at Eastern Illinois University 

Sharing Our Stories with Primary Sources

Hobbies, Crafts and Collectibles show 303

We all know that teaching with primary sources from the Library of Congress is a great way to engage learners and help them understand that history is fact, not fiction.  We can also do this with personal artifacts that belong to members of our community.  And the experience has even more impact when someone can share information about those artifacts.  Look around your family and community to see who can help you reach learners and offer students a new perspective on a topic.

Cindy was recently a guest on the WEIU program Hobbies, Crafts and Collectibles to share information about her collection of Railway Postal Clerk artifacts related to our Constant Motion project.  Click on the image above to watch the program. (Video shared by WEIU on YouTube

You can learn more about mail by rail by searching the Library of Congress website, the Smithsonian Institute National Postal Museum and the Illinois Railway Museum.

Contents

Content in the center of each page will change, but the side navigation bars  remain the same throughout the site.  On this index page you will find
What is
Teaching with
Primary Sources?
News,
Announcements
& Opportunities
Resource
Spotlight

News, Announcements and Opportunities
 

Click for 2013 Summer Institute Information!
   

 

 

 

 
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Refresher Course or new professional development!  Are you are interested in a "refresher" course to review the benefits of teaching with primary sources and explore updates to the Library of Congress website?  Are you a new teacher that is eager to learn about new tools and resources for your classroom? Do you have a specific theme or topic that you want to focus upon and develop curriculum?  Contact us! For information visit TPS in Action at EIU or contact Cindy at cwrich@eiu.edu or 581-7857.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

TPS EIU in Action and TPS EIU Jump-Start! We are now offering our hands-on professional development project that combines research, exploration, collaboration and authentic application at your local site, but with two options for scheduling.  TPS EIU in Action allows teachers to participate in the program over six to twelve weeks.  TPS EIU Jump-Start packs the program into four intense weeks with more independent work expected.  Check them out and contact us!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Resource Spotlight

The Source  Our newsletter full of resources is back and the topic of the newest issue is the Diary. We are currently looking at ways to serve teachers better with this outreach project. Is there a topic or theme that you would like us to cover?  Send us an email and we will see what we can do.

 newsletter
                                       
holocaust

Teaching the Holocaust with Primary Sources. Check out our newest themed resource for your classroom. This booklet gives you a brief history into the Holocaust plus primary sources from the Library of Congress with analysis tools to use in your classroom.
           

Teaching Constant Motion: The Job of Railway Post Office Clerks with Primary Sources is available in both html and PDF format.  We are excited to share classroom activities that relate to our railway postal clerk project.  Take a look at how we use maps, documents and more to teach about the events, people and times as mail by rail was coming to an end.

 constant motion
         
TT4T

Podcast - Cindy continues to be part of TechTalk4Teacher podcasts with Dr. Tom Grissom, of the EIU Instructional Technology Center.  The podcasts discuss classroom tech from hardware and software to resources-with special attention paid to the Library of Congress, of course. 

What is Teaching with Primary Sources?

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Founded in 1800, the Library seeks to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, which bring to bear the world’s knowledge in almost all of the world’s languages and America’s private sector intellectual and cultural creativity in almost all formats. The Library seeks to spark the public’s imagination and celebrate human achievement through its programs and exhibits.

In doing so, the Library helps foster the informed and involved citizenry upon which American democracy depends. Today, the Library serves the public, scholars, Members of Congress and their staff—all of whom seek information, understanding and inspiration. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s award-winning Web site www.loc.gov.

The mission of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program is to: build awareness of the Library’s educational initiatives; provide content that promotes the effective educational use of the Library’s resources; and offer access to and promote sustained use of the Library’s educational resources.

The Library achieves this mission through collaborations between the Library and the K-12 educational community across the United States. The program contributes to the quality of education by helping teachers use the Library’s digitized primary sources to engage students, develop their critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.  Learn more about the Library’s TPS program and other resources available to teachers at www.loc.gov/teachers.

Members of the TPS Educational Consortium assist in the design of the TPS program and offer TPS professional development on an ongoing basis, year round. Visit www.loc.gov/teachers/tps to view a list of current Consortium members and their respective states.

Funded by a grant from the Library of Congress, the Teaching with Primary Sources program at Eastern Illinois University has been actively collaborating with Central Illinois K-12 educators since the program inception in January 2004.  We are proud to support the goals and mission of the national TPS program through workshops and presentations at no cost. TPS was brought to the EIU campus thanks to the efforts of Senator Dick Durbin.

We welcome your comments and ideas about our site. Please email us if you would like to see something new or have an idea for a theme.
Updated 5.20.13

 
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Contact Information

Teaching with Primary Sources
Eastern Illinois University
600 Lincoln Ave.
Charleston, IL 61920
217-581-7857

Director: Cindy Rich, Ph.D.  


 

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