This is a guest post from Alissa Oginsky, a museum educator and 6th-grade history teacher at Holmes Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia. Teachers are always on the hunt for new and exciting ways for students to exercise their critical and creative thinking skills. The journey, in fact, never seems to stop! Like many history teachers…
Primary Source sets with teacher guides Guided primary source analysis activities Lesson plans Collection Connections: primary source activity ideas Timely Connections: ideas for linking past to present Teaching with the Library: Primary Sources & Ideas for Educators More teaching resources Primary Source Spotlight: Black American History & Heritage
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. More resources are listed below. U.S. History by…
In a Teaching with the Library of Congress blog post, Deborah Thomas, program manager for the National Digital Newspaper Program at the Library of Congress, discusses Helping Students Read Between the Lines: Identifying Bias and Attitude in Newspapers for the Presidential Election of 1912. With three major candidates, rather than the traditional two, the 1912…
Guided primary source analysis activities Does Your Vote for President Count? electoral college to 1912 Footrace, Pennsylvania Avenue 1844 Great presidential puzzle 1880 & 2016 The whole story (election 1888) in a nutshell! Taft About to Eclipse Bryan 1908 Goal! 1908 & 1912 Biggest Business in the World 1920 Massachusetts Did It 1920 Election Day contemporary More…
Civil War photograph lessons & activities Devil in the Details: Examining Visual Material from the Civil War The Mathew Brady Bunch New Technologies and New Uses Using Sources: Civil War Photography Technology & Tricks What Do You See? Learning from the Source lesson plans Gettysburg Address Game On Civil War Prison Experiences Geography & the Civil…
Looking for a way to integrate more poetry into your curriculum during national poetry month in April? Take a look at the project of U.S. Poet LaureateJuan Felipe Herrera. La Casa de Colores, specifically La Familia, is a crowdsourced epic poem project that began in September 15, 2015 and will span the length of Herrera’s Laureateship. The current segment is…
Enduring understanding Time, place, and culture influence our perspectives on people and issues. Essential question How have perceptions of women in America and their roles in society evolved over time? Lesson prep Review and read all primary sources. Prepare primary sources for online or paper analysis. Have packs of sticky notes (three different colors) available….
Learning from the Source: lessons Abraham Lincoln & Me Primary Source Activity Book The Art of Mourning (Lincoln) Monumental Men Mourning Lincoln & the Art of Tribute Presidential Portraits Indian Territory Resettlement Guided primary source analysis activities A Plan of My Farm (Washington) Jefferson’s Pasta Machine Abolition frowned down (Quincy Adams) Rats Leaving a Falling House (Van…
Lesson plans & activities Collection Connections: Arts & Humanities, Critical Thinking & U.S. History teaching ideas Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 Guided primary source analysis activities Afro-American Monument Slave market of America Synopsis of the…
This activity is adapted from lessons in the Barat Education Foundation Our American Voice® program. This civics program for 4-8 graders features a spiral curriculum and emphasizes critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills as students learn the fundamentals of American democracy and work to create positive change in their communities. Overview Using Cesar Chavez as an…
This is a guest post from veteran educator Carrie Veatch, who has a special interest in inquiry learning and primary sources and is a member of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Mentor Advisory Group. While studying the women’s suffrage movement I decided to mix Library of Congress primary sources with pop culture…