Let’s build a library. A public library. A digital public library.

There are lots of online archives out there. Heck. Sometimes it seems as if that’s all I write about.

But the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is different somehow. It’s bigger. More intentional. Specifically designed for the 21st century. Searchable in handy ways. But it’s different in one very big way. It gathers tons of online stuff all in one place:

The DPLA brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science. It offers a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States.

It does this in two ways:

• The DPLA uses an easy-to-use portal where anyone can access America’s collections and search through them using novel and powerful techniques, including by place and time.
• The site uses a sophisticated platform that will make those millions of items available in ways such as smartphone apps.

You can browse and search the DPLA’s collections by timeline, map, format, and topic; save items to customized lists; and share their lists with others. The site also also explore digital exhibitions curated by the DPLA’s content partners and staff. Once you find what you’re looking for, you get a link back to the original item.

The cool thing is that,

White House missing its insides and the historical process

Okay. I’ll be honest. Since I first started this particular post, it’s been re-written multiple times. It started out as a short, fun little piece on an interesting period of American history that I wasn’t familiar with. It morphed into a commentary on how to teach historical thinking. It took a short detour into how kids analyze primary source documents. And now . . . I’m not really sure.

(Part of the problem was the fact that I was without my laptop for a week, going commando with only an iPad. And in case you’re wondering – iPads and WordPress don’t play nice. I may have used some grownup words in front of small children at one point.)

So.

I would love for you to hang around for the entire thing but I’ll understand that at this point you might just want to go back to watching basketball.

Still here? Great. First, a little context.

Tip of the Week: Old Pictures and other useful image sites

We know how powerful the integration of images in our instruction can be for our students. Part of the problem is actually finding images to use. The Library of Congress and the National Archives have some great stuff. But where else can you go when you need photos?

I’ve written a ton about where to find photos and how to use them. And I recently ran across a handy site focusing on historical images. Called Old Pictures, the site organizes its collection by themes and has some nice stuff.

Need more? Try some of these:

Multimedia Presentation Resources for Teachers
Access to a wide range of copyright free resources
Digital Librarian: Images
Huge collection of resources
Nations Illustrated
7,700 pictures from around the world
New York Public Library Photo Collection
30,000 digitized images from books, magazines & newspapers also original photographs, prints and postcards
NYPL’s Digital Gallery
Tons of historical documents!
Pics4Learning
Copyright-friendly images for educators
PictureHistory
Easy to use digital library illustrating more than 200 years of history
Picsearch – The Search Engine for Pictures
Pictures of Places
A directory of links to websites providing pictures of geographical places and sights
HumanLine
Free educational use of tons of history related images

Have fun!

History Geek Week Day Three: Teaching with American Art and Portraits

I walked in late and I love this session already. Three people from several Smithsonian art museums are highlighting some of the ways teachers can use artwork and portraits as teaching tools. And the stuff they’re sharing is pretty sweet. The content is focused on the Civil War era but you could do this kind of thing with just about any period.

You can find most of it online at their Civil War with Art exhibit. Be sure to also check out  their Teachers Guide page with stuff on a variety of topics including Reconstruction, Native Americans, and Manifest Destiny.

A couple of sample activities:

Flag Day and historical thinking

If you had to take a guess, in what country and during what time period was this photograph taken?

Go on. A simple educated guess.

Not sure? Try this one.

One more should do it. The following image was included in a nationally syndicated children’s magazine of the period that encouraged correct posture and form.

That’s right! Nice job.

This is the American flag salute. And since today is Flag Day, what better way to celebrate than to talk about a fun teaching strategy you can try next fall?

The first image is from 1915, most likely taken at a school. The second image is from May 1942 at a school in Southington, Connecticut. The last image is from The Youth’s Companion, a magazine that was published between 1892 and 1929.

And yes, it does look a bit like . . . well, the sort of salute that was used in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. It makes for an interesting story and can help you train your kids to analyze primary sources.

An added bonus? You can tell your principal that all of this is aligned to the Common Core.

First things first. Review an earlier History Tech post to learn more about something I call a Visual Discrepant Event Inquiry. Come back here when you’re done. I’ll wait.

Great. Now you know that you can use the Visual DEI strategy to hook kids into content by asking them to solve an intriguing problem. Once it’s been revealed that the event in the image happened in the United States, you can move onto the textual part of the activity.

Provide them with the text of the original Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

and the current version:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Ask them a simple question:

Why are they different?

Depending on the age of your kids, you may need to provide some scaffolding. Heck, you might need some scaffolding. The short version? In 1892, a guy named Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance as part of a national Columbus Day celebration. Part of the plans included instructions on the proper method of saluting the flag while reciting the Pledge:

At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute — right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” At the words, “to my Flag,” the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side.

Known as the Bellamy Salute, it remained as the official form of salute until December 1942.

The Pledge itself changed twice. The first time in 1923, when concerns about immigrants pledging allegiance to “my” flag, which might be the flag of their home country, caused the addition of the phrase “the flag of the United States of America.” The second change was in 1954 when “under God” was added during the Red Scare period.

Asking kids to source primary documents like these provide a great way for you to encourage and practice discipline specific thinking skills such as cause and effect, change and continuity over time, and multiple points of view.

Plus, let’s admit it, it’s a lot of fun messing with the brains of your kids. Creating “academic discomfort” in the minds of your students forces them to solve problems, rather than simply memorizing stuff. This sense of not knowing the answer encourages high levels of cognitive activity which is a very good thing.

Happy Flag Day!