Teaching the Declaration of Independence at 250: Fellows Program
The Fortifying Liberty's Legacy: Cultivating Informed Citizens through History and Innovation grant program is hosted by the UCI Teacher Academy in partnership with the UCI History Project, UCI Department of History, the UCI Digital Learning Lab, The History & Civics Project at the University of California at Santa Cruz, the National Writing Project, and the School of Law Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality.
When: June 22 - June 25, 2026 (9:30am - 2:30pm) and academic year follow-up
Where: UCI Campus (parking provided)
Who Should Apply: 8th grade US history teachers, 11th grade US history teachers, 12th grade Government/Civics teachers
Why: To work collectively to increase our knowledge of the Declaration of Independence to better understand its relevance for today, and to support students' engagement with the ideas and impacts of the Declaration through critical literacy skills necessary for civic engagement.
Benefits of this educator collective:
- 50 hours of professional development
- Increase content knowledge of American history and government
- Engage in disciplinary literacy strategies to support students’ learning
- Opportunities to learn about how to use AI to support teaching and learning in history-social science
Commitments of being part of this educator collective:
- Participate in summer and academic year program
- Engage in pre and post survey for the program
- Implement lessons and share (anonymized) student work