Thursday, March 27, 2014

Classroom Practice and Chronicling America

The webinar went well at least until the lights went out at our school towards the end of the session.   It was the first time the Library of Congress had used google hangout to present a webinar.  The team said they had about 50 people watching live.   It is archived on YouTube and is available to watch at  http://youtu.be/jw-YErEvlUU .  

Diane Cormack from Harrison County West Virginia was the other librarian that spoke about using Chronicling America in the classroom.  There were two ladies, Deborah and Robin that work directly with the Chronicling America Program.  Cheryl Lederle was the host from the Library of Congress.

We were asked questions about what ways we had used the newspapers in the classroom.  Then Deborah and Robin explained that the newspapers are in public domain through 1922 and 36 states have digitized newspapers for the program.

One of the things I did not know is that some of the newspapers are in other languages.  Many immigrants settled close to each other and published newspapers in their native language.  When I heard that I thought what great resources for classes studying a second language.  To be able to read about communities while learning another language.

It really turned out to be fun and I got some new ideas.  Diane said she laminated the newspapers and let the kids use dry erase markers to circle new vocabulary.  I thought that was a great idea.  

I believe Chronicling America is the closest thing we have to time travel.  Today I had the opportunity to talk about using the historic newspapers with kids.  I enjoyed the experience even if the lights went out.

3 comments:

  1. Love this. Thank you for the link. I'm passing this on to my colleague who loves this stuff!

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  2. I never thought about it but it makes sense that papers were published in the language of the people. What valuable sources. Glad you had to chance to participate in the discussion.

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  3. I'm passing this on, Ruth, to those teachers of older students at school. I think they will love the primary source possibilities. Sorry about the lights, but sounds as if you had "most" of it. Thank you!

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