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Using Resources from American Memory in U.S. History ClassesBy Charlie Flanagan & Nancy FitchPublished on 07/09/2004 The American Memory collection has proven to be an invaluable learning resource in our classrooms. Accessing photographs, films, and maps from the collection has proven to be a sure-fire plan for designing lessons that trigger active learning and rich discussion in classes. From elementary grades to AP level, the vast collections available at the click of a mouse have brought the American experience alive for our students. Close examination of primary sources is captivating for students of all ages and particularly appropriate for the Advanced Placement classroom where learning to read and contextualize source material is an essential part of the students’ training. From the first day of our AP-level 11th-grade American Civilization class, students draw from the American Memory Collection to learn to examine texts, maps, photographs, audio clips, and even movies with the critical eye of a historian. From John Smith's Map of Virginia, to 19th-century photos of slavery (found in several collections), documents from the temperance movement and Civil War maps, to television commercials such as the Coke "Hilltop" ad, students mine the collection as a virtually limitless store of evidence to analyze and discuss. Currently, we are using the collection to enrich our study of the 1876 Centennial by field-testing a website we are preparing to contribute to the American Memory Collection Lesson Plans page. The 1876 Philadelphia Exposition was one of the first national experiences visited by people from all over the country, who traveled on the expanding network of rail or studied large illustrations in periodicals such as Harper's Weekly. As teachers, our challenge has been to consider how we might invite students to visit the Exposition and come to know its historical context through hands-on study. Our site, America at the Centennial, considers the Exposition as an important example of public history, the story Americans of 1876 presented to celebrate the nation’s achievements. The site challenges students to strengthen their critical thinking skills through collaborative work with primary source documents. The site invites students to discuss maps, images of items displayed, and illustrations of the Exposition to (1) identify the spirit of the event, (2) juxtapose the celebration against the issues of its day, and (3) use primary source material to design their own museum exhibit in which they tell a fuller story of an issue of the Centennial era. The lesson presented on the site is constructed in three steps:
The lesson is designed to pursue standard 2C of the National Standards for United States History: "Demonstrate understanding of how new cultural movements at different social levels affected American life." It does so by examining the Centennial Exhibition as a cultural event of national significance and juxtaposing it with images of the experiences of several groups of people in the 1870s. Our students have used the site for two school years, and it has achieved our original goal of challenging students to strengthen their understanding that primary source evidence presents history from a point of view that must be identified and considered in the context of other perspectives on the same events. It has also made a long-ago era the center of several rewarding classes. Our lesson is a work in progress, and we invite you to visit our site and offer your comments or advice. [send article to a friend] [print full article] [return to front page] |
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