Still Putting It All Together

This is a guest post from Johnathan Abreu of the Library of Congress.

Do you use photographs in the classroom? Here are some great resources for you from the Library of Congress.

As a medium, the photograph is relatively young. Nonetheless, photographs have captured key moments and events in history. The Library of Congress has more than a million digitized photographs available through the Prints and Photographs catalog. Since it’s easy to get lost in such a vast collection, we’ve put together a few helpful resources on using photographs in the classroom and analyzing them with students. More than just capturing an event, a photograph has much to say about the artist’s point of view and the time in which it was captured.

In Taking a Closer Look at Prints and Photographs, Danna Bell-Russel begins a discussion on information literacy as it applies to photographs. This post provides useful ideas on how to analyze photographs with students and discern details such as false captions which can be misleading if unnoticed.

Library of Congress shares lots of ideas for using their resources in the classroom.   This is one thing I wish I had a chance to use.

I followed Tomato Nation religiously in college.  I even submitted a grammar question that was answered on the blog my senior year.   Each Sept. 11th, I remember the entry she wrote about her experiences in NYC on that day.  I am posting it for two reasons: 1. I think a first hand account of that day written within days of the event might be a good primary source for some social studies/history teachers at the high school level. 2. She has been on a mission to find Don (which you can read about in a separate entry by clicking on that link), and I hope by spreading the word maybe one day they will reconnect.

What is Dipity?

Dipity is a free digital timeline website. Our mission is to organize the web’s content by date and time. Users can create, share, embed and collaborate on interactive, visually engaging timelines that integrate video, audio, images, text, links, social media, location and timestamps.

According to labor historian Mark J. Naison, the movement of workers that began in Wisconsin and is now spreading to other states is “the most important labor struggle in the United States in the 21st century.”

The current uprising of workers in Wisconsin and other states presents a powerful opportunity to teach students about what the protests are about and why their teachers and neighbors are joining the struggle.  It’s an opportunity to critically examine issues, and to model for students responsible civic action and engagement in the political process.

Lots of lesson ideas as well as film and books to use in teaching about workers’ rights.   I love that Click Clack Moo is included.  I have the book, but never thought of using it for this purpose!  The resources and lesson ideas are for a variety of grade levels.

I know this is late for President’s day, but if you click on one of the oval carvings on the desk you can listen to some of JFK’s Secret Recordings (now public) on things like space, civil rights, Cuba, Vietnam, etc.  Definitely a great primary resource for some social studies / history courses!

There are several other cool parts to the site, but I’ll let you explore for yourself!

I think it is really important that students are given a broader world-view starting at a young age.   The opportunity that I had to student teach in England, and then travel to several other European countries on a Contiki Tour really gave me a lot of material, stories, and inspiration for my students to learn about the world.   It isn’t always directly put into the standards depending on the grade, so finding ways to connect what we are learning — either through stories, non-fiction, social studies lessons is in important.  When I had my own class, we had a Travelling Teddy that sent us post cards from all over the U.S. and the rest of the world (I have been collecting post cards for years, bought a lot while in Europe, and have friends and family send me some).   This would happen once a week on Mondays and was built into our morning routine. During centers that week I would try to include a game, internet resources, or music to listen to from the country or area that the post card was from.

Project explorer is a website I would love to use with my students once I have my own class again.

From their website: 

To foster the next generation of global citizens by encouraging awareness of the world beyond a student’s own community through the creation, production, and distribution of engaging and free multimedia educational materials.

Founded in 2003 by Jenny M. Buccos, ProjectExplorer.org is a nonprofit organization (501c3) that produces free, online global travel series. Designed for family and classroom, ProjectExplorer.org provides students with access to peoples and places they may never have seen or knew existed.

ProjectExplorer.org’s multi-award winning online video series, photos, educational blogs, and lesson plans are provided free-of-charge. ProjectExplorer.org’s programs cover multiple subject areas that foster cross-cultural understanding.

To accomplish its mission, ProjectExplorer.org relies on corporate and government sponsors, as well as individual supporters. It is with your help that ProjectExplorer.org is made available free-of-charge to the learners of the world, so that we all might better understand one another. It’s time to Go Global with ProjectExplorer.org!

This could be a good home-school connection activity as timelines are part of the standards!

(Source: life)

thingsforteachers:

Primary sources, timelines, videos, and more.