The purpose of this project is to get students to engage in an investigation of authentic materials from the past. The students will be provided with four primary and secondary source materials and questions to guide their investigation. Sources include photographs, a letter from Theodore Roosevelt Sr. to Theodore Roosevelt Jr., a 16th century Spanish map of the Americas, and John Latrobe's - The Juvenile National Calendar ca. 1825, which is a rare book. After examining the documents the students answer critical thinking questions. Student writing and art work may be published on the project web site. The project site has links for students like to the kids almanac and to communicate with online experts such as college professors where they are free to ask questions. The site also provides a variety of historical documents to analyze from the Magna Carta to George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address in 2007. They also link to other collaborative projects. The project contains a student gallery where your students can display their own historical treasure chest. This chest is created by them and is filled with both primary and secondary source materials which tell something about their lives. This is a great way for students to make a connection between things that happened long ago and things that are currently taking place in present day.
This would be a great project to participate in and would align with my social studies curriculum. In the fourth grade, students practice reading primary and secondary sources of information in order to draw conclusions about the way of life in the colonial period. Having access to documents such as letters from Christopher Columbus and the Iroquois Constitution would help students gain a deeper understanding of the trials and tribulations felt by the people during this time period. This would be a great opportunity to incorporate some Internet research skills as well as website evaluation so students can learn how to judge whether documents are authentic. This project would also be fantastic for my English Language Learner students because of the use of concrete examples. These examples would help them to understand the difference between primary and secondary sources.
I would participate in this project during my Maryland Unit. I would spend about two weeks engaged in this project. The first week would be spent exploreing the various document sources and drawing conclusion on how the people in that time period lived. I would spend the second week having my students create their own historical treasure chests which could then be displayed on the project website.