Journeyman Builder

A Journeyman Builder studies and teaches model inquiry units to learn about how instructional design can support student development of content knowledge, disciplinary literacy, and Common Core literacy skills. To earn the Journeyman Builder badge, a teacher must:

  • Select and Study a Who Built America inquiry unit and pass a multiple choice quiz with a score of 7 out of 10 or higher. By passing this quiz, the teacher demonstrates a thorough understanding of its historical content and pedagogical approaches. 
  • Prepare to teach the inquiry unit by revising lessons and materials to meet students’ needs; notify a WBA History Educator about when you expect to teach the unit.
  • Teach the inquiry unit to at least one class.
  • Reflect on the experience of teaching the unit with a WBA History Educator; select two examples of student work and annotate them to identify student struggles and strengths.
  • Revise lessons and materials for future use based on reflection and analysis of student work and feedback from a WBA History Educator.

Why? Teaching model units, then reflecting on the resulting classroom experience and student work with expert mentors, gives teachers the guidance and practice necessary to design their own history curriculum that incorporates rich content, historical thinking skills, and literacy supports. Connecting student outcomes to lesson design revisions allows teachers to refine and improve lessons over time.