Joyce Valenza's Primary Source Pathfinder Who Am I? A History Mystery Who Am I? A History Mystery is a fun and challenging activity from the Smithsonian's The Price of Freedom online exhibit. Who Am I? presents players with six historical characters that they have to identify using the text and image clues provided. Applications for EducationWho Am I? Teacher Resources The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations. Discover and discuss ways to bring the power of Library of Congress primary sources into the classroom. Go to the blog Subscribe to the blog via e-mail or RSS. Using Primary Sources Discover quick and easy ways to begin using primary sources in your classroom, with teachers' guides, information on citing sources and copyright, and the Library's primary source analysis tool. TPS Partners The Teaching with Primary Sources Program builds partnerships with educational organizations to support effective instruction using primary sources. The Teaching with Primary Sources Journal
Constitution Day: An Opportunity for Empowering Students to Think Critically Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesLaird Monahan walking up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial past a giant banner printed with the Preamble to the United States Constitution during a demonstration against the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling on Oct. 20, 2010.Go to related 2010 blog post » Sept. 17 is Constitution Day, the day when the writers at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the United States Constitution in 1787. Dust is far from gathering on this 225-year-old document, however (not least because it is preserved in the highly protected, temperature-regulated National Archives case): The Constitution influences our lives, schools and government every single day. Each school day is an opportunity to make the Constitution relevant in your classroom by empowering students to research big questions, think critically, defend their arguments with evidence and speak their opinions with the protections that the Constitution entitles us. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Perseus Digital Library What Makes a Primary Source a Primary Source? This guest post comes to us from Cheryl Lederle of the Library of Congress. Is a newspaper a primary source? A political cartoon? A map? A lithograph? Is an excerpt in a textbook a primary source? “Primary sources” are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. The definition seems clear enough until we begin to label particular items as primary or secondary. "Columbus taking possession of the new country," 1893 This image depicts Columbus landing on an island he named San Salvador, also known as Watling Island. The phrase “created at the time under study” provided a focus for their discussion and decision. How would the answer change if the picture were being used to study late nineteenth-century attitudes about the event? "The First Thanksgiving," 1932 Instead of asking whether a particular object is a primary source, it might be more useful to ask when that artifact would be a primary source.
Best of History Web Sites I’ve been using Tom Daccord’s very handy Best of History Web Sites for so long, that I’ve just never thought to write about it. I mean, it’s like writing about Microsoft Word. Doesn’t everyone already know about this? It’s become such a part of my routine that it’s hard to imagine getting along without it. But after talking with a couple of history teachers this week, I began to realize that not everyone has heard about it. So . . . here it is. The Best of History Web Sites aims to provide quick, convenient, and reliable access to the best history-oriented resources online in a wide range of categories. The creator, Tom Daccord, writes and speaks quite a bit on using technology as part of history instruction and has another great site called Teaching History with Technology. Check ‘em both out, add them to your favorites and share with others. Like this: Like Loading...
Teaching With Documents Skip Navigation. Teachers Home > Teachers' Resources > Teaching With Documents Lessons by Era More Lesson Plan Resources Primary Source Research & Classroom Resources DocsTeachFind and create interactive learning activities with primary source documents that promote historical thinking skills. Analysis Worksheets Teaching With Documents: Lesson Plans This section contains reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections. Teaching with primary documents encourages a varied learning environment for teachers and students alike. PDF files require the free Adobe Reader. Teachers > Connect With Us Primary Sources DocsTeach Visits & Workshops Other Resources
Democracy Web | Welcome to Democracy Web Clio Texte What is a Primary and Secondary Source? Re-examining the Revolution A December 1773 advertisement for a Sons of Liberty meeting. History textbooks often gloss over — or ignore completely — the massive community organizing effort that underlay the armed rebellion against the British. In conjunction with my book, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past, I reviewed 22 elementary, middle school, and high school texts. A Declaration of Independence twenty-one months before July 4, 1776. … In 1997, Pauline Maier published American Scripture, where she uncovered 90 state and local “declarations of independence” that preceded the U.S. Some say these myths are harmless—what damage can stories do? This article was originally published by Rethinking Schools in an edition of Rethinking Schools magazine, “Classrooms Come Alive,” (Winter 2004/5; Vol. 19, #2). For more critical reviews of textbooks, visit Rethinking Schools. Related Resources Ray Raphael’s website with articles, interviews, a quiz, a detailed critique of commonly used textbooks, and more.