Classroom Resources > Resource Type
In a world full of junk mail and an endless array of catalogs, students may not think much about where it all started—in Chicago, Illinois in 1872, when entrepreneur Montgomery Ward mailed a one-page catalog to rural shoppers.
Explore how mail-order catalogs have changed over the years. Most libraries will have reproductions of a Ward or a Sears and Roebuck catalog. Alternately, access the linked images from the entry on Ward from the Engines of Our Ingenuity website or the online images from an 1875 Montgomery Ward catalog available on Flickr (with login). Ask students to consider how and why catalogs have changed over the years. After discussing the obvious differences, such as the use of color in modern catalogs and the differences in paper quality, focus students' attentions on the layout and style of the catalogs. As an extension, ask students to compare their findings about printed catalogs with online catalogs.
Read an article published in Fortune magazine in 1935 on Ward's mail-order catalog business during the Depression. The article includes photos of the office workers who processed the orders for the company.
This article from the American National Business Hall of Fame puts Montgomery Ward's accomplishments in historical context.
This page, part of the PBS site Chicago: City of the Century, offers a brief look at Montgomery Ward's efforts to preserve Chicago's lakefront area. The site also offers information about Ward's early mail-order business in the context of Chicago's history.
Connecting the United States from east to west, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in Strasburg (formerly Comanche), Colorado on August 15, 1870. In spite of this fact, the Golden Spike Ceremony celebrating the railroad's completion took place months earlier in a different location: May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah.
There are many misconceptions surrounding the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The Golden Spike Ceremony that took place on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah was actually arranged at the last minute. Because there were so many people in the area, photographers were unable to get a picture of the event and journalists had difficulty seeing what was happening.
Access the National Park Service website and take a look at the webpage Golden Spike. With your students, explore all the differing accounts of what happened as the railroad neared completion. Discuss the reasons people need and want ceremonies, and why ceremonies, such as the driving of the Golden Spike, may not always match the events that they are intended to celebrate.
Companion to the PBS series The West, this website includes details on the Transcontinental Railroad in the context of other important events related to America's expansion to the west.
A Brief History of Building the Transcontinental Railroad
Part of the PBS American Experience site, this collection offers numerous resources related to the railroad, including interactive maps, a timeline, a teacher's guide, and much more.
One of the "Treasures of Congress," this collection of primary documents tracks the various stages of completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Gutenburg invented the printing press, but William Caxton was the first person to use a printing press to print books in English. Caxton printed over 100 different titles, including every work in English literature available at the time.
Have your students consider how the printing press affects their world by completing a printing inventory. Ask students to spend a day writing down everything they use that has been printed, such as books, pamphlets, even cereal boxes. The next day, compare the lists and develop a "super" list of all the printed materials that you and your students interact with. Once the list is complete, invite students to discuss the impact that printing has on their lives and to project the changes that may occur as computers enable people to share information digitally rather than in print.
This site features a Free Activities page where students can learn about bookmaking in different cultures and find instructions to help them make their own books. The site also provides pages for teachers and families.
The BBC offers a brief biography of Caxton and links to related resources.
One of Caxton's most famous publications is his editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. This site includes video images of the rare books as well as historical information about Caxton and printing.
In 1959, the U.S. satellite Explorer VI took the first photographic image of the planet Earth from space while passing over the Central Pacific Ocean. The black-and-white image shows a portion of the ocean and the cloud cover in the area.
The first picture of Earth taken by Explorer VI probably does not look like what your students will imagine. Share the first picture from the Explorer VI Satellite with students, making sure to click on the image for an enlarged view. Discuss the differences between the images of the Earth that we typically see today (as shown on this date) and this first image. Use the opportunity to explore the changes in technology that have made photos today more sophisticated than the images taken in 1959.
Explore a variety of images of Earth taken from space. This database of images, published by the NASA-Johnson Space Center, includes photographs of cities, weather features, landscapes, and other specific geographic regions.
This site discusses the Earth Observing System, a set of 14 satellites observing the oceans, continents, and atmosphere to determine the pace and future of global warming and other trends.
This website, produced by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, provides real-time images of Earth and a summary of what the images tell us about the planet.
Tim Berners-Lee shared his original prototype for an Internet browser that would allow people to share information by using a special mark-up language to post text, link to other documents, and display graphic images.
Birthdays are a great time for looking at pictures from years past. Look at past images of the World Wide Web by taking your students to the WayBack Machine. The WayBack Machine indexes billions of webpages, showing how they have changed over the years. Have your students brainstorm a few websites to explore, and then look at how they have changed by viewing older versions. Students will enjoy comparing webpages and thinking about how they have changed over the years.
In today's world, it is important to teach children about Internet safety. This site provides engaging resources for parents, educators, and kids.
This site traces the development of the Internet from a tool for science and government to a tool for businesses. Make sure to also check out Triumph of the Nerds, a companion website for the PBS television special Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires.
Visit the webpage of the inventor of the World Wide Web. You can read about his background, his original plans for the Web, and his latest projects.
This resource summarizes a study on the influence of the Internet on literacy instruction.
Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, although perhaps it should be, since Mexican Americans treat it as a bigger holiday than do residents of Mexico. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, where in 1862 a small number of Mexican soldiers defeated the French 100 miles east of Mexico City. People of Mexican ancestry in the U.S. celebrate this day with parades, folk dancing, mariachi music, and other fun.
Ask students to conduct research in the library and on the Web to find images and artifacts that suitably represent Mexico. Students can choose to research a piece of art, music, dance, literature, or food. Challenge students to think beyond stereotypical images of Mexico and Mexican-American culture (such as tacos, chihuahuas, and sombreros), and look for objects and icons with a deeper and more substantial meaning. Start your students' research with a brainstorming session which can include:
- Artists such as Diego Rivera
- Ancient Mexican peoples, such as the Aztecs
- The history of the Mexican state of Puebla
After students have completed their research, have them create a presentation that highlights something interesting, beautiful, significant, or amazing about their choice-and share the information with the class.
This article from America's Story from America's Library discsusses Cinco de Mayo as a "local legacy."
This site contains basic information about Cinco de Mayo, as well as dozens of links for further exploration an activities.
Xpeditions provides this map of Puebla, central to the story of Cinco de Mayo.
The country's oldest cultural institution, the Library of Congress (LOC) is today also the largest library in the world. It houses almost 128 million items, including over 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 57 million manuscripts. The LOC's mission is to make its wealth of resources available to the Congress and the American people.
The Library of Congress (LOC) offers the perfect place to practice and refine research skills. Introduce students to the resources available at the Library of Congress website by conducting one of these research projects:
- Examine the September 11 attacks at the September 11, 2001 Documentary Project, filled with relevant resources.
- Explore Immigration in America with interviews, information on immigrants from all over the word, a timeline, and more.
- Students can investigate their own state's history or you could assign each student a different state to explore.
- This feature offers students many Amazing Americans to research. Select from presidents, reformers, explorers, musicians, authors, scientists, inventors, athletes, and more!
- StoryCorps offers ordinary people the opportunity to record their stories, which are then housed at the Library of Congress.
Enter the Library of Congress website at their homepage. Here you'll find links to a wealth of resources for the classroom.
This section of the Library of Congress website is designed especially for teachers. Included are lesson plans, activities, professional development, and more.
This section of the Library of Congress website is designed just for young people. Featured topics include amazing Americans, the U.S. states, an historical timeline, pastimes and sports, and music.
Part of the American Memory Project of the LOC, this section provides information on what happened in history and culture every day of the year.
The son of a French immigrant, Paul Revere worked as a gold- and silversmith for more than 40 years in Boston, Massachusetts. In the years before the revolution, Revere gathered intelligence information by "watching the Movements of British soldiers," as he wrote in a personal account of his ride. Although he was joined by William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott, it is Paul Revere who is generally remembered for making this historic midnight ride.
As you study Paul Revere, have students learn about primary source documents while researching their family histories.
Paul Revere's ancestry can be traced back to his great-great grandfather, Jean Rivoire, born in France in about 1610. Challenge your students to examine their own roots by investigating likely sources of information about their ancestors. First, discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources. Brainstorm some possible primary sources, and then have students research their family histories. Some possible sources include a family Bible, interviews with family members, a grandparent's diary or journal (with permission, of course), letters and other correspondence, or photographs.
Next, have students create a family tree from the information they have gathered. Have students compare their family trees and discuss some of these questions: How far back were students able to trace their ancestry? How many different countries of origin are represented in your students' family trees? Why might it be difficult to trace some family trees? How can students make a contribution to preserving their own family histories?
This site features the real story of Revere's historic ride. Links to other resources, including Revere's biography, are also found here.
This Archiving Early America page features a Flash movie on Revere's ride.
This page from AmericanRevolution.org offers an account of Revere's famous ride in his own words.
Read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, which immortalized Revere's famous ride. Compare Longfellow's account with Revere's own version at the Revere Speaks website above.
TeenTober is a nationwide celebration hosted by libraries every October and aims to celebrate teens, promote year-round teen services and the innovative ways teen services helps teens learn new skills, and fuel their passions in and outside the library. TeenTober allows libraries the flexibility to choose what to celebrate (digital literacy, reading, technology, writing, etc) and the length of time for each celebration.
Celebrate this year's TeenTober by encouraging your middle or high school students to:
- Join a book discussion group at their school or public library.
- Read biographies of their favorite musicians, comedians, politicians, or sports figures.
- Read books about a hobby that interests them.
- Read books that approach a subject through humor.
- Read what they want to read, just for the fun of it.
The official website for TeenTober includes information on getting ready, registering, and celebrating the month-long event with young adults.
Have students check out the Young Adults' Choices list, a collection of books selected by teams of teenage reviewers.
Learn about more books for teens through this ReadWriteThink.org podcast series. Review past episodes and subscribe so that you don't miss future ones.
This blog includes information about books for young adults, including reviews and links to podcasts.
The Bill of Rights was ratified by three-fourths of the newly formed United States in 1791 to ensure individual rights that were not addressed in the United States Constitution. These first 10 amendments to the Constitution enumerate and protect many of our rights, including freedom of speech, worship, the press, and assembly.
Bill of Rights Day is a good opportunity for students to explore a variety of students' rights issues. Ask students to identify an issue that has come up in your school, such as dress codes, drug testing, zero tolerance, privacy, religion, or freedom of expression. Have them explore the ways in which the Bill of Rights protects and does not protect students, as well as some of the past and recent challenges to students' rights. Have students write position papers or debate individuals or teams of students with opposing points of view. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Student Rights page has information and articles about recent court cases focused on students' rights.
Students can continue to explore the Bill of Rights by examining the ways in which it applies to current events and issues such as homeland security, prisoners' rights, the death penalty, and more. Provide access to a daily newspaper. Then ask students to construct a scrapbook or bulletin board display of articles that address Bill of Rights issues.
This website from the United States National Archives offers a look at the actual Bill of Rights, with links to high-resolution images and related information.
This ACLU resource provides a brief history of the Bill of Rights and the rationale for the creation of these 10 amendments to the United States Constitution.
This resource featured on Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids provides information about citizenship and the Bill of Rights.
This online exhibit includes images of many original documents and describes how the Bill of Rights was passed.