The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) strike a balance between the reading of literature and informational texts and promote the use of a wide range of text types: “Through reading a diverse array of classic and contemporary literature as well as challenging informational texts in a range of subjects, students are expected to build knowledge, gain…
When completing a research project you will want to include primary sources. Using primary sources is particularly important when creating a history project and required for National History Day (NHD) projects. To get a better understanding of different types of sources, review the post Selecting Primary Sources: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary? Think of primary sources as raw, unfiltered…
When conducting research, you will likely use three types of sources: primary, secondary, and tertiary. While exact definitions may vary by discipline or institution, we hope this post will help you sort out the main distinctions between these types of sources and when to use each in the research process for National History Day (NHD) and other…
Today in History–November 19–the Library of Congress features the Gettysburg Address, delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on this date in 1863. Edward Everett, a well-known orator, delivered a two-hour speech. President Abraham Lincoln’s speech lasted only a few minutes. As the Library notes, “In spite of Lincoln’s disclaimer that ‘the…
This is a guest post from Glenn Jensen, a national board certified U.S. and world history teacher at Kennedy High School in Chicago, Illinois. Glenn has developed an exercise that is a great way to begin analyzing primary source texts because it has students focus on what they know, what they can extrapolate from that knowledge,…
Below you will find numerous primary source activity ideas to use in conjunction with the novel My Daniel by Pam Conrad. Let us know which ones work for you. Publisher overview “All I want to find is one dinosaur,” Daniel was saying. “And I’ll find it right here. Like I do all my fossils.” Wandering…
The sensory exploration graphic organizer is a great way to introduce students, especially younger ones, to primary source analysis. It also helps with vocabulary development. Encourage students to write words in each column for each sense or allow them to draw pictures. After, you may have students create a poem of their choice using the words they brainstormed;…
Primary source sets with teaching guides Immigration Challenges for New Americans Mexican American Migrations and Communities Primary Source Learning: Immigration Primary Source Set Puerto Rican Identity Primary source lesson plans The American West: Images of Its People 6-8 Child Immigrant Experiences of Early 1900s and Today 3-5 Creating a Primary Source Archive: All History Is…
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…
Labor lessons & activities Timelines & primary source analysis activities Teaching with the Library blog posts Child labor lesson plans Child Labor: Library of Congress blog posts Primary source collections
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…