About Conflict & Consensus
Conflict and Consensus: Key Moments in U.S. History is a Teaching American History grant that provides an exciting opportunity for middle and high school teachers of American history to expand and improve their content knowledge of U.S. history and their instructional skills. The program unites middle school and high school teachers who share U.S. history instruction in MCPS, and reaches out to teachers in schools that are most impacted by poverty, diverse populations, and high numbers of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Eighth and ninth grade teachers will be involved in an intensive two-week summer institute, including one week that introduces overarching themes in American history, and one grade level specific week that addresses the key moments in which Americans struggled over the basic nature of American society. Content areas include race, citizenship, and ethnicity, and key events such as Secession and Civil War, and the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the Civil Rights Movement. Eighth and ninth grade teachers will also participate in seven school-year workshops, including lectures by prominent historians. Film workshops and keynote lectures are open to all MCPS teachers.
This website will serve as an essential tool to help participating teachers accomplish the goals of this project. Components of the website include:
- A schedule of workshops, site visits, and film and book discussion groups as well as a list of reading assignments and due dates.
- An source analysis section with seven web modules focused on helping teachers and students carefully analyze important primary sources in U.S. history.
- A collaboration section in which participating TAH teachers will share information, resources, and responses within cohort groups.
- A resources section that lists all workshop materials, such as articles, bibliographies, teaching strategies, primary source activities, and recommended classroom materials, as well as downloadable videos of the workshops.
- A lessons section that makes available the curriculum units participating teachers create that reflect their expanded curriculum knowledge, use of primary sources, and engaging teaching strategies.