It seems like each school year flies by faster than the last, and that is exactly how I feel about my time here at the Library of Congress as the Audio Visual Teacher in Residence.
In the May/June 2016 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article featured The Rocket Book, a children’s book published in 1912.
The details contained in both the story’s prose and its illustrations—from the names and occupations of the tenants to the pastimes and inventions depicted—provide a unique glimpse of urban life in America in the early years of the twentieth century.
Throughout human history, communities have contended with the consequences and costs of severe weather. Recent discourse about climate, sea levels, and weather events include both national and local-level conversations about building community resilience in response to severe weather. Primary sources can initiate deep learning about severe weather and community preparedness and responses.
Individually and collectively humans exert both positive and negative influences on Earth's systems. Teachers and students studying the interactions among Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere and related human activity can explore images, manuscripts, and recorded oral history interviews from the Coal River community in West Virginia.
Throughout history, music has been used for celebrations and for memorial events; to sway opinion or highlight a specific point of view; or to encourage people to vote for a particular political candidate.
The new Weather Forecasting Primary Source Set from the Library of Congress includes depictions of a number of early weather tools. Analyzing these historical primary sources depicting technological innovations can offer students insights into the nature of science and science practices, as well as core scientific concepts.
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Association, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service and US Holocaust Memorial Museum have joined together to create a portal providing links to resources from all of these heritage institutions.
In my first Multimedia Moment post, I focused on the action in actuality street scenes. One of the films, the 1897 Edison film Corner of Madison and State Streets, Chicago, showed people walking across the street with large signs that appeared to be advertisements. I instantly wanted to know what was written on the signs.