CT Humanities Program Earns Grant to Expand Online Teaching Resources
/Connecticut Humanities (CTH) has received $55,485 from The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts to support content development and expanded access for Teach It, CTH’s online resource which provides educators and students with inquiry-based activities, primary source documents, and links for further exploration.
Teach It is designed to foster a greater appreciation among students for the role their own communities played in state history and Connecticut’s significance on the national and global stage. It is an element in CTH’s mission to develop a more engaged, informed citizenry.
The funding will be used to add 36 new content units to the Teach It curriculum.
The new units will be designed by qualified education professionals to align with the Connecticut state social studies frameworks. Subject areas will include Connecticut history and heritage as well as civics and geography.
“The awarding of this grant will aid tremendously in the development and diversification of new content for our Teach It program,” said Gregg Mangan, PhD, Manager of Digital Humanities at CTH. “At a time when the need to provide quality online resources to teachers, students, and parents is at a premium, we are grateful for the support and shared vision of The Scripps Family Fund for Education.”
Plans are for Teach It to address disparities in underserved schools by diversifying content and targeting outreach to Connecticut’s Alliance School Districts, the 33 lowest achieving districts in the state. In addition, Teach It resources will also be added to the Department of Education’s Learning Hub.
In the Teach It program, activities are developed for various grade levels, with varying subject-matter focuses, including:
Grade 3 - Connecticut and Local History
Grade 4 - United States Geography
Grade 5 - Early United States History
Grade 6 & 7 - World Regional Studies
Grade 8 - United States History
High School - Civics and Government
High School - Modern World History
High School - United States History
The exercises contain grade-specific content meant to help educators incorporate Connecticut history into the classroom by providing resources that walk students through all four steps of the Inquiry Arc found in the Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks: Developing questions and planning inquiry; Apply disciplinary concepts and tools; Evaluating sources and using evidence and Communicating conclusions and taking informed actions.
The content for the Teach It activities is designed to be both intuitive and adaptable, allowing teachers the flexibility to incorporate the activities in the manner best-suited to their goals.
Connecticut Humanities expressed gratitude to The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts for their support of this “exciting, groundbreaking venture to address the immediate needs of Connecticut’s educators and students.”
Connecticut Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations and gifts from private sources.
