Education prof's project benefits local teachers

Assistant Professor Jill Marshall of the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction provided a curricular change to the graduate course, Issues and Trends in Elementary Social Studies Education, which benefitted local social studies teachers.

In an attempt to facilitate school partnerships and provide local elementary teachers with social studies resources, Dr. Marshall assigned a “jackdaw kit” project. Jackdaw kits are collections of artifacts from a specific historical period, which are presented alongside related children’s literature aligned with state and national social studies standards. Jackdaws allow history to come to life through these collections of concrete sources.

SUNY Fredonia teacher candidates and practicing teachers worked in small groups and designed a jackdaw kit for local elementary social studies classrooms in Dunkirk School #5, Falconer, and Silver Creek. Each group of candidates were assigned a grade level, researched a social studies theme taught by a cooperating teacher at that grade level and gathered artifacts, primary sources, and children’s literature for the jackdaw.

Additionally, the groups compiled related book lists, explored community resources, developed activities, created integrated lesson plans and compiled a resource guide to go along with the kit. The kits are being distributed to the cooperating teachers during the last two classes of the fall semester. The teachers will be able to use the kits during the spring semester and are open to candidates coming in to observe or to teach lessons that the kit provided.

Dr. Marshall’s project was funded through a Faculty Fellowship Award from the Fredonia College Foundation.