News flash. Treasured summer reading list tradition in danger

Yeah. I’m a little behind schedule. Let’s just say that my May and June did not go as planned and leave it at that.

And one consequence of the altered agenda is that my summer reading list, a treasured tradition dating back to the summer following my first year of teaching middle school, is now in serious danger. Along with the March Madness basketball tournament, the annual May collapse of the Kansas City Royals baseball team, the NCSS national conference, and watching A Christmas Story multiple times in December (“you’ll shoot your eye out, kid”), my self-assigned summer reading program is something that’s been part of my yearly schedule for almost as long as I can remember.

An early mentor from my Derby Middle School teaching days, Mike Ortmann, was fairly adamant about the whole thing. “This is not a part-time job,” he said. Don’t get lazy over the summer, he said. Read some books. Expand your mind. Hone your craft. Be sure to stay current, he said.

So . . . who was I to argue? The guy was a serious social studies rock star. And ever since, I’ve created a list of books that I plan to read during the summer months. It’s a great idea. Read some stuff. Take some notes. Get smarter. (Over the years, I’ve added some podcasts. Made sure to hang out with social media buddies. Watched a variety of video clips. But my heart still belongs to books.)

Of course, it’s common knowledge that I’ve never actually finished one of these things. Not going to happen this year either. The 2023 shortened list is a mix of work-related and just fun-to-read books. In no particular order:

Chronicling America Research Guides. Where have you been all my life?

I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of people who work at the Library of Congress. And they’ve all been awesome. I’m sure there’s probably one or two who work over there who are Las Vegas Raiders fans or who will tell you that they don’t like Kansas City Joe’s burnt ends. And other than those one or two, they’re all a pretty amazing group.

But after last week, my love for the Library of Congress and the people who work there has gone through the roof. I’ve talked about the Library’s amazing Chronicling America website before. And so you already know how powerful and useful I think Chronicling America is for social studies teachers and their students.

(Never visited and need the short version? Chronicling America has almost 200 years worth of digitized primary source newspapers available for scanning, analyzing, downloading, and printing. It’s searchable by keyword. By language. By state. By ethnicity. And it’s free.)

As we all continue finding ways to integrate inquiry-based learning activities into our classrooms, primary sources are the foundation for much of what we’re asking kids to do. Of course, part of the problem is finding primary sources that align with what we want kids to learn. Chronicling America can help.

But after last week? Things just got a whole lot easier. The reason?

Can the Chronicling America site get any better? Yes. Yes, it can.

Seriously. Other than somehow delivering their results with a large iced tea and delicious side order of hand-cut fries, is there any way that the Library of Congress Chronicling America site could get any better?

I mean, you’ve got almost 200 years worth of digitized primary source newspapers available for scanning, analyzing, printing, and perfect for use for all sorts of learning activities in your classroom. Searchable by keyword. By language. By state. And it’s free. What’s not to like?

So is there really any way that it can get better? Yes. Yes, it can.

Adding a map with an embedded timeline would make it better. So . . . that’s what the LOC people did. You now can search for newspapers by location and time visually using their new interactive map. So cool.

Is it possible to love the Library of Congress too much? No. No, it is not.

Is it possible to fall more deeply in love with a library?

I mean . . . I’m already in love with the Library of Congress. That’s a given. But I had the chance to attend a remote meeting yesterday with a few of LOC’s amazing staff and I’m pretty sure that I’m more in love with the LOC now than I was before.

And it’s all because of three things. Three things that I kind of knew the Library had but forgot they had or they were moved and I wasn’t sure how to find them.

So . . . if you’re looking for more reasons to love the Library, you need to spend some time exploring these three awesome digital resources.

iCivics just added something new. Yup. Primary Sources.

We’re all familiar with iCivics, right? The government / civics centric website created with the encouragement and support of former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Conner? The site with remote learning resources for parents and teachers?

With literally hundreds of lessons, simulations, and games – all designed to help you help your kids understand the importance of civics? With many in Spanish? With updated activities focused on media literacy? And some sweet PD webinars and videos built in?

All for free?

No? Well . . . there’s no better time than the summer months to poke around and find some stuff perfect for your grade band and content. Cause, trust me when I tell you this, you’re gonna find some things. Lots of things. Lots of free things.

Head over there now and spend a few hours. Then come back here to take the next step. Cause there’s a next step.

And if you’re already familiar with iCivics, awesome. You’re ready for the iCivics next step.

A focus on primary sources.

History books make the best gifts. Some resources to kickstart your shopping list

We all know that the best holiday gifts are books. And the best books are history books.

Perhaps you need some gift ideas for a friend or loved one. Perhaps you need to make a few oh so gentle reminders to those buying your gifts.

Ah, heck. Feel free to buy these for yourself. After the fall you’ve probably had, you deserve something nice. (And don’t forget to buy local!) No matter why you’re looking for a book, the lists below have got you covered.

Where should you start?