After tonights class I was able to reflect about the things that were big take aways and the things that I still wonder about. Both of the activities that we did in class tonight seemed like very practical hands on lessons that I would feel extremely comfortable doing in my own class.
The grouping of the documents and having us use our investigative skills to determine the time line of the items that we had, followed by the group discussion was a wonderful way to take information and place it outside of a textbook. As a learner who needs to be activity doing something for it to make sense to me this was a wonderful way for me to see how this can direct a lesson. Taking the information that has previously been taught through text that may have no personal connection, and placing real life items in front of students (myself) made me extremely invested in the activity. I do wonder however, how to gather these kinds of documents? Would I allow students to go home and ask relatives or would I do this activity as an introduction to unit as a way of prompting them to begin thinking about that era? We were able to stay focused on the items in front of us, but should I be worried that I may not have students full attention if they do not have a wide knowledge of the time period?
I know that each student will process through things in different ways and at different speeds, but tonights activities were perfect for my style of learning 🙂
Hi Caroline, I am so glad the activities in our recent class session were meaningful for you! There are many great places to find primary source documents to help set up a lesson such as the one we did. A few of these are: Library of Congress, National Archives, Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Check out those sites when planning your lesson using primary sources. Thanks for your reflection.
Hi Caroline.
You ask a lot of good questions that show you are thinking about the feasibility of doing something like this in class. As Lynne mentioned, there are many great sites to find resources like this. I put together a lesson a few years ago with resources I bought at a garage sale. You may not be willing to part with “family” heirlooms, but you might want to consider scanning pieces. I did this with my father’s documents so that anyone might use them.
As to your last question, I’m not sure lack of knowledge about a time period will be a deterrent if the items selected tell an interesting story and make the students want to know more. Does this make sense?