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Teaching with Primary Sources

Minnesota

  • Minnesota Historical Society

    Inquiry in the Upper Midwest: Empowering Communities with Local History (2024) 

    The project, awarded to the Minnesota Historical Society ( Inquiry in the Upper Midwest project ), aimed to develop elementary school teachers to find local, reputable primary sources that they can use with their students to learn about the history of their communities in connection with larger events and turning points required by new social studies state standards. In a series of four presentations, trainers instructed teachers in finding and evaluating primary sources, uncovering local stories through which students can study national and international historical events, and centering stories and histories that have been marginalized, erased, or ignored to create a more community-driven classroom, providing opportunities for students and teachers to unite with community members to tell their stories and advocate for their future. Ultimately, this project will develop a process for finding local history sources that can be replicated across the state and the TPS consortium through future grant-funded projects by the TPS Midwest Region as well as potentially the East and West Regions.

    Contact: Meghan Davisson

    Applied History in the Classroom (2014)

    During a two-day teacher workshop conducted by the Minnesota Historical Society, sessions were presented by Minnesota History Day staff, Minnesota Historical Society, and University of Minnesota faculty. Each participant created a primary source set for use in their classroom. These workshops helped promote a history education community in Minnesota and provided opportunities for hands-on learning and discussion among peers.

    Contact: Sarah Aschbrenner

    U.S./Minnesota History High School Initiative (2012)

    In this project, awarded to the Minnesota Historical Society, the National History Day and Teacher Education staff provided three-day workshops for Minnesota educators. The goals of these workshops were to familiarize teachers with collections from the Library of Congress and the Minnesota Historical Society, aid educators in identifying the parallels between national, state, and local history, help teachers meet Minnesota state standards, and provide teachers with classroom-ready primary source materials. The workshops were intended to promote the National History Day program as an effective means to engage students in the use of primary source materials.

    Contact: Jessica Ellison

    Minnesota History is United States History: Meet the Standards Workshops (2009)

    In this project, awarded to the Minnesota Historical Society, the National History Day and Teacher Education staff provided three-day workshops for Minnesota educators. The goals of these workshops were to familiarize teachers with collections from the Library of Congress and the Minnesota Historical Society. In addition, trainers assisted teachers in drawing parallels between national, state, and local history. This collaboration helped teachers meet Minnesota state standards and provided teachers with classroom-ready primary source materials. The workshops promoted the National History Day program as an effective means to engage students in the use of primary source materials.

    Contact: Tim Hoogland

  • Minnesota Council for the Social Studies

    Primary Source Summit

    In this three-day workshop by the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies, representatives from all 17 Midwestern state Councils for the Social Studies received professional development centered on the trends, barriers, and best practices for primary source instruction. Summit participants collaborated and created a project template that was adapted for audiences in their states. Follow-up sessions took place for participating leaders at national meetings of the National Council for the Social Studies.

    Contact: Jessica Ellison

  • University of Minnesota, Learning Technologies Media Lab

    Maps as Primary Documents: Investigating, Developing, and Sharing Social Studies Inquiry

    This project at the University of Minnesota, Learning Technologies Media Lab included sessions on primary source instruction, geography, and history content that enabled teachers to develop inquiry-based lessons and geospatial resources using the online resources from the Library of Congress website. The workshops focused on six major components of study: document-based inquiry and geospatial lessons, maps as primary sources, standards-based lessons, tutorials and peer reviews, the use of geospatial software for examining maps, and field trips to the Minnesota Historical Society Library, the John R. Borchert Map Library, and James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota.

    Contact: Aaron Doering

  • Winona State University

    Fostering Historical Thinking and Imagination through Primary Source Instruction

    This project by Winona State University incorporated six workshops in which in-service teachers from Minnesota and Wisconsin learned to use written, visual, and aural sources from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources website as a means to create powerful social studies lessons for students in grades 5–12. This project empowered in-service and pre-service teachers to integrate primary sources into their classroom instruction for the purpose of enriching students' historical thinking and imagination.

    Contact: James Schul

  • Upper Midwest Council for History Education

    History in the Hands of Teachers

    This project, awarded to the Upper Midwest Council for History Education (Inquiry in the Upper Midwest project), focused on improving and expanding primary source instruction in Minnesota classrooms in several ways. A three-day institute for in-service and pre-service history teachers was developed and promoted to the history community in Minnesota. A summer teacher institute included sessions on primary source instruction, inquiry-based instruction, mentoring, individual research time, and peer review. Finally, teachers’ experiences and final products were disseminated via the Minnesota Council for History Education website and individual presentations at teachers’ schools, districts, or pre-service classes.

    Contact: Matt Moore

  • Macalester College

    Using Maps as Primary Documents in Social Science Inquiry

    This project developed and hosted a summer institute on the campus of Macalester College. The target audience was teachers in grades 6–9 who teach Minnesota Studies, United States Studies, World Studies, and Human Geography. The institute focused on using maps from the Library of Congress's digital archive as primary documents in inquiry-based lessons that enabled students to master selected benchmarks in the new Minnesota Graduation Requirements for Social Studies.

    Using Maps as Primary Documents in Social Science Inquiry Lessons

    The Geography Department of Macalester College, the Minnesota Alliance for Geographic Education (MAGE), and the Minnesota Council for History Education (MNCHE) held a summer institute at Macalester College, which focused on using maps from the digital archives of the Library of Congress. The use of these primary documents in inquiry-based lessons enabled students to master selected benchmarks in the new Minnesota Graduation Requirements for Social Studies. MAGE and MNCHE are collaboratives of K–16 educators who advocate geographic and historical literacy for all teachers and students. Map specialists and master teachers led sessions during the summer institute for educators who were interested in developing a new primary source-based curriculum. Participants created map-based lessons that were professionally edited and posted on the MAGE and MNCHE websites.

    Contact: David Lanegran