I co-wrote today’s post with Stephen Wesson at the Library of Congress. It is also posted on the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog. In 10 words or less, it’s what we've got and how we got it. But we’ll go on. Because we get asked this question a lot. Both of us do. And because both … Continue reading What’s the difference between the National Archives and the Library of Congress?
Watching C-SPAN or using the old textbook flow chart can be a pretty boring way to teach the legislative process. As future voters, it is important for students to understand how lawmaking works and what role they will play in that process. But how can you do it without putting your students to sleep? Making … Continue reading Dumping the Flow Chart of the Legislative Process
Today's post comes from Jenny Sweeney, education specialist at the National Archives at Fort Worth. This Friday, April 12th, the biographical movie 42 about Jackie Robinson is set to be released. Millions of people will flock to theaters to relive or learn for the first time the baseball icon’s story. In 1947, Robinson crossed the color line … Continue reading The Rest of 42’s Story: Jackie Robinson as Civil Rights Activist
Have you ever used current events to pique students' interest? Leveraged your students' hobbies to guide which primary sources you offer up for analysis? Do you have baseball fans in your classroom? We've got a brand new resource full of primary source documents, photographs, video, audio, and more. It's a free eBook we published just in … Continue reading Play Ball! (Primary Sources Edition)
Today’s post comes from Mickey Ebert, education specialist at the National Archives at Kansas City. Yesterday I called my favorite teacher. I hadn't talked to him in over 45 years. He had changed my life but I had never told him. After 32 years of teaching and telling the story about my favorite teacher countless times, I … Continue reading Mr. Hirni, Narrative Writing, and the Common Core
Today’s post comes from blogger Christopher Zarr, education specialist at the National Archives at New York City. The National Archives and the National Park Service have a lot in common. We preserve the records of our Government so that all people can discover, use, and learn from these documents. They preserve the natural and cultural resources … Continue reading The National Archives Partners with the National Park Service in NYC
Welcome! Here we’ll regularly share new document-based teaching tools, lesson plans, learning activities, student field trip ideas, professional development opportunities, newly available primary sources, and multi-media and web content. The National Archives holds all kinds of permanently valuable documents–written documents, images, maps, audio, video, charts, and more–from all three branches of our government. Just a … Continue reading A New Way to Hear about our Teaching Resources and Education Programs
