Today in History–April 12–the Library of Congress features North Carolina, which voted for independence from Great Britain on this day in 1776. Referred to as the "Halifax Resolves", the "Tar Heel" state was the first to advocate for freedom from the British. Learn more by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the links below to access more prime primary sources. Interested in other cities and states? Find resources for Washington, D.C., Kiska Island & … [Read more...]
The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog provides an overview of the resources found in America's Library and some great teaching ideas for using the website with younger students or older English language learners. For more involved projects, click the links below to access two primary source projects using America's Library resources from TPS-Barat. Each project includes all student materials as well as a teacher project pack. Presidential Portraits George Washington and Abraham … [Read more...]
Today in History–November 21–the Library of Congress features North Carolina, which ratified the Constitution on this day in 1789, becoming the 12th state in the new United States. Find out more about the history and culture of the "Tar Heel" state by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the links below to access more prime primary sources. Interested in other cities and states? Find resources for Washington, D.C., Kiska Island & Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, San … [Read more...]
Looking for primary sources related to a particular time period in U.S. history? The Teaching with Library of Congress blog suggests using the American Memory Timeline, an online presentation that provides a comprehensive look through U.S. history using primary sources from the Library’s collections. For teaching ideas, read the whole blog post. Other helpful resources from the Library and the Barat TPS website are listed below. Primary documents in American history digital resource … [Read more...]
The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog gives some great tips on using the WPA Poster collection with students. One idea is to have students identify persuasion techniques. For a great resource on typical advertising persuasion techniques, check out the students materials section of the Print Advertising Across the Centuries project from the Barat TPS program. One teacher used this project as a template and created a lesson that looked at U.S. military recruitment posters. Intrigued? … [Read more...]
Understanding historical context is an important element when considering why a primary source was created. The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog outlines characteristics to look for when selecting primary sources that students will be able to place in historical context. For more help providing historical context, look in the Teacher's Guides in the primary source sets and the American Memory Collection Connections (please note that those collections marked with teaching resources are … [Read more...]
The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog has started to publish primary source starters–quick, easy-to-use activity ideas using primary sources from the Library’s collections. The first uses Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence to help students think critically about the process that produced the document. Get all the details by reading the Thomas Jefferson’s Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence post. … [Read more...]
Library of Congress Magazine March/April 2013 Features Queen of the Movies Actress, producer, entrepreneur and superstar: Mary Pickford influenced the direction of American cinema from its early days. A Photo Dialogue A unique online partnership has brought historical photos to a broad audience, helped the Library solve curatorial mysteries and sparked thoughtful discussion. Supporting Congress [...]
Curator description: Bernard Brussel-Smith studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the New School for Social Research in New York. During the 1940s and 1950s, Brussel-Smith established himself as America’s foremost wood engraver. In this scene from Hamlet, Polonius, chief minister of the evil King Claudius, gives advice to his [...]
Teaching with the Library of Congress
