Can you imagine a photograph made of metal? A picture book made with egg whites? A wood-and-glass device that lets you see 3-D images? In the 1850s and 1860s, these were all cutting-edge photographic technologies. The Library's newest primary source set, "Civil War Photography: New Technologies and New Uses," immerses students in the new methods and formats that emerged in the decades around the war.
If you believe the Web (and who doesn't believe everything they read on the Web?), it boastfully celebrated its 25th birthday last year. Twenty-five years is long enough for the first "children of the Web" to be fully-grown adults, just now coming of age to recognize that the Web that grew up around them has irrevocably changed.
We have published a number of blog posts featuring the work of the Veterans History Project (VHP) and how teachers can incorporate these resources in classroom activities. As we approach Memorial Day, we wanted to feature a teacher who has worked with his students to collect the stories of the veterans living in their community.
Before 1938, child labor was a controversial topic, as arguments raged over the benefits and harms of children working in factories, on farms, and in the streets as news and delivery boys. Persuasive messages filled the media, asking the American people and legislators to protect children by requiring education and limiting working hours.
While some of George and Lennie's experiences in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men are universal like the dream of a place to call home and the need for friendships, others are directly related to the novel's setting.
In the United States, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May, this year, May 10th. But it is not just a day to celebrate our mothers, but also a time to think about all women who care for, support, and strengthen us. Below are a few suggestions for engaging students with primary sources related to Mother's Day from the collections of the Library of Congress.
How can time-strapped teachers find and use free resources from the online collections of the Library of Congress to support the needs of diverse learners? Join us in a webinar on Thursday, May 7, at 4 PM ET, to learn strategies "to engage students in the analysis of evidence (Common Core), increase comprehensible input (diverse learners), and promote content learning and student engagement."
Mark this year's Kentucky Derby by exploring stop-motion photos and artists' depictions of galloping horses from the collections of the Library of Congress.
In the March/April 2014 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our "Sources and Strategies" article described the invention of the phonograph and how it was used by the 19th century American ethnologists, Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche, to record music and interviews with Omaha Indians.
