Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Region
Projects funded through the Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Region expand our knowledge about the teaching and learning with primary sources. The Midwest Region appreciates the work of those involved in subcontracts that provide professional development or conduct research throughout the Midwest. The following projects have been funded by the Midwest Region.
Type II Projects
Indiana
Central Indiana Teacher Inservice: Local History and the Library of Congress
Sixty five elementary inservice teachers will be trained to use the Library of Congress website at three sites in central Indiana. This Type II award was granted to Ball State University. The workshops will be conducted during the school day and substitutes will be provided so that teachers can work together and with their local historical society so that they create a support network that can work with the Library of Congress' website. Teachers will work with local primary source photographs from the Ball State University photo collection to find connections between their local resources and the Library of Congress sources. They will be required to create a teaching packet of a historical collection, a seven lesson plan unit, and an assessment task for each collection. All materials will be widely distributed throughout Indiana.
Enhancing the Deliberation Process Using Primary Sources (EDPUPS 2008)
A Type II award was given to Indiana University's Center for the Study of Global Change and includes the following co-sponsoring organizations: Indiana University-Center on Congress, Geography Educators' Network of Indiana, and the Brown University Choices for the 21st Century program of the Watson Institute for International Studies. One of the goals of this Type II project is to apply the skills of integrating the digital primary sources from the Library of Congress to the deliberation process as defined by the Integrating International and Civic Education Project (see, IICE, www.indiana.edu/~global/iice/). The IICE deliberation process focuses on a multifaceted topic and invites students to analyze that topic from diverse local, national, and international perspectives. Another goal of this project is to broaden the use of the Library of Congress digital primary sources by Indiana teachers in general, particularly with regard to international topics. This project will utilize a train-the-trainer model to impact more than 125 teachers throughout the state of Indiana.
Enhancing the Deliberation Process Using Primary Sources II (EDPUPS II 2009)
Indiana University's Center for the Study of Global Change was awarded a Type II grant to build upon the experiences of those who participated in EDPUPS I. This project will incorporate Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Level I and Level II programs provided by Midwest Center for Teaching with Primary Sources (MCTPS) personnel and instruction in the Integrating International and Civic Education (IICE) deliberation process. Each of the 20 participants will incorporate the use of primary sources and the deliberation process to create a learning experience with an international focus that will be presented to other participants and posted to relevant websites.
Iowa
Primarily Teaching (2008 & 2009)
This Type II award was given to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association, two years in a row, to conduct a professional development workshop. This project will provides a varied program of lectures, demonstrations, analysis of documents, independent research, and group work that introduces teachers to the holding and organization of the Library of Congress as well as the Hoover Presidential Library. Participants will learn how to do research in historical records, create classroom materials from records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students' skills and enthusiasm for history, social studies, and the humanities. Each participant will create a lesson plan that will be shared online
Kansas
Project History Lab
Kansas State University received a Type II grant to provide a week long seminar to in-service history educators. This project is intended to help teachers gain insight into professional historical research, develop pedagogical models of implementing historical inquiry into instruction and learn enhanced methods of teaching with primary sources. Participants will develop a lesson plan utilizing primary sources from the digital archives of the Library of Congress.
"There's No Place Like Home"
A Type II grant was awarded to Emporia State University to enable middle and high school teachers to identify and utilize primary sources that are "close to home". The 31/2 day workshop will begin at the historic home of William Allen White where participants will engage in a scavenger hunt of primary and secondary sources. Throughout the rest of the workshop, participants will examine the four phases of the instructional cycle for teaching with primary sources and integrate this cycle into two lesson plans. These newly created lesson plans will be incorporated into the teachers' classrooms when they return to school in the fall.
Thinking Historically Through the 1930's
This Type II project, targeting American history teachers and media specialists, was awarded to the Educational Services and Staff Development Association of Central Kansas (ESSDACK). This project focuses specifically on the Dust Bowl and Great Depression in the state of Kansas. One of the main goals of the project is to increase teacher mastery of significant people, events, issues and ideas of American and Kansas history. In addition to content mastery, teachers will be instructed on finding primary sources and using them to increase student historical thinking and content knowledge. Each participant will create a lesson plan to be used in his or her classroom and shared on the project website. Also, project staff and participants will present project outcomes at the Kansas Council for the Social Studies and the Kansas Council for History Education conferences.
Kentucky
Library of Congress Digital Documentary Kits
The University of Kentucky has been awarded a Type II grant to create moviemaking kits for American history teachers using primary sources from the Library of Congress. This project will utilize the train-the-trainers model to reach over 100 in-service teachers. Six teachers have been chosen to be trained to create moviemaking kits during a four day summer workshop. These teachers will then provide professional development workshops for other teachers in their departments or districts. The in-service teachers will be instructed in the use of the pre-made kits, moviemaking and the use of the Library of Congress databases. The moviemaking kits will be available online through the Digital Directors Guild.
Michigan
Michigan Council for History Education & Genesee Intermediate School District
This Type II award has been given jointly to the Michigan Council for History Education (MCHE) and Genesee Intermediate School District. The goal of the project is to acquaint social studies and media specialists with the use of primary sources and the American Memory collection from the Library of Congress. Twenty teachers and media specialists will take part in a four day seminar to learn to incorporate primary sources into instruction and produce lesson plans that are appropriate for use with the newly-adopted Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations.
Michigan Council for History Education and Wayne Regional Education Service Agency Teaching with Primary Sources Workshop
This Type II award is a joint effort by the Michigan Council for History Education and the Wayne Regional Education Service Agency to provide professional development for social studies educators and media specialists during a four-day summer institute during the summer of 2008. The goals for this institute are to fully acquaint participants with the Library of Congress web site so that they can create lesson plans to facilitate the newly-adopted Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations for grades 5, 8, and Senior High School. These lesson plans will be disseminate on several web sites and will be highlighted during a number of presentations at state-wide conferences.
Minnesota
Minnesota History is United States History: Meet the Standards Workshops
A Type II grant was awarded to the Minnesota Historical Society. The National History Day (NHD) and Teacher Education (TED) staff will coordinate to provide three day-long workshops for educators across the state of Minnesota. The goals of these workshops are to familiarize teacher with Library of Congress and Minnesota Historical Society collections, aid educators in identifying the parallels between national and state and local history, help teachers meet Minnesota state standards and provide teachers with classroom-ready primary source materials. The workshops are also intended to promote the National History Day program as an effective means to engage students in the use of primary source materials.
Ohio
Teaching with Primary Sources: A Joint Project for Teachers and School Media Specialists
The Southwest Ohio and Neighboring Libraries (SWON) has been awarded a Type II grant which aims to teach teachers and school media specialists about the Library of Congress website and the American Memory Collection. Through workshops, participants will learn to integrate and promote the use of primary sources into classroom instruction. Teachers and media specialists will be paired in order to build relationships and encourage cooperation in the classroom. Each pair will create a lesson plan.
America's Journey: Using the "American Memory Project" to Meet Ohio Content Standards
This Type II grant was awarded to Miami University Hamilton in order to incorporate Library of Congress primary sources into existing Teaching American History (TAH) projects. The main goals of this project are to educate teachers about the use of primary sources and to create a repository of lesson plans and classroom activities that integrate primary sources to meet Ohio State Content Standards. This project will utilize the train-the-trainer model to educate the 175 teachers who participate in TAH projects. All participants will produce lesson plans to be implemented in the classroom and shared on various websites.
National History Day in Ohio
A Type II grant was awarded to the Ohio Historical Society to enhance professional development opportunities for teachers, student outreach and National History Day curriculum materials. Teachers and students will be provided with activities and workshops that train them to find and use Library of Congress digital resources. The project aims to teach 1,500 students to use primary sources for their History Day projects through classroom outreach. Workshops will be offered to roughly 100 teachers to learn to integrate primary sources into instruction
Wisconsin
Engaging the Minds of Young Historians: Connecting National History Day and the Library of Congress
This Type II project builds on the strong relationship between National History Day and the Library of Congress to engage young historians in historical research through the interpretation of primary sources. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will partner with the Washburn Academy to conduct a professional development workshop for teachers and media specialists during the summer of 2008. Teachers will develop a primary source lesson plan and integrate that lesson into their instruction during the 2008-09 school year. It is hopeful that the results of this effort will be reflected in the quality of National History Day projects presented at the regional and state competitions held in the spring of 2009.
Creating High Quality Lessons Using Primary Resources and Cutting Edge Technology
This Type II award, given to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will utilize the train-the-trainer model to teach in-service middle and high school teachers to develop and implement multi-day lessons using primary sources. A cadre of eight teachers will be instructed in the use of the Library of Congress archives and components of quality lessons. These teachers will then develop, field test and revise lessons which incorporate primary sources. The cadre of teachers will provide professional development sessions to other teachers in their schools to share their knowledge of the use of LOC sources and the integration of primary sources into instruction. The lessons developed by the cadre will be shared online.