Fourth grade teachers will study the Missouri history with acclaimed Missouri history expert, Dr. Jeffrey Gall .  Teachers will explore events in Missouri history and its impact on the story of America.  Working with Dr. Gall, teachers will study at the Missouri State Archives focusing on Freedom Suits and Antebellum Missouri, Missouri's early slave laws, Civil War documents, and other primary sources.  The Missouri History experience will include work at the Truman Presidential Library, the National Frontier Museum, the Jesse James historic site, the Pony Express Museum, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and The Battle of Pilot Knob historic site.  A two-day event at the Lincoln Library and Museum will provide an opportunity for teachers to conduct an in-depth study of Missouri's role in the Civil War.

Throughout the school year teachers will participate in book studies and incorporate the concepts into their classrooms.  Teachers will share their expertise in a culminating social studies mini-conference.