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…
According to this ad, how could you get your free trip to Washington D.C.? How would you get to the U.S. capital from your home town today? How far is it? How much would it cost? What can you still see now that you could see then? What places would be on your list of…
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…
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…
Check out a larger view of this map. Is this the view you would see from the northern or the southern hemisphere? How do you know? What were or will be the dates of the moon phases for April of this year? If you can, print out this map and follow the directions in the bottom, left…
Review the complete document: “Statistical atlas of the United States, based upon the results of the eleventh census” H/T to educator extraordinaire, Cheryl Davis, aka @digitalteacher Which state had the biggest population growth according to this chart? Which region (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest) had the biggest population gains during these 100 years? What other trend(s) can you…
The Library of Congress has custody of the largest and most comprehensive cartographic collection in the world and there are so many places you can visit with the Library of Congress’ fabulous digitized map collections. Take a look at the wide variety of maps you can explore in incredible detail and discover engaging primary source…
Which states/territories were not given nicknames? How many states are represented on this? Are there any U.S. states not found on this map? How much would it have cost for you to buy this map in 1884? Why is there an image of one or more pigs on every state? Use these state primary source collections to find out more about one…
Your assignment is to prepare to write an article to accompany the image you were given. Take time to carefully study the image details. Then brainstorm a list of questions you would need answered in order to write the article about this image. Be deliberate and creative about the point of view from which you…