworks.

Two follow-up after school workshops, led by a certified classroom teacher, will support the implementation of the lessons provided in the full-day workshop, as well as help teachers make modifications specific to their classroom needs. Strategies for pre- and post-assessment will be developed and lesson modifications will be discussed to create a solid core of inquiry-based lessons teachers can use, aligned with the Social Studies frameworks, New York State Learning Standards and Common Core Standards.

This workshop is offered at no cost to teachers and will represent 15 hours of professional development time (11.5 hours of seat time and 3.5 hours of independent prep time). Teachers will receive a certificate for one full professional development credit through the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center. Food will be provided.

Register for the full day workshop online here and for the follow-up workshops online here. Registration is limited to 30 teachers.

Dates and Times:

Saturday, August 8 9:00-3:30 – New York State Museum
Thursday, October 1, 4:30-7:00 – Greater Capital Region Teacher Center
Thursday, December 10, 4:30-7:00 – Greater Capital Region Teacher Center

For more information contact Josie Madison, New Netherland Institute Associate for Educational Material via email at josie.madison@nysed.gov.