Over the last month the Northeast Region has gotten into the swing of teaching the teachers. We've conducted two workshops using
Project Archaeology's Investigating Shelter curriculum. Even better, the curriculum now includes a brand new component on
Kingsley Plantation--a real archaeology site from our region! The lessons use principles of archaeology and a real site to teach math, science, and social studies.
 |
Teachers dig into the lessons, creating a museum of special
items in our homes that tell something important about each of us. |
 |
What do the things in our homes tell about our lives?
Teachers build a graph using living room activities. |
So far it's been a lot of fun. The great thing about these lessons is that they let students explore the material through hands-on activities, learning and understanding for themselves how archaeology works. The lessons also provide rare insight into what life was like for the enslaved people who lived on Fort George Island during Zephaniah Kingsley's tenure there.
 |
| We practice classification using doohickey kits! |
Some of my favorite parts of the workshop occur when teachers really get in to some of the hands-on lessons. It's fun for me to watch grownups have kid-like moments of curiosity and discovery, and just to watch them play with the lessons at hand.
 |
Playing on the floor! Teachers tried their hand at "excavating"
our living room site. |
 |
On day 2, they used the skills they had gained to lay out artifacts on a
slave cabin tarp and interpret the archaeological data. |
One of the highlights of our first two workshops is that they took place at Kingsley--so teachers were treated to a site tour by Emily Palmer, one of the rangers who played an important role in creating the Kingsley curriculum.
 |
| Emily stops the tour behind some of the east cabins, where a well was excavated in 2010-2011. |
Each workshop lasts two days and offers 15 hours of training, which can be used for in-service credit. We are offering one more workshop this summer--July 19 & 20--and there are still seats available! Contact
Amber if you would like to attend.
