The full subject / sub-subject listing for the Learning Experiences Collection is below.
Primary Sources provide the vehicle for learning in our collection in these instructional areas:
Click on the names in the gray bar at the top to learn about each type in more detail.
Uses primary sources to help students recognize their current understanding, knowledge, and skills related to the content of the lesson. Introductions are often:
The introduction requires students to make a connection to the topic being explored through a primary source based short activity. Introductions explicitly connect to an understanding goal or big idea for the unit or for the subject area and are differentiated to engage diverse learners.
Sample Introduction Model Learning Experience : Introduction: Images Draw You In
Challenges students to use and adjust their understanding of a subject through reading, analyzing, and interpreting primary source(s) to consider the source's impact on the subject under study. Investigations begin with a question and end by answering the question and reflecting on how the answer connects to an explicit Understanding Goal. Investigations include:
Investigations are differentiated based on student readiness level for the subject, reading level, and/or background knowledge. Investigations include ongoing, informal assessments.
Sample Investigation Model Learning Experience: Investigation: Primary Source Investigations
Requires students to support a hypothesis, ideas or learning using primary sources in purposeful ways. Formal Assessments offer an opportunity for students and teacher to see growth through student products, performances, or tests requiring use of primary sources to demonstrate understanding, knowledge, and skill goals for the Learning Experience.
Specific criteria for student product evaluation must be provided.
Assessments and evaluation criteria may be differentiated.
Sample Formal Assessment Model Learning Experience: Assessment: Life in a Box Follow-Ups
Teaches a topic within the subject through a complete Learning Experience. Lessons are guided by an Investigative Question and challenge students to connect learning to "big ideas" or Understanding Goals. Lessons often require multiple class meetings to complete. Lesson plans include:
Guides students through an online inquiry experience working in a role as a professional in a particular field to research a topic using primary sources in order to solve a problem or develop a product. LibraryQuests offer student directions for independent learning through a Web page.
LibraryQuests include:
A LibraryQuest is guided by an Investigative Question and challenges students to connect learning to “big ideas” or understanding goals. LibraryQuests are differentiated in more than one way including the content and primary sources assigned, learning process required, or expected products. Differentiation may occur based on student interest or learning profile and may include varying grouping strategies.
sample instructional activity that models best practices and exemplary use of Library of Congress resources. Model Activities will span the Primary Source Purposes - Lessons, LibraryQuests, Introductions, Investigations and Formal Assessments.
These activities showcase the breadth of resources available at the Library.
Communicate the rationale for Teacher Actions and give one or more examples to show how well students progressed toward the Understanding Goal through use of primary sources.
How do you know what your students have learned?
Individual students may create products to demonstrate their understanding:
Ideas for products or Formal assessments include:
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Groups of students show understanding when they:
When the learning experience has focused on deepening understanding and building knowledge and skills, classrooms often have these characteristics:
Teachers facilitate the learning experience when they:
Understanding Goals articulate an essential big idea of the subject in language used with students, connect to the content of the Learning Experience, and is specifically articulated in the Teacher Actions.
Investigative Questions guide the exploration of a topic on key concepts related to the broader Understanding Goal.
Fine Arts - Model Activity: Moving Art Gallery
Language Arts - Model Activity: Women's Writing
Social Studies - Model Activity: Gettysburg
Math - Model Activity: Eye Spy
Social Studies - Model Activity: President's as Expert Leaders
Science - Model Activity: Zoom In Inquiry 3
P.E./Health - Experience: Healthy Choices - FitSmart Club
| LOC Collection | links reference entire collections, not individual items |
| Manuscript | letters, diaries, journals, printed ephemera |
| Map | printed maps |
| Motion Picture | motion picture recordings |
| Music | sheet music, lyrics, recorded music |
| Oral History | recorded and printed oral histories |
| Political Cartoon | printed cartoons of a political nature |
| pictures, lithographs, prints, images of works of art, architectural drawings |
Best Instructional Practices are effective teaching methods supported by research on improving student achievement. Primary Source Learning Experiences exemplify best instructional practices using the following definitions:
Teaching for Understanding challenges students to connect learning to central ideas of the subject and to use understanding, knowledge, and skills flexibly in their work.
Differentiated instruction recognizes and responds to specific needs of diverse learners through the Teacher Actions in the Learning Experience content, process and/or product.
Literacy Instruction yses specific strategies to enable students to locate, comprehend, evaluate, and apply knowledge. Primary Source Learning includes Information Literacy and Reading Comprehension in Literacy Instruction.
"Information Literacy is the ability to structure a search across a variety of sources and formats to locate the best information to meet a particular need." (Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning, American Library Associationand the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 1998)
"Reading Comprehension is the ability to understand text, including words, numbers, and images in print or digital form." International Reading Association. Specific reading comprehension strategies used in model activities include: predict outcomes, ask questions to clarify, hypothesize, summarize, recall main ideas, apply information, infer, connect ideas across contexts, and evaluate information.
Technology Integration uses technology to create unique Learning Experiences for students that could not be achieved without the technology.
The title helps other educators anticipate the content and learning process involved in the Learning Experience.
The Overview describes, in a few sentences, the actions taken in the Learning Experience.
Model Activity: Women's Writing
Participants used differentiated analysis tools to read and interpret a chosen primary source of interest. The jigsaw instructional method is used to promote idea sharing and reflection. After analysis, the facilitator guides participants to make connections between primary sources and larger themes, common elements of different analysis tools, and discussions of classroom applications.
The Audience specifies the group of learners.
Curriculum Placement describes where this Learning Experience is taught within the unit.
Introduction to the unit to be followed by practice in reading and writing in each format.
Participants should have prior knowledge of the Civil war and Abraham Lincoln. Following this lesson, participants will continue to learn about Abraham Lincolon's role in the events leading to and during the war.
All teacher created materials in the Learning Experience Collection use Library of Congress resources.
The following links can help in setting research goals
The description of learners helps the reader recognize how the Learning Experience was designed to address the needs of the participants.
The Sequence of Teacher Actions is a numbered list of teacher actions, each of which should begin with a verb and describe in clear and concise language how to implement the Learning Experience. The sequence describes how students used primary sources to answer the Investigative Question and reflect upon the Understanding Goal.
The description includes:
Reflection offers an opportunity for the teacher to think critically about this Learning Experience, evaluating the success, and suggesting changes for improvement. Explains the results of using primary sources, Best Instructional Practices, and needed classroom management.
Use the following questions to reflect on student learning and the effectiveness of instruction:
Think of the subject as a whole book. Consider a Unit to be a chapter in the book. In Science, units might be: Life Cycles, Light and Sound, Forces and Movement and in Social Studies, units might be: Traditions and Celebrations, Medieval Times, and Colonial America.
Offer samples of student work to provide insight into student learning achieved through this Learning Experience. Use student work to justify the teacher actions in the lesson and to infer about student progress toward the goals. Attach student work that revolves around primary source use. Scan or if digital attached here. Write student oral responses if desired. Request help in scanning student work contact db@aamnva.org. Erase student last names if full name is written on the work. Attach pictures of students working only if the school has obtained permission for student images to be displayed on a web site without identification information.
Materials are resources beyond the Library of Congress that are necessary to implement this Learning Experience, such as worksheets, handouts, rubrics, PowerPoints, non-fiction books, supplies, and other website URLs that are referenced in the Sequence of Teacher Actions. Attach any handouts or materials used with students to implement this Learning Experience. Include primary source analysis tools, rubrics, and any other digital file that can be attached. Do not attach scanned hand written overheads or materials that are not readable.
This item can not be edited by a user.
The information for the item has been verified by the PrimarySourceLearning staff and is valid. Other Learning Experiences may also be using this Library Item, therefore once information is validated this item becomes locked to preserve the data.
If this is not the correct item that you wanted for your Learning Experience, please delete the item from your list and enter the correct item.