Although image analysis activities do not generally require reading (apart from reading bits of text found in an image), the skills required to extract information from visual content are similar to those required to extract information from text. Practicing these skills using primary source images provides students with a great scaffolded learning opportunity. The table below…
History textbooks give overviews of people and events of the past. Primary sources provide varied perspectives, adding details, nuance and, often, a sense of immediacy that make history come alive. Oral histories and personal narratives allow us to step into someone else’s shoes for a moment and make personal connections to history. Students who completed…
Image sequencing activities help students better understand written or spoken texts. Image sequencing requires groups of students to review an image set and match individual images with designated lines of text, discussing and justifying their choices. These activities give students great practice in the skills emphasized by the Common Core State Standards, particularly the CCSS standards…
In celebration of Native American Heritage month, the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog provides some great suggestions for teaching students to view the experiences and contributions of Native Americans from various perspectives. Comparing sources from multiple perspectives provides students with practice in critical thinking and evaluating evidence and arguments. Links to more Native American…
The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog provides several ideas for inspiring close observation and engaging students with primary sources, including having students make personal connections to an item, look for clues to time period and authorship, look for details that provide evidence of their thinking, and ask purposeful questions. Close observation of images is great practice…
When teaching a topic with primary sources, it is important to provide multiple sources that represent a variety of points of views and perspectives. Doing so provides students with practice in critical thinking and evaluating evidence and arguments, skills emphasized by the Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS), particularly CCSS anchor reading standards 4, 6,…