PR-LEAPS university of Puerto Rico at Humacao

Leveraging Educators' Access to Primary Sources: Integrating Library of Congress's Online Collections for the Development of ESL Competencies and Researching Skills in Puerto Rico's Secondary Skills

About UPRH

https://www.uprh.edu/

The University of Puerto Rico at Humacao (UPRH), founded in 1962, is an undergraduate public institution classified as Bachelor/Diverse: Baccalaureate Colleges-Diverse Fields by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. UPRH is one of eleven units that make up the state system of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and has been accredited since 1965, with an operating license from the Puerto Rico Council of Education (Renewed in 2017). It is located in the eastern region of the Island, 30 miles southeast of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Eighty-eight percent of the total enrollment comes from 16 adjacent municipalities surrounding the town of Humacao. However, the service area consists of the 78 municipalities on the Island. UPRH is the only campus of the UPR System with a presence in the eastern region of Puerto Rico, positioning it as a vital component of the economic and social development of this geographical region.

UPRH offers 24 academic programs, of which 20 lead to baccalaureate degrees and 4 to associate degrees. Among the 24 academic programs, six are unique to Puerto Rico: Wildlife Management, Coastal Marine Biology, Physics Applied to Electronics, Computational Mathematics, Social Sciences with Social Action Research, and Studies in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Furthermore, three programs are unique within the UPR system: International Business, Industrial Chemistry, and Occupational Therapy. Lastly, the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies (DECEP) offers articulated programs within the university system, short courses, degree-credit programs, and professional certifications.

About PR- LEAPs

Leveraging Educators’ Access to Primary Sources: Integrating the Library of Congress Online Collections for the Development of ESL Competencies and Researching Skills in PR's Secondary Schools is funded by a grant from The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Program. The content created and featured in partnership with the TPS Program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

The project, Leveraging Educators' Access to Primary Sources (LEAPS): Integrating Library of Congress's Online Collections to Develop ESL Competencies and Researching Skills in Puerto Rico's (PR) Secondary Schools consists of providing 72 hours of professional development to 20 English and history secondary school teachers from the private and public schools in the Humacao region on the use of primary sources from the Library of Congress as a means to develop students' ESL competencies and researching skills. Through professional workshops in the use of primary sources, each participant will have the opportunity to "LEAP" through the Library of Congress's online collections to create educational materials and tools for developing English language learner's reading, writing, speaking, listening, and researching skills. Using a Collaborative Learning approach to gain access to the Library of Congress's online primary sources, participants will team-up to create lessons, pedagogical activities, and tools to use in their classroom, share achievements as the result of implementing content knowledge and skills learned through PR-LEAPS , and distribute materials on PR-LEAPS open resource webpage for English and history educators to use in their classrooms.

Project Goals