Top of page
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
Is a newspaper a primary source? A political cartoon? A map? A lithograph? Is an excerpt in a textbook a primary source? How about a digitized facsimile? All of these questions came up during the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institutes.
Posted in: Teaching Strategies
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
How can students be inspired to look closely--and think carefully--while they observe?
Posted in: Teaching Strategies, Teaching Tools
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
The first time I tried facilitating a primary source activity during my post-graduate museum education studies, I only had to guide my peers’ analysis of a single artifact for five minutes. Yet so much of what I learned from this experience later proved invaluable to me when teaching with primary sources “for real.”
Posted in: Teaching Strategies, Teaching Tools
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
Primary sources from the online collections of the Library of Congress can be powerful instructional tools. Analyzing these photos, films, maps, and audio recordings can help students engage with content, build their critical thinking skills, and construct knowledge.
Posted in: Teaching Strategies, Teaching Tools
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
What’s the most frustrating part of teaching with primary sources? They’re often incomplete and have little context. What’s the most rewarding part of teaching with primary sources? They’re often incomplete and have little context.
Posted in: Teaching Strategies, Teaching Tools
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
As the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks draws near, we'd like to hear from any educator who has used the Library's materials to teach about this topic.
Posted in: Contemporary United States (1945-present), Teaching Strategies
Posted by: Stephen Wesson
How can we help students develop close observation skills?
Posted in: Teaching Strategies, Teaching Tools