October 2003

Cortland County Teachers Develop Tioughnioga River Curriculum

A year after Cortland received a State Education grant to create a Tioughnioga curriculum, a team of teachers from the Cortland, Virgil, Homer, McGraw and Marathon school districts, as well as SUNY Cortland, have completed the development of a multidisciplinary teaching program to help young people learn more about the historic, cultural and environmental resources of the Tioughnioga River. The curriculum is available on the OCM BOCES web site, powered by Blackboard, at: www.welol.cnyric.org.

The New York State Department of Education announced in September 2002 that the Cortland-Homer Teacher Center was awarded a $7,519 grant for educational uses of local government records. The goal of the grant was to provide an opportunity for a core group of interested teachers to learn about local archival records that pertain to the Tioughnioga River. The project is part of a major effort to revitalize the Tioughnioga River corridor which shaped the pattern of development of communities in the County.

"This was a real partnership effort to educate the community about the historical, cultural and

environmental importance of the River," according to Linda Hartsock, director of the Cortland County BDC which is spearheading the Tioughnioga project. "The finished student projects, and the curricula developed by the teachers, are very impressive."

"This program brought together a community of people who have a real interest in the future success of the River Trail together with our schools," said Bonnie Calzolaio, Director of the Cortland-Homer Teacher Center. "This partnership allowed local students to make a real investment in the progress of the River Trail as it evolves."

Teachers from area school districts were recruited to participate in a training program led by area historians, county and municipal clerks, local college faculty and members of The Tioughnioga River Waterfront Development Commission. The Cortland-Homer Teacher Center recruited teachers to an intensive training program which included the local use of historic records and how they fit into the New York State Learning Standards. The teachers worked in small groups to learn about public records that exist relating to the River. They then developed teaching modules about the River with their own classes. The outcome of the project was digitally documented and included video tapes, a web site that includes all the student projects, brochures and other materials. They presented the final results of their projects on October 15, 2003.

Among the projects were Power Point presentations by Virgil Elementary 5th and 6th graders and McGraw 6th grade students, brochures by Cortland high school students, a pictorial history by Marathon students and a highly creative interdisciplinary module by Homer Jr. High School students.

As an example, the Homer Jr. High School interdisciplinary team included teachers from science, language arts, art, social studies, math and music. Collectively, they designed a curriculum that included:

• The investigation of the Tioughnioga watershed and its role as the headwaters of the Susquehanna and Chesapeake Bay system
• A study of factors that cause periodic flooding along the River and a graphing of water levels along the River over the past 100 years
• A study of historical land uses related to the River
• A survey of recreation in the past and present related to the River
• The study of geographic areas along the River, including their place in myths, stories, legends, poetry and lore of the area
• A synthesis of existing writings and prose regarding the River
• Personal writing and poetry composed while viewing the River
• The development of essays answering the question, "Why do communities spring up around rivers?"
• An art survey of works by early inhabitants and wayfarers through the Tioughnioga region
• The creation of masks to illustrate characters from Native American stories related to the area
• A survey of historical photographs and documents related to the River and its early communities
• A survey of historical songs dedicated to rivers and the creation of a modern song about the Tioughnioga River
• A viewing and critique of the documentary film, "The Flood of '35"
• A "real-life" lesson in fly-fishing, by one of the founders of the sport, Leon Chandler
• A photographic survey of the river, based on the themes, "Creation, Inspiration, Devastation, Recreation and Transportation"
• The creation of a chorus of animal sounds found along the River
• The production of a videotape
• Oral presentations and the creation of power point presentations to enhance public speaking skills

The URL for the Tioughnioga River classroom projects is: http://welol.cnyric.org/bin/common/course.pl?frame=top&course_id=_365_1