“Clinton’s Ditch: the Erie Canal in Western New York”

NEH Landmarks of American History & Culture Workshop

Niagara County Community College

July and August 2013

Introductions• Pierson Bell, Project Director

– Education / Career Experience• Canisius College, B.A. • College of William & Mary, M.A.• Teacher for six years• CAP instructor for NCCC

– Professional / Personal interests• Content-based development• Impact of standardized testing on history curriculum• Leveraging technology to support instruction (“flipping”) • Revolutionary War Re-enacting!

– Goal for the workshop• Integrating deeper exploration of social and cultural impacts of Market Revolution

into my US History curriculum• Developing interdisciplinary possibilities with English 11 teacher

NEH Summer Programs

• NEH Institutes and NEH Seminars • NEH Landmarks

– direct experiences in the interpretation of significant historical and cultural sites and the use of archival and other primary evidence.

– the best scholarship on a specific landmark or related cluster of landmarks, enabling participants to gain a sense of the importance of historical places

– To make connections between what they [participants] learn in the Workshop and what they teach, and to develop enhanced teaching or research materials.

Preview of the Week• Themes

– Teaching the Erie Canal

– Historical Context

– Political Challenges

– Engineering / Construction Challenges

– Social / Cultural Impact

– Economic Impact

LOCKPORTROCHESTER

SYRACUSE

BUFFALO

NIAGARA FALLS

Preview of the Week• Site Visits

– Lockport• Historic “Flight of Five”

• Canal Cruise

– Syracuse• Erie Canal Museum

• Restored Camillus Aqueduct

– Rochester• Broad Street Aqueduct

• Lock 62 (enlarged Canal)

• Great Embankment

– Buffalo• Erie Canal Harbor – “Canalside”

• Grain elevators

• Downtown Architecture Tour

• Delaware Park (Olmsted)

– Niagara Falls (optional)

Goal for the Week

Broaden how you currently teach the Erie Canal!

Classroom Resource Project• Suggestions:

– Traditional lesson plan– Interdisciplinary lesson plan– Thematic unit plan– Annotated collection of primary source or secondary documents– Collection of multimedia resources based on site visits

• Animoto video or Kizoa image slideshow• Website or blog• YouTube Channel

• Two guidelines: – make it relevant to your classroom– align with CCS for dissemination

Classroom Resource Project• Work individually or in collaboration with colleagues• Finished product due by the end of the 2013-2014 school year

– Will be archived on project website: eriecanalwny.org

• Tangible Resources: – Larkin Reader– Project Website

• Faculty Resources– Dr. Lorrei DiCamillo (Monday and Wednesday) – Dr. Daniel Larkin (Thursday) – Carol Yost (Thursday) – Pierson Bell (all week)– E-learning specialists (Wednesday and Thursday) – Each other!!!!!!

• Saturday: brief presentation (5-10 min) on your ideas for integrating the Canal into your classroom