TPS:BASICS
Teaching With Primary Sources:
A Beginning Asynchronous Individualized Course of Study

Overview (Focus = Curriculum & Instruction)

Just as the Western Pennsylvania Miner in the 1890’s located and retrieved valuable coal nuggets, this workshop will focus on search strategies and technology skills to enable teachers to “mine” the archives at http://loc.gov for primary source documents that match their curriculum and standards. Consider these model learning activities and how they are used to establish a connection between the document and the teacher/learner. Evaluate the model activities in terms of Best Instructional Practices found in the theory of Differentiated Instruction.

Objectives: During this workshop session, participants will:

• brainstorm keywords and topics in American History/Culture found in local curriculum and state standards;
• find primary source documents using the following search strategies:
  • general searching (Catalogs and Home Page),
  • cross collection searching (Topic, Time, Place and Format),
  • collection level searching (American Memory and LOC Exhibitions) and
  • learning page searching (Features, Lesson Plans, Special Presentations);
• locate permanent URL of primary sources for citation purposes and
• develop a learning activity for students to search the Library of Congress archives.

Learning Activities: (Focus = Technology)

1. Finding the permanent URL: Read this document carefully to discover how to find the permanent URLs for LOC documents. This may be the most important lesson you learn in this workshop!
2. How to print and save Library of Congress documents: Some primary documents are useful as print materials while others are best used in PowerPoint Presentations or Internet activities. This Web page gives directions for both saving and printing.
3. Copyright and Fair Use: A reference guide to using primary source documents found at the Library of Congress.
4. Copyright and Fair Use: This interactive flash file also explains information about copyright and is appropriate for students as well as teachers.
5. Browsing the American Memory Collection - Use this exercise to browse for documents related to the Civil War. Consider the following questions:
   • What differences have you found using the various ways to find information?
   • Which do you prefer?
   • When would you choose one and not the others?
6. Searching American Memory - Use this exercise to compare different search strategies. As you search, record the number of hits that you make for different strategies. Consider:
   • How do the modes of searching compare?
   • When would you choose one over another?
   • How might search page features or the results display influence your choice?
7. Bibliographic Organizer – Download the Blank Bibliographic Organizer from Course Documents. Then open it in MSWord. Go to the Prints and Photographs Catalog or American Memory at the Library of Congress to search for three images or sound documents that relate to the topic you have selected for the project you have outlined in Part I of the Workshop. Use the explanation in the How to Save and How to Link web pages you read earlier for this workshop session to find the information you will need to complete the Image Table.  You should copy and paste the thumbnail image because the larger resolutions will be too large for your table. Save your Bibliographic Organizer on your hard disc in a folder you have created for the Workshop and project. This document will serve as an example of gathering document and information for instruction from the LOC web site.

Please download the following resources, examine them, store them for references, and complete any activites they present in order to complete this module of the workshop:

1) TPS Description
2) TPS Grant Program
3) Why Use Primary Sources?
4) How to Use Primary Sources
5) Tools for Teachers
6) Primary verse Secondary Sources

Content provided by:

WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY

Eastern Region Teaching With Primary Sources Partner
Ann B. Canning, Ed.D.
©2009