On April 14, at 4 pm, ET, join staff from the Library of Congress for a free webinar outlining approaches and thinking processes for selecting primary sources to deepen student engagement and content knowledge.
Primary sources can also be selected to stimulate and support student investigations; look for primary sources that provoke intrigue and offer clues to give students starting points for further investigation.
While a primary source may be only one resource within a larger lesson, deliberating during the selection process over where in the lesson the primary source will be used can lead to greater engagement, inquiry, and learning from the students.
Teaching difficult topics using carefully selected primary sources can help students connect the past to the present. Looking at events through the lens of history can often make approaching a difficult topic easier.
Sara Trettin, formerly Suiter, our 2010-2011 Teacher in Residence, was one of the first coordinators for the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog. She wrote and edited some of the first posts and provided a solid framework as we added more writers and continued to shape the blog and its message.
Beginning with a pilot program in 2008, the K-12 Web Archiving Program has engaged hundreds of middle and high school students from schools around the United States in selecting, describing, and preserving Web content. Through September 16, the program is accepting applications for new and returning partners from middle and high schools.
Imagine television and radio broadcasts from the last 70 years covering topics from economics to social issues, from science to politics. You’ll find that resource in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB), a collaborative effort between the Library of Congress, WGBH Boston and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.