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Teaching with Primary Sources

Ohio

  • Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

    Teaching the Electoral College: Teacher Training on the 1876 Presidential Election (2024)

    This grant, awarded to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, funded a workshop developed in collaboration with the United States Capitol Historical Society (USCHS) for middle and high school teachers of history, social studies, or government that focused on the electoral college with the contested election of 1876 as a case study.  The workshop took place at Spiegel Grove (home of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums) on February 22 and 23, 2024 and featured a series of new lesson plans developed by USCHS and its partner, StoryWorks Theater, in consultation with expert Hayes Presidential staff.  Lesson plans highlighted key primary sources from the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, and manuscripts and artifacts from Hayes Presidential’s collection, such as President Hayes’s diaries, letters, and campaign materials. 

    Contact: Christie Weininger

  • Bowling Green State University

    It's "Elementary, Dear Watson:" Building Source-Based Inquiries for the K-5 Classroom (2024)

    This project, awarded to Bowling Green State University, hosted an institute which invited up to twenty K-5 elementary educators and five elementary pre-service educators to participate in a professional development workshop. The workshop introduced and provided frameworks for elementary educators to create and teach integrated inquiry-based social studies lessons that highlight primary sources, historical thinking skills, and social and emotional skills. The ultimate goal of the project was to address challenges with incorporating primary sources and gaps in social studies instructional time by sharing tools to empower educators to incorporate the social studies via integrated, interdisciplinary instruction.

    Contact: Alexander Butler

    Teaching in the Digital Age with Primary Sources (2021)

    This project, awarded to Bowling Green State University, addressed classroom teachers’ desires for innovative and effective ways to teach real-world skills such as analysis and critical thinking. Through an online semester-long course, Interdisciplinary Planning and Teaching with Primary Sources, teachers were taught how to access the Library of Congress’s primary sources and utilize them in ways that align with state and national standards. Participants also developed and then ultimately taught their student-centered lessons.

    Going to the Sources: Interdisciplinary Planning and Teaching with Primary Materials (2015)

    Bowling Green State University was awarded a grant that created and sustained a network of Ohio middle and high school teachers of social studies and language arts who were committed to sharing classroom-ready activities, strategies, and resources that integrated primary sources from the Library of Congress into their instruction. Regional workshops were implemented at three Ohio universities. These provided a critical mass of resources and strategies for teachers to infuse planning and instruction with the Library's sources through a document-based approach.

    Contact: Angela Thomas

  • University of Findlay

    More than a Night at the Museum: Language Arts Instruction Meets Archival Research

    This grant, awarded to the University of Findlay, brought together middle and high school language arts teachers for a five-day workshop. They learned how primary sources can become sites of inquiry and composition in the English classroom. Participants created lesson plans that integrated primary sources from the Library of Congress and met language arts standards and post-secondary expectations. An additional goal of the project was the alignment of middle school, secondary, and post-secondary writing instruction in today’s technology-centric society. The assignments resulting from the workshop highlighted best practices in melding archival research with multimodal composition across a variety of instruction levels.

    Contact: Christine Denecker

  • Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

    Meet the Staff Professional Development Workshop

    This grant, awarded to Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, conducted a two-day professional development workshop that taught skills related to using resources from the Library of Congress and from local archives such as the Akron-Summit County Library. Participants learned to integrate Library of Congress tools in the classroom using inquiry and community-based strategies. Stan Hywet's Meet the Staff program, in which students use primary sources to uncover real stories of the estate's foreign-born domestic staff, modeled how the Library's collections can be illuminated in the classroom. The participants observed Meet the Staff to discover how historic locations bring primary source documents to life. Using the Library's resources and documents relating to Stan Hywet's domestic staff, participants built their own lesson stems. In­-service and pre-service teachers collaborated to implement their units in the classroom and shared them with peers on a Wiki site, which expanded the learning community beyond professional development.

    Contact: Toivo Motter

  • Gallia-Vinton Education Service Center

    Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Region Grant

    This project, awarded to Gallia-Vinton Education Service Center (Gallia-Vinton ESC), conducted a four-day workshop for teachers in grades 3–8 who were from thirteen different school districts in seven counties of Appalachian Southeast Ohio. Participants created a learning experience that integrated primary sources from the Library of Congress.

    Milton-Union Exempted Village Elementary School & Gallia-Vinton ESC

    GVESC TPS Grant

    To expand its current professional development program, this grant allowed the Gallia-Vinton Educational Service Center (Gallia-Vinton ESC) to include high school teachers in their training. The teachers completed independent readings and online audio and videos, attended direct instruction workshops to develop skills for accessing and incorporating primary sources in classroom instruction, attended colloquia with historians and scholars to advance their subject content knowledge, and received job-embedded coaching via a Gallia-Vinton ESC consultant. Given their new levels of professional expertise, teachers then completed field studies to perform research.

    Contact: Dr. Denise Shockley

  • Ohio Historical Society

    Understanding Primary Sources: National History Day in Ohio

    This grant, awarded to the Ohio Historical Society, familiarized teachers with resources from the Library of Congress and provided them with support to integrate them in their classrooms through the National History Day–OH (NHD–OH) program. Teachers were first introduced to the breadth and organization of the Library's digital primary sources and their value in instruction. Teachers were then given experience in integrating the Library's resources into their classroom using the NHD–OH program model. This program also increased the number of teachers and students utilizing the Library's resources.

    Contact: Mary Bezbatchenko

    National History Day in Ohio

    This project, awarded to the Ohio Historical Society, enhanced student outreach, National History Day curriculum materials, and professional development opportunities for teachers. Teachers and students were provided with activities and workshops that facilitated the use of digital resources from the Library of Congress. The project taught students to use primary sources for their History Day projects through classroom outreach. Workshops that focused on the integration of primary source materials were offered to teachers throughout Ohio.

    Contact: Megan Wood

  • Ohio Northern University

    Fostering Historical Thinking and Imagination through Primary Sources

    This grant, awarded to Ohio Northern University, made it possible for in-service and pre-service history teachers to integrate primary sources into their instruction as a way of enriching students’ historical thinking and imagination. This project involved six workshops during which in-service teachers learned how to use online resources from the Library of Congress and create powerful social studies lessons for students in grades 5–12. Teachers navigated the Library’s website and designed lessons that teach historical inquiry through written documents, political cartoons, images, audio clips, and desktop documentary making.

    Unleashing Alternative Representations of the Past into Middle and Secondary History Classrooms

    This grant, awarded to Ohio Northern University, trained in-service and pre-service history teachers to integrate visual and aural primary sources into their classroom instruction. Five workshops were conducted, bringing together both in-service and pre-service teachers to create powerful social studies lessons for students in grades 5–12 using the online resources from the Library of Congress. In turn, these trained teachers had a useful web-based resource to which they directed colleagues throughout the school year.

    Contact: James Schul

  • Milton-Union Exempted Village Elementary School

    Yesterday’s Events through the Eye’s of Today’s Child

    This project brought teachers together from Milton-Union Exempted Village Schools as they explored the Library of Congress website during three days of training. The training took place over a three-month period. Each month teachers were given an assignment and then used the information they gathered for their final project. Teams of teachers developed lessons with primary sources using iPads, SMART boards, and smartphones. These teams trained other teachers on how to use the lessons and technology in their classrooms.

    Contact: Scott Bloom

  • Miami University Hamilton

    America’s Journey: Continuing to Use the “American Memory” Project to Meet Ohio Content Standards

    This project, awarded to Miami University-Hamilton, expanded the exposure of Teaching American History (TAH) teachers to the primary source collections of the Library of Congress. The teachers created a repository of lesson plans and classroom activities that utilized the Library’s resources and were aligned with the Ohio State Content Standards. This project instructed some of Miami’s TAH teachers in using the Library’s resources by the TPS Midwest Region. The TAH teachers instructed the rest of the TAH group in the use of primary sources, developed their own lesson plans, and assisted other teachers in developing lesson plans and activities that met Ohio State Standards.

    Contact: Johanna Moyer

    America’s Journey: Using the “American Memory Project” to Meet Ohio Content Standards

    This grant, awarded to Miami University Hamilton, incorporated Library of Congress primary sources into existing Teaching American History (TAH) projects. The main goals of this project were to educate teachers about the use of primary sources and to create a repository of lesson plans and classroom activities that integrated primary sources to meet Ohio State Content Standards. This project utilized the train-the-trainer model to educate teachers who participate in TAH projects. All participants produced a CD and lesson plans that were implemented in the classroom and shared on various websites.

    Contact: George Vascik

  • Southwest Ohio and Neighboring (SWON) Libraries

    Teaching with Primary Sources: A Joint Project for Teachers and School Media Specialists

    The Southwest Ohio and Neighboring (SWON) Libraries was awarded this project which trained teachers and school media specialists on the use of primary sources from the Library of Congress website, focusing on the American Memory Collections. Through workshops, participants learned to integrate and promote the use of primary sources into classroom instruction. Teachers and media specialists were paired so as to build relationships and encourage cooperation in the classroom. Each pair created a lesson plan.

    Contact: Anne Abate