Teachers agree that ease and fluency in writing come with frequent practice for a variety of purposes, whether making personal connections, analyzing information or constructing an answer to a document-based question. One way to incorporate more writing in the classroom is to create assignments using high-impact primary source images from the Library of Congress. Their real-world authenticity can rivet students’ attention, spark inquiry and draw them into a writing topic or task.
Today, we’ve collected posts from the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog discussing disasters, unexpected events in American history which had important ramifications, and how they can be approached in the classroom.
The Library of Congress recently launched an interactive online version with built-in sample questions to offer students guidance and to prompt further observation, reflective thinking, and questioning.
Summer often includes vacation with lots of time to catch up on popular novels and biographies and old favorites. On June 25, the Library of Congress launched a new exhibition, "Books That Shaped America," featuring 88 books by American authors. Which books have shaped you or your students?
Focusing on details in a set of visual images can reinforce the idea that photographs have a point of view. Studying and comparing various photographs of a subject can reveal a great deal about how each photographer viewed the subject. In the previous post,we asked you to post your answers to the question "Which of these photographs are of the same person?" This post will explore the answer.
Focusing on details in a set of visual images can reinforce the idea that photographs have a point of view. Studying and comparing various photographs of a subject can reveal a great deal about how each photographer viewed the subject. Study the set of images and, in the comments, post your answer to the question. We'll answer the question in the next post.
This guest post from Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Art, of the Prints and Photograph Division at the Library of Congress, looks at images related to the War of 1812.
More than 20 million digitized primary source items present almost limitless opportunities for both exciting discovery and serious frustration. Here is the first in a short series on finding primary sources online from the Library of Congress.
