Unlike some of the other areas addressed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, schools are something familiar to all students, so even the very young can deepen their understanding of the conditions that led to the legislation.
Primary sources from the Library of Congress are powerful tools for engaging students and fostering natural curiosity. You can help students learn to harness that curiosity in ways that will focus and direct research.
The Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute matched my experience with the Writing Project, and refined and drew focus to everything I have learned as a teacher.
Do you have students who love winter sports? The upcoming winter Olympics will provide lots of opportunities to watch intense competition and celebrate the glorious triumphs of the athletes. Why not engage students’ energy and interest with Library of Congress primary source items related to both historical winter Olympic teams and winter sports?
As the celebration of Washington's birthday draws near, primary sources from the Library of Congress can support explorations of the role of the French in United States victory, along with reactions to their assistance by government and military leaders, by the American people--and by Washington himself.
“The context for each imaginary contraption becomes fodder for understanding ideas about space and flight.” We’ve added some ideas at the end for ways to use these primary sources to deepen student understanding of the ways in which people have imagined space and flight.
This summer, attending the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute took me back to the “awe” of history. Seeing the diary entry from the night President Lincoln was shot, and being able to see the emotion in the writing…You don’t get that in a transcript or in a modified document.
The role of the Ambassador is to raise “national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people.” DiCamillo, the fourth to hold this position, has chosen “Stories Connect Us” as her theme, saying “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see each other.”