This is a guest post from Kerry Gallagher, a Technology Integration Specialist at St. John’s Prep, a 1:1 iPad school serving grades 6-12, and former middle and high school history teacher. Most history educators strive to make the past relevant to the present lives of their students. Deep image analysis, as a part of the…
This is a guest post from Kerry Gallagher, a Technology Integration Specialist at St. John’s Prep, a 1:1 iPad school serving grades 6-12, and former middle and high school history teacher. We learn about the lives of our friends partly through the images they share with us on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and…
Today in History–September 05–the Library of Congress features the first Labor Day, celebrated on this date in 1882. Organized by New York’s Central Labor Union, a representative group made up of from many local unions, the celebration featured a parade, picnic, concert, and speeches. This event inspired others around the country. In 1887 Oregon became the first state to declare Labor…
Today in History–April 27–the Library of Congress features the World Transportation Commission (WTC). On this date in 1895, Harper’s Weekly carried a story on theWTC’s visit to Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. The WTC was organized by a railroad publicist to find out more about international railroads and other foreign transportation systems. Find out more by visiting…
Have you ever wanted to use a primary source document with students but hesitated because you felt the struggle to comprehend the text would be the focus of the task rather than text analysis? In a TweetChat about teaching with primary sources, middle school social studies teacher Chris Heffernan (@cheffernan75) articulated the dilemma, “This has been a…
If your students need help with asking questions when analyzing primary sources, bring out the question cubes. You can make them from paper or cleaned-out school milk cartons. Each student or student group should get two cubes (see image directly above and below) and roll both to help get those questions flowing. You can also…
Our current online workshop is going so well, we decided to do it again in February. TPS-Barat will offer free educator training on teaching with primary sources from the Library of Congress digital collections. This online professional development training will cover finding and accessing Library resources as well as adapting and implementing primary source activities. The virtual workshop will feature independent work…
Happy New Year! In January, TPS-Barat will offer free teacher training on teaching with primary sources from the Library of Congress digital collections. This online professional development training will cover finding and accessing Library resources as well as creating and implementing primary source activities. The online workshop will feature independent work at school/home and three one-hour synchronous sessions held Tuesdays January 13,…
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…
Primary sources Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers, 1942 to 1946 Dorothea Lange Japanese American photos Veteran’s oral histories mentioning Japanese-American internment Congressional documents related to Japanese-American internment Behind Barbed Wire story map iBook: History of Portland’s Japantown Teaching resources “Suffering Under a Great Injustice”: Ansel Adams’s Photographs of…
Today in History–September 10–the Library of Congress features Captain John Smith, who assumed the presidency of the Jamestown governing council on this date in 1608. Smith helped the colony to survive and thrive during its early years by fortifying the settlement, exploring and documenting the Chesapeake region, and establishing relations with area Native Americans. Learn more about this explorer, writer, and cartographer by visiting…
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;…