Social Education articles from November 2003

Social Education archives from November 2003

Editor's notebook.(Editorial)
November 1, 2003... The use of primary sources in the classroom represents a unique way of bringing history into the lives of students. The magic of seeing an original document and the sense of being transported back in time capture the imagination of young...

Connecting with the past: uncovering clues in primary source documents.(What are they?)
November 1, 2003... A few years ago, I found my great-great grandfather's homestead application among the billions of documents held in the National Archives. The pedagogical significance of the find was articulated perfectly by my husband--who happens to be an...

Big and famous is not always best: guidelines for selecting teachable documents.(What are they?)
November 1, 2003... Primary source documents are extremely effective in the classroom, and while many large, famous documents exist, small, lesser-known documents are just as valuable. For example, just fifteen days after his inauguration in 1853, President...

The words we live by: the constitution in context.(What are they?)
November 1, 2003... The most important words in American government are those that make up the U.S. Constitution. They are considered the "supreme law of the land," and they form the foundation of all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. But many of...

From attics to graveyards: how to locate primary documents for your classroom.(Where are they?)
November 1, 2003... FINDING APPROPRIATE AND MOTIVATING DOCUMENTS CAN BE A LABOR OF LOVE OR A STROKE OF LUCK. There's no sure-fire way of locating these sources, but we have a number of suggestions on how to start. First, you have to define your goals because...

Online resources from the national archives.(Where are they?)
November 1, 2003... The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the federal agency responsible for preserving and making available for research the permanently valuable records of the U.S. government. These records number in the billions, and...

Online resources from the library of congress.(Where are they?)
November 1, 2003... The Library of Congress holds more than 126 million items in hundreds of languages and formats. Over 7 million digitized items from these holdings are available online for users worldwide. These can be found in three major areas within the...

Archival facilities across the nation.(Where are they?)(Directory)
November 1, 2003... The National Archives Nationwide Network The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has a nationwide network of research facilities, including presidential libraries, that welcome researchers who are as young as fourteen years...

Primarily, it's serendipity.(How do I use them?)
November 1, 2003... "My darling sheik," so opens a flurry of letters that my grandmother, Catherine Borup, sent to my grandfather, Anthony DiLieto, in 1923. "What a gold mine," I thought as I pored through a box of this correspondence that my mother gave me in...

My reward: outstanding student projects based on primary sources.(How do I use them?)
November 1, 2003... There's a fine collection of term projects sitting nearby demanding attention. It's the end of the term and this is my reward. A few of the projects are pro forma, created to meet the course requirements with minimal effort. Most, however, will...

Students facing history: the white house decision center.(How do I use them?)
November 1, 2003... It is August 1948. President Harry S. Truman and the United States face a serious international crisis. Russian soldiers in late June sealed off the roads, waterways, pipelines, and electrical power to the western sectors of Berlin. Winter is...

Suggested methods for integrating primary sources into classroom instruction.(How do I use them?)
November 1, 2003... 1. Focus Activity Introduce document analysis as a regular activity at the beginning of each class period to focus student attention on your day's topic. For example: Place a document on an overhead projector for students to see as they...

Document analysis worksheets: teaching students to successfully analyze primary sources begins with teaching them to ask (and answer) good questions. The following worksheets, developed by the education staff of the National Archives, are intended to guide student analysis.(How do I use them?)
November 1, 2003... The first worksheet, "Introduction to Documents" suggests an activity to orient students to documents. The subsequent worksheets focus on different types of primary sources: written documents, maps, photographs, cartoons, artifacts, sound...