Overview                                                        Back to Navigation Bar

Objectives

Students will:

·                    Students will be able to identify a primary resource.

·                    Students will be able to apply their knowledge to find material on the Library of Congress web page to locate materials on their hero.

·                    Students will have the example of Laura Ingalls Wilder materials and demonstrate the ability to use key words and phrases about their hero to find materials on the Library of Congress website that can be used for their Hero Fair project.

Recommended time frame

5 days of 40 minute classes

Grade level

4^th Grade

Curriculum fit

4^th Grade introduction to Hero’s Fair

Materials

Computer access to Library of Congress website.

Trip to local library, presidential library, or state historical society could be an additional day

National Social Studies Standards              Back to Navigation Bar

Standard 2c. Compare and contrast different stories or accounts about past events, people, places, or situations, identifying how they contribute to our understanding of the past.

Standard 2d. Identify and use various sources for reconstruction of the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.

Standard 2e. Demonstrate an understanding that people in different times and places view the world differently.

Standard 4f. Explore factors that contribute to one’s personal identity such as interests, capabilities, and perceptions.

Cedar Rapids Media Standards                           Back to Navigation Bar

Standard A: Develops and uses successful strategies for locating information.

Standard B: Selects information appropriate to the problem or question at hand.

Standard E: Derives meaning from information presented creatively in a variety of formats

Procedures                                                     Back to Navigation Bar

Day One:

Introduce primary documents by showing some examples and allowing the students time to discuss. Remember a primary source is an item that was created or written during the time the event being studied took place, with direct personal experience to the event.

Why is using primary documents important? The primary resources give a variety of perspectives and allow the students to critically think about what was going on at the time of the event.

Use the Laura Ingalls Wilder materials as an example. Also have on hand a few of her books. Have the students discuss which are primary resources and which are not.

Use the half-sheet worksheet at the end to determine who can say what a primary document is and, if needed, revisit this on day two.

Day Two:

Allow the students into the computer lab to start using the Library of Congress website. Walk them through it for the first half and then allow them to experience the website with teacher guidance to help when there are troubles. Show them examples from the Laura Ingalls examples provided in this lesson plan.

Family Link:

http://www.loc.gov/families/

American Memories:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

Day Three:

More time in the computer lab looking up primary sources on their hero for the Hero Fair. Show students alternate ways to find information they can use. In our example of Laura Ingalls Wilder, we found sources that would represent where she lived and the time period she lived in, and then used a local presidential library to find more primary sources.

Day Four:

Visit the local public library, presidential library, or state historical society to find more primary resources on the heroes that the students are learning about. (Not required but would benefit students to have more experience with primary sources.)

Day Five:

Review what is a primary source and what is not a primary source. Have students share some of the primary sources that they have found through their research. Use these items to continue to work on their Hero Fair project.

Evaluation                                                      Back to Navigation Bar

This will be evaluated with the rubric. The information will also be part of their final presentation at the Hero Fair.  The quality of their materials will be evaluated again at that time.

Extension                                                        Back to Navigation Bar

From here on, the students will continue to research their selected hero for the Hero Fair. They will add information from other sources in the library and websites including, but not limited to…

World Book Online: http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb

EBSCOhost: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid

Biography.com

http://www.biography.com/

Presidents of the United States:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

Students will also continue to work on their Hero Fair projects. By using primary resources, the people researched will become more “human” to the students, and they will hopefully find enough materials to see through their hero’s eyes and from their point of view while having the knowledge to defend or support those views with what else has happened in history.

Image

Description

Citation

URL

Example of a sod house

"John Bakken Family" and "Bakken Sod House Story." Walsh Heritage: A Story of Walsh County and Its Pioneers. [Grafton, N.D.?]: Walsh County Historical Society, 1976. v.2, p. 958-959.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ngp:@filreq(@field(NU

  

  

MBER+@band(ndfahult+c061))+@field(COLLID+ndfa))

“Mary of the Wild Moor” was a song that Laura wrote to Rose about in a

February 5, 1937 letter.

American Singing Nineteenth Century Song Sheets, NY, NY, H. De Marsan, American Song and Ballads, Series 3, Volume 3, “Mary of the Wild Moor”.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/AMALL:@field(DOCID+@lit(sb30333b))

A covered wagon like the one Laura and her family would have used to travel across the Midwest.

John C. H. Grabill Collection, The last large bull train on its way from the railroad to the Black Hills, 1890, John C. H. Grabill, Photographer.

http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsc/02500/02504v.jpg

Today in History February 7^th pictures and information about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life

Today in History, Library of Congress, American Memory Home, February 7th

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb07.html

Letter from Harper + Brothers Publishers changing “Indian Country” to “Little House on the Prairie”

Rose Wilder Lane Papers, Laura Ingalls Wilder Series, Correspondence 1933-1936, August 27^th, 1934, Herbert Hoover Library Museum, West Branch, Iowa

Laura Ingalls Wilder photo, 1921

Rose Wilder Lane Papers, Laura Ingalls Wilder Series, Photographs, #136 Herbert Hoover Library Museum, West Branch, Iowa

Almanzo Wilder photo (no date)

Rose Wilder Lane Papers, Laura Ingalls Wilder Series, Photographs, #225, Herbert Hoover Library Museum, West Branch, Iowa