The Story of the Universe in the Classroom:
A Teacher Professional Development Workshop on Standard 5.9-Astronomy & Space (middle school)

Saturday, September 30
Register for the morning or the full day.
Cost: $45 for morning session, 9:30 am-12:30 pm.
$25 for afternoon session, 1:30-4:30 pm.
$65 for the full day; bring a bag lunch.

NJ professional development hours: 3 for each half-day session.

Learn how to teach your students about space and astronomy through storytelling, discussions, and activities. Author Jennifer Morgan will provide lesson plans that include dramatic storytelling from the first book in her Universe Story Trilogy, Born with a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story, which won the Learning Magazine Teachers’ Choice Award in 2003. From the big bang through formation of the solar system, this workshop will demonstrate how to teach the unfolding of the Universe in a way that is accessible for all learning styles, captivating students with the mystery and grandeur of the Universe story. The morning session focuses on lessons plans. In the afternoon, teachers will participate in Genesis Farm’s summer solstice celebration and then explore how these activities might support learning in the classroom.

Led by Jennifer Morgan, whose Universe Story trilogy for children has been described by physics Nobel Laureate Dr. Leon Lederman as "an imaginative autobiography of the Universe which teaches science while illuminating the transcendent wonders of nature for people of all ages." In addition to Dr. Lederman, her books have been endorsed by Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson, director, Rose Center, American Museum of Natural History; Dr. Jane Goodall, (primatologist); Dr. Alan Mann (Anthropology Professor, Princeton University); Thomas Berry (cultural historian); and Judi Bauerlein (former president, American Montessori Society). Jennifer has a degree in theology and has studied cosmology, biology, and anthropology at Princeton University. She has given numerous school presentations, teacher trainings, and conference workshops over the past ten years. Visit her website at www.UniverseStories.com.