The City and the River: Exploring Social and Ecological Histories of Fitchburg
A collaboration with the Fitchburg Public Schools, Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
Overview
The City and the River is a three-year professional development
project for Fitchburg Middle School teachers in collaboration with
the EcoTarium, Fitchburg Historical Society, and the Nashua River
Watershed Association. The goal of the project is to provide support
and training for teachers as they develop interdisciplinary
curriculum units exploring social and ecological histories of
Fitchburg.
Summary
This project was developed in collaboration with the school district, interested teachers, and the community partners over the first six months of 1998. The workshop series runs from September 1998 through June 2001. Seventh and Eight grade teachers are the target audience for Year One, and sixth grade teachers will be added at the begnning of Year Two of the project.
Over the course of the project, The City and the River will
provide participants with professional development and resource
support as they work in teams to develop month-long inquiry-based
curriculum units which explore contemporary and historical Fitchburg.
Curriculum units will be student-driven and project-based and will
include authentic assessments of student learning. All work will be
based in the Massachusetts State Curriculum Frameworks.
The Ecotarium is working with the Fitchburg Historical Society and the Nashua River Watershed Association to develop and conduct the professional development sessions. At the end of the three-year project, a cohort of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade FPS teachers will have
- participated in professional development in inquiry-based pedagogy and content related to local ecology and local history;
- participated in experiences which highlight regional resources that can be used in lesson development or implementation; and
- developed or modified an existing lesson unit which is interdisciplinary and inquiry-based and which utilizes the local physical or human landscape, provides authentic assessments of student learning, and reflects the appropriate state and city curriculum frameworks and standards.
The collection of lessons developed during the project will be made available by Fitchburg Public Schools to all teachers in the middle schools for implementation in classrooms across the city.
See the Massachusetts DOE profile of the Fitchburg Public Schools.