AMAZING MISSIONS -Artifacts & Fiction
Built for Oregon Public Broadcasting (http://www.opb.org) and the Annenberg Foundation (http://www.learner.org), Artifacts & Fiction is a multi-media professional development workshop series for teachers. The workshop includes eight hour-long video sessions, printed session guides and an extensive interactive Web site.
Designed for pre-service and in-service teachers, the Web site helps teachers approach literature in its cultural context more effectively by deepening their understanding of the methodology of American Studies.
Artifacts & Fiction builds upon the prestigious American Passages Web site. (click here to read about American Passages) The American Passages searchable archive is used extensively in the content of the Web site. Amazing also built two interactives that draw dynamic content from American Passages for use on Artifacts & Fiction. The Pair Finder helps teachers use cultural artifacts to teach literature by allowing teachers to delve in and make connections between literature movements and the relevant artifacts. The Discipline Tutorials are multi-media slideshows that deepen understanding of the featured disciplines through close readings of artifacts. Teachers can copy the Discipline Tutorials to their Slideshow accounts on American Passages for download, editing, or use in their classrooms.
Ultimately Artifacts & Fiction helps teachers learn how to teach their students better.
All materials on the web site are cleared and available for teachers to use in their own classrooms free of charge for 10 years from initial publication.
