LC for Teachers

Have you been following the Exquisite Corpse Adventure on the Library’s read.gov website? Now you can listen to the story as well. The Library has created podcasts for each chapter. Click on the links that say “Hear It” for each chapter.

Want to encourage your students to create their own Exquisite Corpse adventure? Go to http://www.readingrockets.org/books/fun/exquisiteprompt and find links to writing activities you can use with your students. In addition, students can enter a contest and have their writing published online and have a visit either online or in person with one of the authors or illustrators of the Exquisite Corpse Adventure.

Looking for ideas on how to incorporate manuscript materials into classroom activities? There is a new page for teachers on the Manuscript Division website. The page includes links to resources on the Teachers Page, suggestions on where to look for manuscript collections on the Library's website, and a highlighted document from the Library's manuscript collections. Currently featured are George Washington's School Copy Books.

Students in grades K-5 and 6-8 are invited to draw or paint a design depicting the wonder of reading and books, in the Borders 2010 National Book Festival Bookmark Contest. The top prizewinners’ designs will be displayed at their local Borders store and the grand-prize winner’s design will be printed on bookmarks to be distributed at the 2010 National Book Festival. Download an entry form at http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_bookmarkcontest?cmpid=SA_20100625
or see your local Borders store for specific contest entry details.

During the International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE) in Denver, Colorado on June 29th, Library of Congress staff presented information on its professional development programs for teachers. A special highlight of the session was the introduction of the Library’s fifth online self paced module, "Finding Primary Sources." This hour long self-paced session provides users shortcuts to finding primary sources, tips for planning a search and information to learn more about searching the Library’s website.

Are you coming to the American Library Association conference? Come to the Library of Congress on June 25th between the hours of 2-5pm. Several reading rooms will be hosting open houses where you can meet the staff and access the collections. Also from 5-7pm the Library will host tours of the Jefferson Building and the Main Reading Room.

Plus during the conference (June 24-29) the Library’s Sales shop will offer a 20% discount to attending the conference. Just make sure to say “LCALA” when you are checking out.

Those of you interested in our education programming you will have the opportunity to meet Elizabeth Ridgway, the director of the Educational Outreach program, during the Office of Strategic Initiatives open house in the National Digital Library Learning Center between 3-5pm.

The Library of Congress is the focus of a one-hour special, “The Real National Treasure,” on the HISTORY channel’s longest-running series, “Modern Marvels,” airing on Thursday, June 10 at 9 p.m. ET. More than 50 staff of the Library and the Architect of the Capitol tell the Library’s story and show the audience the vast array of daily activities of acquisition, copyright, cataloging, security, preservation and serving readers.

You can learn more about HISTORY's Modern Marvels television program at http://www.history.com/shows/modern-marvels

And you can learn more about the Library's Hidden Treasures at http://myloc.gov/CuratorMultimedia/HiddenTreasures.aspx

Need to find primary sources from a specific time period? Use the American Memory timeline to locate resources from the collections. Click on the time period and find an overview of the events from that period. Then click on specific topics within the time period and get an overview of the topic and then links to primary sources of the period.

Have you ever wondered what inquiry learning looks like? A new professional development interactive has just been released from the Library of Congress called Supporting Inquiry with Primary Sources. In the hour-long program, teachers and students demonstrate how primary sources can be used to support inquiry learning. Topics covered include:
• Inquiry Overview
• Primary Sources and Inquiry
• Inquiry in Action

Be among the middle or high schools selected to have students help capture and archive today’s primary source materials on the Web.

There is a growing awareness of the importance of preserving the often transitory digital cultural artifacts distributed over the Web. But so far, the vast majority of decisions about what Web sites will live into the future have been made by adults, and reflect adults’ sensibilities. In order to broaden this perspective, the Internet Archive and the Library of Congress launched the K-12 Web Archiving Program.

For a complete program description and application questions, go to <http://www.loc.gov/teachers/newsevents/events/archive_the_internet/>
Applications must be in by July 2, 2010.

Voices from Afghanistan highlights letters sent by citizens of Afghanistan to Radio Azadi, the Afghan branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. These letters capture the concerns and hopes of ordinary citizens in Afghanistan living under the extraordinarily difficult conditions of conflict and war. Included are letters from a school boy who complains about the broken window in his school and how the cold keeps him from learning and a school teacher wanting to make sure his students receive instruction from trained teachers. Also included are poems, artworks and stories that highlight the creativity of the Afghan community

It can be tough for students and teachers to find resources that analyze specific poems. This guide suggests some resources available at the Library of Congress that patrons can use to locate scholarly criticism about a poem.

Are you or your students looking for the name of book or poem? This guide is can help users find a literary work when they know only its plot or subject, or other textual information such as a character's name, a line of poetry, or a unique word or phrase.

If you are going to be at the Texas Library Association Conference, April 14-17, 2010 Gail Petri will present two concurrent sessions: Books as Hooks to Library of Congress Online Primary Sources (Thursday, April 15th from 10:15 – 11:50) and a session on the Library of Congress Teaching With Primary Sources Professional Development System (Friday, April 16th from 8:00AM – 9:50 AM).

Interested in having students learn more about poetry and the people who write them? Have them listen to "The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress". This series of one-hour shows features some of the country’s top poets, who discuss and read their poems. Poets included in this year’s series include Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, Kwame Alexander, Martin Galvin, Silvana Straw, Quique Avilés and Lucille Clifton.

Using great images from the Library of Congress just became even easier. The Prints and Photographs Online Catalog has been redesigned and now boasts a new look and powerful new features, such as full-page galleries, savable searches, and easy-to-bookmark pages. Stop by loc.gov/pictures to find new ways to view more than 1 million digitized images from the Library's collections.

This overhaul is going to affect many of the images included in the Library's materials for teachers, so if you notice any misbehaving links over the next few weeks, please bear with us. We'll have them updated in the next few weeks. If you have any questions, use the Ask a Librarian feature on loc.gov/teachers.

The Library of Congress, for the first time in its history, has a space devoted to the reading interests of children and teens in its historic Thomas Jefferson Building. Children and families can come into the Young Readers Center, read some of the many books available or explore the internet to find other reading resources. The books in the Young Readers Center are non-circulating but staff in the center will help users locate libraries in their communities where they can look for books of interest. The Young Readers Center is open from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is closed on federal holidays.

Folklife Resources for Educators is an online portal for educators working in K-12 and undergraduate education. It provides access to resources for teaching about aspects of folklife, culture, and the traditional arts, with a focus on place-based and community-based teaching materials. These resources were reviewed by staff in the Library’s American Folklife Center and the curriculum materials listed are freely available and downloadable.

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society. The website includes information about programs at the various institutions, information on exhibits and links to resources for teachers.

In addition on the Library of Congress Teacher’s Page we are highlighting some of our women’s history lesson plans, themed resources and presentations. You can find our Teacher’s Page at http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

If you are attending NCCE in Seattle, Washington from March 2-5, 2010 you can meet Gail Petri and Sherrie Galloway who will be participating in the all day NECC 2010 Teacher Librarian Summit on March 3rd from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Gail and Sherrie will also present six one hour concurrent sessions on March 4th and 5th . The sessions are: Teaching With Primary Sources: Audio and Video ; Teaching With Primary Sources: Maps; Teaching With Primary Sources: Photos; Using Books as Hooks to Primary Sources; Differentiation Using Primary Sources; and Library of Congress Teaching With Primary Sources Professional Development System.

The Educational Outreach Division of the Library of Congress is seeking applications from secondary teachers for a Teacher-in-Residence position during the 2010/11 school year.

The Teacher in Residence works with Educational Outreach staff to help teachers incorporate the Library’s collection of over 16 million digitized primary sources into high-quality instruction. Previous Teachers-in-Residence have lead professional development workshops for teachers in Washington, DC and across the United States. They have represented the Library at various conferences and meetings and developed teaching materials and lessons that use the Library’s digitized primary sources for national dissemination. Learn more about the program and access the application form at the url provided above.