A selection of their lessons and resources are also available in Spanish. Though not the focus of this summary, this page also has a link to search the Collections for primary source materials.

According to its mission statement, Primary Source “educates global citizens by working with teachers to foster students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for thoughtful and engaged citizenship.” I was familiar with them as a professional development provider, and have created lessons for some of those classes with primary sources, but didn’t realize they offered online resources for teachers. I am reviewing their set of resources on Native Americans: Interactions at the time of settlement. This resource is designed for teachers to use with students, and the page is very much for teachers’ eyes. It’s not as visually stunning as some of the other primary source sites I explored this week, but the resources, materials, and activities are well-designed. The resource focuses on three objects: the Eliot Bible, a dress, and a piece of ceramic pottery. There is a background essay to frame the exploration, a glossary of terms, pre-viewing activities, primary source-focused activities, and contextual documents. Each activity is aligned with Common Core standards, and offers additional suggestions for curricular connections.  It’s a rich resource. Similar “packages” exist for other periods and places, but this one was connected to the local Native American population, so seemed to be instantly engaging for students. 

One thing I have liked about Primary Source courses I have taken is that they seek to address gaps in history and social studies as it has been taught historically.  I was intrigued to read about “archival silences” in the ACRL publication in this week’s reading list. Asking how a primary source might address an absence or silence in the historical record or reflect one, is important, and important to think about with students. This was one thing I would add to my evaluation criteria, which generally held up well. I think keeping my audience in my mind – teachers or students – was really important here. I was particularly keen on sites that really made things easy for teachers. I was really impressed with the analysis tools and handouts  offered by both the Library of Congress and the National Archives.  They were student-focused and ready to use with almost any primary source and help students build digital literacy and primary source literacy skills they will need beyond any one assignment.

This resource is a great asset for history or English classes.  I can also see how this might align with the journalism elective I teach. The website is very engaging with great visuals and the questions push students to analyze primary sources and think deeply about the time period through the lens of journalists. The time periods offer natural “hooks” to engage students and the website is clearly designed by educators for educators. 

For the Harlem Renaissance, there is a “primary source spotlight,” which includes a text set with teachers’ guide, as well as lots of other primary source collections. There is also a student ibook, a Library of Congress Student Discovery Set, which is a textbook of sorts for students that includes primary sources for analysis.  This set is ready for use by secondary school students.

The Concord Museum was a local gem! Its design and ease of use is very sophisticated for a local resource.  Teachers looking to teach Massachusetts history and national history as it relates/stems from Massachusetts—think the Revolutionary War and Transcendentalism—  will find lots of good stuff here. The Museum  has a robust Teacher Resources page.  Some highlights include three online exhibitions paired with lesson plans:  The Shot Heard ‘Round the World: April 19, 1775 and microsite on the Battles of Lexington and Concord at www.shotheardroundworld.org; Early Spring: Henry Thoreau and Climate Change; and Thomas Dugan: An African American Life in 1820s Concord.  These are beautifully designed, and include primary and secondary multimedia. resources. They are easy to interact with for teachers and students from 4th grade onward through secondary school. In addition, their Teacher Resources include lesson plans developed by teachers during summer institutes funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Finally, there is an option for teachers to borrow a “Traveling Revolutionary Trunk” of reproduction primary sources and artifacts to bring the Revolution to life for students. This comes with resources for teachers to make the best use of the materials. The museum also offers teacher workshops, free admission for MTA members.  Highlights of the full collection are also featured with visuals and exhibition tags.  There is an option for researchers to search the collection, but this is rather advanced. I tried a search for Henry David Thoreau and retrieved many interesting things, complete with images and item information (see this sample - Thoreau’s rocking chair) but definitely it’s meant for high school students.  The information presented by the museum seems to be of the highest quality and well-substantiated.

The Walden Woods Project “preserves the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility.” This local nonprofit offers many resources, as well as professional development for teachers. While it’s an obvious go-to for high school English teachers teaching American literature, there are also resources here for science and history teachers. AND, there is a curriculum on Walden Woods and Henry David Thoreau for 3rd- 5th graders, called Henry’s Hat. The Henry’s Hat® standards-based lessons and activities are in a wide range of STEAM topic areas, including English Language Arts, Math, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Art.  Older students can also find resources designed for them on Thoreau and  environmental ethics and action, as well as an Ask a Curator feature where students can ask questions about Thoreau. Teachers can arrange a virtual visit for their class with the curator and any teacher can set up a field trip to Walden Pond. One of the most amazing pieces of this thoughtfully, designed, scholarly website is The Transcendental Log: A Digital Documentary of the Life & Times of the Transcendentalists, this collection compiles documents, searchable by year, of writings related to the Transcendentalist movement and includes links the original sources where appropriate.

The Paul Revere House offers a lot for teachers teaching aspects of the American Revolution, but its digital collection is not robust. Online, they offer a blog and a podcast, as well as some written material(mostly secondary sources) and images. They do have a good set of materials about Paul Revere’s Ride, including an interactive map, which is pitched towards students. So while there is not much online, what is there is highly specific and could be very useful for the right unit.  Their Education Department specializes in creating immersive experiences for students and collaborating with teachers, which can happen at the house, at one’s school, or virtually.  It seems like they are eager to partner with teachers. My 5th grader had a visit from the Paul Revere house educators this spring and found it inspiring and wanted to visit the house, so I would say that their work was successful.