Kaleena+Kessling

I chose to complete assignment number three. The topic I decided to focus on was The Civil War. I completed two teacher's guides for analyzing photographs and sound recordings from The Civil War era.
 * Teaching with Primary Sources **

I would use the photographs and sound recording as a introduction to my Civil War unit. I would begin by having the student walk in and having all three images displayed on the Smart Board having the students answer various questions.

Part 1: Analyzing Photographs
Using the teacher's analysis guide for photographs look at photographs number 1, number 2, and number 3 (All are tintypes of children/soldiers). Student will observe, reflect, and question while looking at the 2 tintypes from the civil war. Hopefully students will be curious about the note in photograph # 1 and the youth of the soldier in photograph # 3. For more tintypes visit the Flickr site for the Library of Congress-Civil War Faces. The video clip below is a great extension to use after analyzing the photographs. It also includes the photo of the small boy and a description of what is said in the letter written by the boy/soldiers mother.  media type="youtube" key="nFKmf7V81Lc" width="425" height="350" align="right"

Part 2: Analyzing Sound Recordings
 After discussing the tintypes and why there were made and carried by loved ones, and soldiers during the war play the sound clip. Using the teacher's analysis guide for sound recordings have the students complete the guide answering the questions stated, while developing their own questions. Band music from the Civil War era 

__**Questions:**__ 1. Why did you choose the one that you did I chose this assignment because I wanted to incorporate old images/photgraphs into my lessons. It is important to use several images of the Civil War in the curriculum so the students can see the war visually rather than just reading about it. Seeing the images and hearing the music helps bring the book and curriculum alive and it makes the process more real. My students usually comment about how young the soldiers were, which is surprising to them.

2. How does it work with your background in education As I mentioned above I try to incorporate several images/photographs in my science and social studies classes. I think it is vital to show student images in science and social studies and allow them time to just observe and analyze the images. Just allowing students this time to look and think is imperative to the learning process and it is a skill many students today just don't do in our fast paced society.

3. How would you use this in a staff development training that you might do in your future educational career <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I would use this wiki page to display the wide range of artifacts that are at every teacher's fingertips at the Library of Congress. I think educators forget that the Library of Congress exists and has a variety of free lesson plans and lesson ideas, especially for the average history teacher. Teachers are always looking for images they can use in their lessons that are copyright free. The images on LOC Flickr page are all copyright free which is a very nice feature,

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">4. How can using the Library of Congress enhance your specific subject area as well as others. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The LOC site has a variety of historical tools that can not only be used in a social studies class but also across various other subject areas. A math concept that came to mind while searching the LOC website was looking at old newspapers to compare and contrast prices then and now. Speak as a Social Studies teacher I know I will use the LOC site in most of my lessons this year. It is a great resource and tool to have in your teacher's tool box. Last week I used the site to show my students the images of the Constitution papers that the Library of Congress has on display under their Creating the United States exhibit.