Theodor Geisel—a.k.a. Dr. Seuss—was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was the first of many children’s books that he wrote and illustrated. Geisel supposedly received 27 rejections before the book was published by Vanguard Press in 1937 thanks, as the story goes, to a chance run-in with and…
This is a guest post from Barbara Evans, a middle school language arts teacher at Holden Elementary in Chicago, Illinois. After working with TPS-Barat during the past year as part of the Chicago Public Schools Social Science Academy, I was excited to use primary sources in our literature studies. The primary source analysis tool is a great resource that I…
Labor lessons & activities Chicago Anarchists & the Haymarket Affair Chicago Anarchists on Trial: collection connections Chicago Meatpackers & the Unions Dust Bowl Songs & Photographs Farm Workers – America from the Great Depression to World War II: Color Photographs from the FSA and OWI, 1939-45 The Grapes of Wrath: Voices from the Great Depression Inside…
With summer reading programs getting into full swing, this seems the perfect time to kick off a new post category. Literature Links posts will provide primary sources and teaching strategies to help students better connect to and understand some great works of literature. Kate DiCamillo: Stories Connect Us Teaching with the Library January 14, 2014…
This is a guest post from George Mueller, a high school U.S. history and world studies teacher at Dunbar Vocational Academy in Chicago, Illinois. As part of the CPS Social Science Academy, we were tasked with developing and implementing a lesson using primary sources from the Library of Congress. The TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus has so…
Use this primary source set of women in baseball to have students examine cultural attitudes of American women from the late 1800s through the 1920s. You might start with having students complete a gallery walk with the images. After, you might have them analyze the song lyrics and read various newspaper articles (be sure to have them…
This is a guest post from Ruth Ferris, an elementary school librarian from Billings, Montana, and a grantee in the TPS Regional Grant Program. I originally learned about the TPS-Barat Primary Source Thinking Triangle through Martha Kohl of the Montana Historical Society. I loved it! I work with K-6 students and many of them struggle academically so I am always looking…
We know that primary sources engage students, helping them to personally relate to persons and events of the past and develop a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events. One way to enhance the connection and empathy is to have students analyze a primary source image, then create tableaux or frozen living pictures. The goal is…
Baseball: Across a Divided Society (primary source set) Baseball, Race and Ethnicity: Rounding the Bases Baseball, Race Relations and Jackie Robinson Black Diamond! Satchel Page and the Negro Baseball Leagues Past and Present: Using Baseball Statistics to Teach Math (student worksheet) Tinkers to Evers to Chance Collection Connections: Baseball Cards Collection Connections: Jackie Robinson Recreation Yesterday and…
LOC.gov contains numerous oral history and personal narrative resources. Check out the lists below! Teaching resources Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Oral Histories Learning from the Source: Chicago Meatpackers & the Unions Learning from the Source: Digital Stories of Our Heroes Learning from the Source: Media & Migrant Laborer Perspectives Primary Source Learning: September 11,…
U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War lasted more than a decade. Have students analyze political cartoons from the primary source sets below to consider different issues related to this war and how cartoonists’ perspectives of U.S. involvement evolved over time. If students are not practiced at analyzing political cartoons, use the accompanying resources to help…
We often think of cartoons as funny but, in addition to entertaining and amusing us, they can also enlighten, provoke or persuade us. Political or editorial cartoons, in particular, provide subjective viewpoints about current issues and events and the people involved in them. Cartoonists use a variety of techniques—symbolism, exaggeration, irony, analogy and labeling to…