About

The “words that made America” are found in the writings, speeches, poetry and diaries of both extraordinary and ordinary people as they struggled to define and shape a nation living up to the potential embodied in its core principles of freedom, equality and democracy.  We believe that knowledge and understanding of these words give students a better sense of their nation’s values and priorities, the problems we face, and how we can address those problems. Study of these sources and exploration of what they reveal about the country we live in lie at the core of the WTMA3 program. Students who develop a sound understanding of the evolution of the United States and learn the process of historical analysis are better prepared for active civic involvement in contemporary society.

Words That Made America 3 (WTMA3) is a professional development program for U.S. history teachers in Hayward, San Leandro and San Lorenzo. It is funded by a federal ‘Teaching American History’ grant. The focus of the program is on developing knowledge and understanding of U.S. history, and the ability to build that content knowledge into classroom practice. The program has been working with elementary, middle and high school teachers in eight Alameda County school districts since 2004.

Many activities of WTMA3 are open to all teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools in Alameda County. They are set up so that teachers can attend individual sessions or, ideally, entire series that comprise a coherent whole. The exception is the Lesson Study Design Team (LSDT) program, which is limited to those willing to make a strong commitment of time and work— in return for which they will receive correspondingly rich rewards in terms of learning, professional and leadership development, stipends, and classroom resources.

We hold the following truths to be self-evident:

History teachers can benefit greatly from developing their content knowledge and critical historical analysis skill. This applies to both teachers with advanced degrees in history, who thirst for cutting-edge research and for the opportunity to develop their capacity as mentors, and to teachers with little academic background, who strive to develop a basic sense of historical narrative and of the key themes and ideas at the core of the field.

A strong background in history and historiography is necessary but not sufficient to achieving the goal of improving the quality of history teachers’ classroom instruction. Equally important are expertise in curriculum design and development, along with pedagogical knowledge. When these skills are well-developed and blended together by an excellent teacher, what emerges is a clear understanding of how particular topics are best organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of the learners.

There is a huge need to address the specific needs of English language learners and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. For students whose performance often lags behind that of other students, the study of history can be a highly engaging and motivating path to advanced content literacy.

Building the professional community within which teachers work and interact is an essential part of the process of improving the quality of instruction in those teachers’ classrooms.

Project Partners

  • Alameda County Office of Education
  • Hayward, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo Unified School Districts
  • California State University, East Bay
  • The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University
  • Dr. Bob Bain (University of Michigan)
  • Regional Archives for the National Archives and Records Administration’s Pacific Region—San Francisco (NARA)
  • U.C. Berkeley History-Social Science Project
The “words that made America” are found in the writings, speeches, poetry and diaries of both extraordinary and ordinary people as they struggled to define and shape a nation living up to the potential embodied in its core principles of freedom, equality and democracy.  We believe that knowledge and understanding of these words give students a better sense of their nation’s values and priorities, the problems we face, and how we can address those problems. Students who develop a sound understanding of the evolution of the United States and learn the process of historical analysis are better prepared for active civic involvement in contemporary society.