Top of page

Archive: 2012 (107 Posts)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Presidential Elections: Newspapers and Complex Text

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Newspapers offer rich examples of complex text, and they often have features to help readers understand and put it into context. Chronicling America offers digitized historical newspaper pages from 1836-1922, including a time-saving list of Recommended Topics. In this election season, I was drawn to the pages about presidential elections. Here are a few particulars that caught my attention, with teaching ideas that came to mind.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Analyzing Photographs: Child Labor from a Child’s Perspective

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

How do 21st century children respond to photographs of child labor? Barbara Natanson, who works in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress, recently wrote a blog post about what her children saw in selected photographs that Lewis Hine took for the National Child Labor Committee. Replicating what Barbara did would be an easy way to introduce students to learning with primary sources.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

The Path to the Presidency: Political Speeches

Posted by: Danna Bell

On Tuesday, November 6, voters in the United States will go to the polls to elect a president, members of Congress and other state and local political leaders. As we move closer and closer to Election Day, this blog will be providing suggestions for ways to use primary sources from the Library of Congress to help students learn about the election process and past elections.