Resources & Curriculum

Below is just a small sampling of the exciting curricular resources that we have come across. Be sure to check out our Web Links page for other ideas. Contact us if you have any suggestions to add to the list. You may also find that our planning tools are a helpful starting point.

Place-based Landscape Analysis and Community Education (PLACE) is a unique community education program .Their 'landscape analysis' method can be used by adults or students at multiple age levels. The site is useful for people from any region.
Valley Quest is an award-winning, place-based education program that uses treasure
hunts to celebrate community, natural history, cultural sites, stories and special places.
Community Works offers trainings and support to assist educators in integrating Community-Based Education and Service-Learning.
The Adirondack Curriculum Project offers educators workshops and support for teachers to develop curriculum based on the heritage and ecology of the Adirondacks.
The Hoosier Environmental Council's "Our Place" program a K-12 Place-Based Education Project, combining environmental education with civic engagement.
The Rural School and Community Trust is a national nonprofit organization addressing the crucial relationship between good schools and thriving communities. To enhance and promote place-based learning, the Rural Trust created the Place-Based Learning Portfolio, a self-evaluation system in which school and community groups gather evidence of their place-based learning efforts, tell the story of their work while drawing on that evidence, and then analyze and reflect on their progress toward their goals. Several good examples of place-based education activities are documented at this site.
Lights, Camera ...Leadership! is a high school credit-bearing curriculum through which students develop leadership and academic skills by making and premiering a community video of some important issue in their community.
Project Learning Tree (PLT) has developed Places We Live, an interdisciplinary, supplemental curriculum designed for formal and non-formal educators working with students.
The Flow of History is a non-profit network of educators, historians, and others interested in the history of the Connecticut River Valley and the relevance of history to our lives today.
Alaska Native Knowledge Network ANKN is a resource for compiling and exchanging information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing. Their curriculum guides are inspiring for educators throughout the country.
Tell Us How It Was: Stories of Rural Elders Preserved by Rural Youth: This valuable collection of oral histories assembled by students in rural communities across the country seeks to both celebrate this outstanding work and also encourage teachers and students to design oral history projects of their own.
Journey North is a great starting point for learning about the seasonal rhythms in your region. The program engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America.
We the People: Project Citizen is a curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government.
Audio - and even radio - provides an exciting medium for student projects. With relatively inexpensive equipment, an idea for a story, and a little bit of training, students can produce oral histories, documentaries, commentaries, and other stories pertaining to their communities and their lives. Check out Youth Radio and PRX to to listen to innovative and evocative stories produced by youth. National Public Radio has published a Teen Reporter Handbook, written by Joe Richman of Radio Diaries, Inc. This informative handbook, complete with a CD, offers excellent tips on how to conduct interviews, what you need for gear, and how to create interesting audio stories.

Do you have a favorite guide or resource that would be helpful for others? Please let us know!