Primary Sources Center

I have been working through an online course lately that focuses on the use of Primary Sources in the classroom. After looking at a variety of primary sources for this class myself, I was inspired to open that up to my students as well. I know how valuable a primary source can be to children. They loved to look at, feel, and study "old" things. They want to know where it came from, who it belonged to, what it was used for, and how I got it. My class this year has been especially curious about the primary sources we have studied so far. They have even asked for copies of them to take home so they can look it it more closely. Some of the items I have used so far are a list of colonists aboard the Susan Constant, a map of Virginia drawn by John Smith, and directions given to the first colonists in Jamestown. In order to fit this into my already CRAZY packed-full schedule. 

The result.... a center for studying the objects. I keep my centers or stations in lime green tubs that were purchased form the Dollar Tree. Inside, I have the primary source (this week is a quill pen, wax, and seal.)

Some other primary source choices are picture cards:

Documents from history (I purchased mine at places like Mount Vernon, Williamsburg, Deer Field.)

Books from history (purchased from the same places).

Money from the past (also purchased from Williamsburg.)

 

Here is my printable center I created with the analysis sheet and "I Can" list for the center.

 

 

 I have the complete center available in printable form on Teachers pay Teachers. 

Some other primary source ideas are:

Games

Paintings

Newspapers from a past date

Pictures

 

I also have a primary versus secondary sources cheat sheet freebie for you and your students!

Want to travel for FREE? (Professional Development Opportunitites)

Anyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE to travel! I especially love to travel for free! Who wouldn't? During my summers "off" I spend a lot of my time traveling to various professional development opportunities. Today I want to share some of those with you in case you are interested in trying some of them out in the future! I will list the ones that I have been on, as well as some that I have not, but have heard great things about!


1. Colonial Williamsburg- 

My personal favorite! I always dreamed of going to Williamsburg as a child due to my collecting of all things Felicity from American Girl (a doll and book series that they sold based in the Colonial time frame.) After my first year teaching, I learned that my great state of Oklahoma has a foundation that would pay for me to go to Williamsburg and go through their Teacher Institute! Heck yeah!! Here is a link to the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence that offers scholarships for Oklahoma 5th grade teachers. I was sooo excited. I attended the Teacher Institute in 2011.... you can read more about that here.  It is such a phenomenal learning experience that totally changed the way that I teach history in my classroom. You get to stay in colonial homes from the 18th century, immerse yourself in colonial history, and feel like you have been taken back in time. The Teacher Institute is a week long and includes your room, 3 meals a day, teacher materials, evening tours, and admission to the historical area and Jamestown/Yorktown. There are often scholarship opportunities that will also cover the cost of your flights. You can find more information here: Williamsburg Teacher Institute.

2. Mount Vernon-

The Mount Vernon Teacher Institute was also a fabulous experience! I spent a week learning about all things George Washington. I wrote a seperate blog post here about my experience there. At this institute, you spend the entire week staying at Mount Vernon! You can walk around on the grounds even after it closes, which was amazing! We even got up early one morning to watch the sun rise of the Potomac River. They include your room, board, and teaching materials. What a special experience! I came away with so many neat lesson ideas and things about Washington that I never knew! Once again, my state offers a scholarship... but many other states do as well. Here is a link to their website that has what specific states offer scholarship opportunities, including a stipend for flights.  

3. Gilder Lehrman-
This one I have not been on YET! I have been accepted into the John and Abigail Adams Seminar. I will be in Amherst, MA for a week in July to study their letters to one another the impact they had on history. That is just one of many, many different seminars they offer. I would love to attend the one on Thomas Jefferson, the Constitution, or James Madison in the future!  A hint with getting into these institutes: apply to become an Affiliate School! It only takes a short amount of time and it increases your chances of being accepted into their summer institutes. Here is a link to a list of all summer institutes and how to apply. These seminars include room, board, seminar sessions all day, and a stipend for flights. I will definitely be blogging about my experience while there! 

4. National Endowment for the Humanities-
I have not been to one of these, but have heard great things about them. They offer various summer seminars on topics like: the Underground Railroad, Thomas Jefferson, the Industrial Revolution, etc. Here is a link to all of their seminars and information on applying. They offer a stipend to cover expenses like room, board, flights, etc. They often offer rooms at the university the seminar is being offered at for a discounted price. 

5. Fund for Teachers-
This grant opportunity is completely customizable. Individual teachers can write grants for up to $5,000 and teacher teams of 2 or more can write for $10,000. This money can go towards: room, board, flights, admission to museums or exhibits,etc. Teachers write them for trips all around the world! Nearly all states offer opportunities for these grants. Here is link to their website with more information about each state's offers. 

6. Jamestown Teacher Institute-
A week-long institute on Jamestown and the American Revolution. Meals, room, materials, and travel stipend are included. This is on my list of ones to apply for ASAP!


Others that do not provide transportation, but would be awesome experiences:

-Plimoth Plantation
 They offer a variety of day-long and week-long trainings about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people around Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II.
 
-Smithsonian Department of Education
A variety of free workshops on many topics aavailable. Would be especially awesome if you live near DC or were going to be there for a while.

-Ford's Theater
 They have a few different programs available for Teaching American History Grant recipients. Looks like some good ones on a variety of topics related to Lincoln.

-Dolphin Island
They offer science workshops that are free all along the Gulf Coast. They include topics like: climate change, reefs, and marine science.

So, do you have any that you would add to my list? I would love to hear all about any that you have attended and recommend!

Williamsburg Top Ten

I recently went to Williamsburg, VA for a teacher institute. Here is a list of the top ten things that I got to do while there!


10: Lesson Plans I got great ideas for lessons to take back to the classroom! We learned so many cool things while there. We really learned about the importance of primary sources and how to use them with kids. One of my favorite things were the colonial games! They were so neat. For more information of lessons that are free to everyone, check out the Online Teacher Community.

9: Surrender Field This was a very moving experience to see where so much history took place. Freedom is most certainly not free and it was very evident throughout the week. We looked at so many important people throughout history that were brave and gave their lives for our country. Being at Surrender Field made it that much more powerful.

8: Jamestown I didn't really know what to expect from Jamestown, but it was just awesome! There one one part that was rebuilt to look like it would have in the 18th century, and then another portion that was the actual site of the original colony. It was fascinating to see what life would have been like then. People went through so much to come to this country... and it was certainly not a land of riches and gold like they expected.

7: "Cry Witch" This was a reenactment of a witch trial as it would have taken place in the 18th century. It was very interesting to see how serious being accused of witchcraft was. In the end, we (being the people in the audience) had to vote and decide whether the woman was guilty or not. In the end, all of the evidence pointed to guilt. She pleaded her case, but just could not prove that she was not a witch. We voted her guilty and she was sentenced to death. It was really interesting and eerie all at the same time.

6: Meeting Martha Washington I loved "meeting" her. It was neat to listen to the interpreter's interpretation of how Martha felt during the war. She had an extremely difficult life. She outlived all 4 of her children and 2 husbands. In Williamsburg, interpreters retell stories as if they are really that person. They study them extensively and can answer questions and tell things as if they are really that person from history. 

5: Food The food was DELICIOUS!! Yum! (and free... which made it even better) We had fresh seafood, more ice cream than any one person should consume, deserts that were awesome, great pizza, etc. Everything was really good. One evening (my favorite meal of the week) we went to Christiana Campbell's Tavern. I had delicious crab cakes. We also were taught how to tie our very large napkins around our necks so as not to get any food on our lovely gowns. Here I am with my sweet friend, Mallory.

4: Friends/Connections The 27 other people that I went to Williamsburg with were wonderful. They made the trip that much more fun. I really made some lasting friendships with some of the other teachers. We all bounced ideas off of each other and laughed together too. We did everything together, so you got to know each other quickly! The trip certainly would not have been the same without the friendships and bonds that were formed. This is a picture of me with Linda, Steph and Heather.

3: Shopping I love shopping in general, but shopping in Williamsburg was super fun! There were a lot of things that I bought that you just can't get elsewhere.... like a wig curler, newspapers from the 18th century, Macaroni prints, locally brewed root beer, colonial games and clothing, etc. It was so fun to go to all of the little shops and trade stores.

2: The Ball This was so fun. We just gathered at the Governor's Palace and learned colonial dances by candlelight. It was neat to see the main form of entertainment during that time period. Dance was an important part of their social lives. I have always loved dance, so this part was especially intriguing for me. All of the dances that we learned could be used in the classroom also. It was a fun night of dancing and socializing.

And my #1.... Touring all of the colonial homes! I have always been obsessed with homes and looking inside of them. This was most definitely my favorite part of the trip. I got to see inside so many different places such as the church, gentry homes, slaves quarters, working family homes, governor's palace, capitol building, Powhatan huts, and many more. It was just so neat to get to see what their homes looked like on the inside. It really gave me a view of what was treasured or seen as most important. A home tells so much about a person. These were no exception. Williamsburg had them decorated as they would have traditionally been as well as furnished.

So there you have it! It was a great trip!

Williamsburg, VA

I recently traveled to Williamsburg, VA for their Teacher Institute! It was amazing! I highly recommend it to all teachers. While there, I stayed in a colonial tavern, ate at great colonial restaurants, and visited all of the colonial sites that are within Williamsburg. For those of you who do not know, Williamsburg is a living museum built where an original colonial town was. 88 original buildings from the 18th century still stand. There are many more that have been recreated to perfection! They are just awesome to see.

This is where my hotel room was... in the Red Brick Tavern.

We also traveled to Jamestown and Yorktown to see more historical areas. While in Jamestown, we learned more about the Powhatan tribe and their way of life. We made necklaces, learned about trade, and even learned how to heave a barrel of rum onto the large ships. (I wouldn't have made it back in those days.... too hot and tough!!)

We also looked at the earliest English life in America... not so glamorous. 

We saw Jamestown Island, which is the actual location that Jamestown was originally established. That was really interesting. There were archeologists out digging, still looking for signs of earlier people. Jamestown burned down during Beacon's Rebellion and many believed it was buried under the James River, never to be found. However, they have started finding many artifacts and proof that this is indeed the spot of the first English settlement in America! My favorite part of that was seeing where the original church stood, which happens to be where Pocahontas and John Rolfe were married.  In the picture below, the man is standing where Pocahontas would have stood during the ceremony. So cool!!

We traveled to Yorktown at the end of my trip to see where some famous battles took place. While there, we got to practice being soldiers too (once again, I would have never made it!)

We got to see how soldiers would have lived while away at war. They slept 6 men to a tent. Pretty cramped and not really comfy!

Life was very difficult as a soldier. Discipline was handled by making them wear a sign around their neck for a period of time that stated what you had done wrong. If that didn't work, you were whipped. Women were allowed to go to the camps if her husband was in the camp. She was responsible for cooking, cleaning, laundry, nursing soldiers back to health, and sewing.

Back in Williamsburg, we go to do so many terrific things! I will do a separate post about the top ten things I got to do while there! We learned so many wonderful ideas to bring back to the classroom. For example, we learned some great games to teach the kids such as hoops and sticks, Huckle Buckle Beanstalk, Saw Saw Bre Wa Adesa (not sure on the spelling there), and shut the box. Maybe I will do a separate post with some instructions for those. 

We learned so many interesting things about slavery and ways to present it to children. I always struggled with how to do that. Williamsburg gave some great ideas. It was hard to see that people were treated so awful.

We were fully immersed in colonial life for 7 days. It was like being taken back in time. I would encourage all teachers to look into going. It was such a great experience. I can see how all teacher would benefit from it and take something back to the classroom.  One of the most important things that Williamsburg instilled in us is that it is so important to use primary sources with kids. "Primary sources" are items such as document or artifacts from that time. We used a variety of primary sources such as newspapers, clothing, tools, paintings, furniture, wills, records, etc. to complete activities.

If you want more information on how to apply for the teacher institute grant, visit this website: Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence

Colonial Williamsburg has a website that allows you to take a virtual tour of town, shop in the local stores and find out more info on the teacher institute:

Colonial Williamsburg

Also, there are some wonderful activities online at the online Williamsburg Teacher Community where you can create an account to access some great lessons and primary sources:

Williamsburg Teacher Community

Lastly, the Jamestown and Yorktown foundation also has a great website where you can purchase neat items and finds lessons/ideas:

Jamestown and Yorktown