These lessons are designed to
give elementary students guided practice in working with primary and secondary source material.
For more
resources click links page.
Historical Detective
Search the American Memory collections to solve the riddle.
You can read about other "Amazing
Americans" such as Buffalo Bill Cody and his "Wild
West" show; the heroism of Harriet Tubman, who helped many slaves
escape bondage; the music of jazz great Duke Ellington; or the
inventions of Thomas Edison. (You will even be able to see his first
motion picture!)
If you think break-dancing is a new invention,
then visit "Join
America at Play," where you'll see a film of an early
break-dancer from 1898! Ever hear of a "cloth sandwich"?
You'll know what I'm talking about when you read the stories in this
section. And, of course, we have many tales to tell about baseball,
America's pastime -- from the "Cyclone" (pitcher Cy Young) to
Jackie Robinson, a hero both on and off the field.
"Jump
Back in Time" and find the settlers who landed on Plymouth
Rock. Or jump to a more recent age and read about be-bop, a type of
music invented long before hip-hop. Do you know what happened on the day
you were born? You can find out here.
Want to travel across the country? Then click on
"Explore
the States," where you'll find fascinating facts and stories
about all the states and Washington, D.C.
And if you've ever wondered what the first
cartoons looked like, then click on "See,
Hear and Sing." You'll read about a man who in 1896 figured out
how to make inanimate objects move. You know about the guitar, the piano
and the trumpet, but how about the oud, the zurna and the marimba? These
"oddball instruments" influenced today's modern musical
instruments.
Port of
Entry Use your detective skills to uncover the stories of immigrants
to the United States
Zoom Into
Maps Using historic maps from the Library of Congress, help students
understand what maps can tell us.
Library of Congress Lesson
Index by
Theme, Topic,
Discipline or Era
It's No Laughing Matter Use this interactive activity to take apart
real-world cartoons as you learn how to spot the methods behind the
message.
My good friend Cathy
Alfieri designed these sites to help children master various social
studies skills using documents. Maps
and Globes |
Economics |
Government
| |