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Posted by: Danna Bell
What does May 1, May Day, mean to your students? For some it is a day to celebrate. For others it is a day to commemorate. Some may not have any associations with the date. The words “May Day” can also mean a warning of danger or a reminder to be aware that something is coming and to prepare.
Posted in: Culture and Folklife, Holidays
Posted by: Danna Bell
By understanding a work’s original context, intent, message, and audience, creators can use cultural referents to frame new ideas. Public-domain classics achieve a continually evolving immortality as they are re-imagined by new generations of creative minds. Public domain works, through creative adaptation, can be used to create a commentary on the original work, engage contemporary issues, create opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue, and promote cultural change.
Posted in: Copyright, Fine and Performing Arts, Poetry and Literature
Posted by: Danna Bell
The multidimensional nature of music allows artists to explore and communicate complex perspectives. Through exploring the Fort Valley recordings, students can discern how performers connect musical elements and cultural referents to create strong, nuanced messages.
Posted in: African American History, Fine and Performing Arts, Industrial United States, World Wars and the Great Depression (1914-1945)
Posted by: Danna Bell
Those of you who are regular visitors to our twitter feed may remember seeing occasional tweets about the blog From the Catbird’s Seat from the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library. There are many wonderful posts From the Catbird Seat, but of special interest to many teachers will be the “Teacher’s Corner.”
Posted in: Lesson Ideas, Poetry and Literature
Posted by: Danna Bell
In the Sources and Strategies article, we explained that receipts for personal expenses such as these - for initiation fees, annual and lifetime membership dues, taxes, and donations - can provide starting points for conversations with students about a wide variety of economic topics from personal spending to investing to stewardship, and more.
Posted in: Lesson Ideas, Teaching Tools
Posted by: Danna Bell
On Easter Sunday 1939, one of America’s greatest voices sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She donned a fur coat against the fifty-degree bluster to perform outdoors. Despite the direct intervention of the First Lady, performance venues across Washington, D.C., had refused to open their stage doors to the world renowned African American contralto, Marian Anderson.
Posted in: African American History, Fine and Performing Arts
Posted by: Danna Bell
The Library also decided to try something new. Members of the Learning and Innovation team contacted two local high schools with active media production programs for students and asked whether they might be interested in learning about the Omar Ibn Said and helping us tell its story through film.
Posted in: African American History, Lesson Ideas, News and Events