TOUCHSTONES PRODUCTS

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One of the most pressing problems faced by teachers who are attempting to implement the Paideia Seminar in their classrooms is the ongoing search for powerful seminar texts. In response to this problem, we are pleased to announce that materials from the Touchstones Discussion Project, Inc. are now available through the Center.

The Touchstones Discussion Project, founded by three professors at St. John's College in Annapolis, MD, is a prime source of curriculum materials designed specifically for use in student-centered discussions and seminars. The texts are carefully excerpted and edited to enable open-ended exploration and encourage inquiry. They address such topics as justice, equality, relationships with others, power, democracy, and truth. Authors include Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Bacon, Elizabeth Cady-Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Nicomachus, Olaudah Equiano, Blaise Pascal, Martin Heidegger, Immanuel Kant, Henri Poincaré, and Emilie du Chatelet, to name just a few. More information at www.touchstones.org

Please download the order form to order single copies or entire classroom sets of Touchstones publications directly from the National Paideia Center. We look forward to working with you and your teachers to integrate these quality materials into your seminar program.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS

Touchpebbles (Volumes A and B) introduces younger students to the fundamental concepts of group discussion through fables, poems, art, and literature. Teacher’s Guides include complete lesson plans, background information, opening questions, small-group activities, and reproducible worksheets accompany both volumes. Favorite Touchpebbles selections include excerpts from Aesop’s The Lion and the Mouse, Greek folktale Pandora’s Box, Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, and many others.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS

Touchstones (Volumes A, B and C) helps middle school students better listen, reason, and collaborate while fostering mutual respect and responsibility. Each volume includes approximately 30 short readings – (about 500 words each) mostly from important works of literature, history, and philosophy – along with inspiring works of art. Examples include Plato’s Republic, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and several Rembrandt portraits, among other selections. The newly updated Teacher’s Guides feature individual and small-group activities, reproducible worksheets, discussion text summaries, discussion tips and strategies, and benchmarks and evaluations with which to gauges students’ progress.

Where’d They Get That Idea? is a text series designed for middle schoolers that focuses on issues and ideas in math and science. It features short readings (about 400 words each) from such known scientists and mathematicians as Newton, Pascal, Euclid, and Einstein. The accompanying Teacher’s Guide is ideal for both mathematics and science teachers and includes lesson plans for individual work, small-group work, and largegroup discussions. Other features include opening questions, background information, worksheets, and journal assignments.

HIGH SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS

Touchstones (Volumes I, II III and IV) for high school students contains about 50 readings (about 300-500 words each) from important works in literature and history, including selections by Homer, St. Augustine, John Locke, Francis Bacon, Euclid, Aristotle, and Charles Darwin. The discussions fit nicely into most high school English or social studies courses.

Readings in Social Studies includes 87 excerpts from primary source documents, specially selected for social studies classrooms. The readings, ranging in length from approximately 500 to 1000 words each, are divided into the categories of Ancient history, World cultures, Civics, U.S. history, and Humanities.

Courage to Care, Strength to Serve gives a crucial learning link between the classroom and the community service experience. Each of the more than 50 reflections allows participants to explore the what, the why, and the how of volunteer service activities. They will begin to see their experiences through the eyes of the writers such as Florence Nightingale, Fredrick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, and many others.

Investigating Math presents 20 selections from groundbreaking writings in mathematics, including those from Euclid, Galileo, Hilbert, Boole, and Einstein. Each unit includes commentary, a guide for reading, individual and class activities, and writing exercises to help students deepen their thinking about mathematics.

Mapping the Future is structured around the four stages (group formation, group awareness, listening, and shared leadership) that characterize the development of a discussion group. The short excerpts used in the program are from some of the great works of western and eastern philosophy, literature, and American and world history.