When I've asked my students, “Would anyone be interested in a trip on a ferry?” they've all cheered with excitement. But I wonder how many of us would be brave enough to take a night voyage through an ice-clogged river on a boat battered by snow and high winds. Primary sources from the Library of Congress can let students explore this momentous--and shivery--event.
Information literacy standards require students to think about the creator’s purpose and determine the meaning of symbols. The Thomas Jefferson Building: Secret Messages is an online activity that helps students do both.
For many of us Thanksgiving Day is an opportunity to share a wonderful meal with family and friends, to give thanks for all of the good things that have taken place and to watch or play football.
I talked the two sixth grade social studies teachers into letting me present the Waldseemüller Map: World 1507 and the Primary Source Analysis tool as part of their beginning of the year mapping unit.
Helping students explore popular ideas about Thanksgiving is about as traditional as roast turkey and all the trimmings. Primary sources from the Library can help your students compare today’s images with those from the past.
As part of the continuing commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, the Library of Congress just opened an exhibition The Civil War in America, displaying more than 200 items from the Library’s unmatched collections. Students may look at maps, letters, diaries, or photographs to learn about the experiences of those who fought in the war and those who were left behind to tend the homestead. While these sources are excellent, make sure to include music as a way to help students learn about life during the Civil War.
Photographs offer a snapshot of a particular time and place, telling a careful viewer as much about the photographer as about the subjects of the pictures. That’s often particularly true when the photographer isn’t a member of the group being photographed. One example from the Library of Congress’s collections is Edward S. Curtis, who dedicated most of his career to photographing Native American cultures and traditions to publish in a multi-volume book titled The North American Indian.
Are you going to either the National Council of Social Studies Conference November 16-18 in Seattle or to the National Council for Teachers of English Conference November in Las Vegas? The Library of Congress Educational Outreach Team will be exhibiting and presenting at both conferences.
