Teachers on the Estuary and Wampanoag Circle of Life

Designed for Elementary Teachers-Grades 3-5
September 1, 2 and 3, 2020 at 9:00AM – 10:30AM (Virtual Series)
Need some ideas for your remote or hybrid classes this fall that will engage your students’ sense of place?  We’re offering a special multi-session webinar TOTE Remote workshop to explore the topics of adaptations, life cycles, and ecosystems of coastal creatures, through the lens of Cape Cod Wampanoag culture. We’ll broadcast one of the sessions live from the salt marsh at Waquoit Bay. For another session, Kitty Hendricks-Miller, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Indian Education Coordinator, will join us from the weekuw (Wampanoag dwelling) at Waquoit Bay Reserve Headquarters to expose participants to modern Wampanoag culture as well as insights into history and traditions. Teachers will be sent a list of easy to find/obtain materials in advance so they can use traditional methods to make and design items such as fishing nets and corn husk people as Kitty demonstrates them.

Course description: This multi session course will introduce elementary school teachers to flexible activities that can be used with their students during this period of uncertainty.  We will include both on-line and hands-on activities that students can do in classrooms and school yards, as well as their own backyards or homes. Teachers will implement the ideas from the professional development into their own classes and share their progress, questions, and lessons learned with other teachers as part of the fall sessions. Teachers who create and present a final presentation focusing on how they utilized the workshop offerings into their teaching will receive a $100 honorarium for their presentation.  In the process we’ll develop a community of practice with the small group of other teachers who will be going on this journey with us.

Course content and activities align with grade 3-5 Next Generation Science Standards and Massachusetts State Science Technology and Engineering, and Social Studies Standards. Other elementary level teachers are welcome to join us if they can adapt the materials for use with their students.

Sponsored by Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, Friends of the Waquoit Bay Reserve and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Indian Education Program.

Questions? Please contact Joan Muller- joan.muller@state.ma.us