Unlocking history's trove: presidential library Web sites offer powerful education opportunities. (The Online Edge).How educationally valuable would it be if your teachers and students could gain access to six boxes of formerly classified presidential documents kept locked in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's White House safe in the '30s and '40s? And what insights might they derive from combing through President Truman's diaries, letters and speeches describing negotiations with the Allies and detailing feelings about his decision to drop the atomic bomb in World War II? Such original source materials would humanize historic events that are part of the curriculum in every school district and provide perspectives on presidential decisions that no textbook could duplicate. The great news is that all of these documents--and many more--are available online through the Web sites of the presidential libraries that were set up to preserve the papers, records and historic materials of U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover. These sites offer searchable documents, photographs, political cartoons, audio and film clips, and are all linked to NARA Nara (nä`rä), city (1990 pop. 349,349), capital of Nara prefecture, S Honshu, Japan. An ancient cultural and religious center, it was founded in 706 by imperial decree and was modeled after Chang'an (see Xi'an), the capital of T'ang China. , the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration site. The libraries also include special sections targeted to K-12 education, with multimedia exhibits, curriculum guides, lesson plans and teaching units. The traditional social studies curriculum in most K-12 schools emphasizes the acquisition of facts: names, dates and events. In contrast, the National Council for the Social Studies National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is a US-based association devoted to supporting social studies education. History Founded in 1921, NCSS engages and supports educators in strengthening and advocating social studies. specifies that K-12 students should "understand the purpose of government and how its powers are acquired, used and justified," which requires collecting and processing often conflicting data to arrive at conclusions based on historical evidence. Online documents from the presidential libraries offer unparalleled opportunities for students to do such original research. School Applications In order to help students and educators "make sense of the vast amount of source material on the Internet," Peter A. Pappas, assistant superintendent for instruction in New York's East Irondequoit Central School District The East Irondequoit Central School District is a public school district in New York State that serves approximately 3600 students in the eastern half of the town of Irondequoit in Monroe County, with over 500 employees and an operating budget of $54 million (~$15,051 per student). , developed a Teaching with Documents site. This site offers guidelines for judging the quality and accuracy of primary documents, sample document-based activities for grades 2-11, and recommended online resources. Some districts now include links to presidential library resources on their Web sites. The Iowa City (Iowa) Community School District--has used presidential library resources to develop online curriculum projects, including an exhibit on the life and presidency of Herbert Hoover. Similarly, Unified School District A unified school district is a school district which includes both primary school (kindergarten through middle school or junior high) and high school (grades 9-12). In Illinois, these districts are called unit school districts. 230 in Spring Hill, Kansas Spring Hill is a city in Johnson and Miami counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. The population was 2,727 at the 2000 census. Geography Spring Hill is located at (38.745316, -94.829261)GR1. , worked with the Eisenhower library to develop an outstanding original "World War II Remembered" multimedia online research museum featuring timelines, recorded student-conducted interviews with local World War II veterans, and artifacts such as photographs, maps, telegrams, letters, newspaper articles and mementos from Kansas citizens. These included items contributed by a bomber pilot shot down over the Adriatic Sea, and another veteran who survived the Bataan Death Match. Web Resources NARA www.archives.gov NCSS www.ncss.org POTUS POTUS abbr. President of the United States ipl.si.umich.edu/div/potus The Presidents of the United States Presidents of the United States President Political Party Dates in Office Vice President(s) George Washington 1789–97 John Adams John Adams Federalist 1797–1801 Thomas Jefferson www.whitehouse.gov/ history/presidents Teaching With Documents www.edteck.com/dbq Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Digital Archives www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu Harry S. Truman For other persons named Harry Truman, see Harry Truman (disambiguation). Harry S. Truman (May 8 1884 – December 26 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as vice president, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Library & Museum www.trumanlibrary.org Iowa City Community School District Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) is the school district that serves Iowa City, Iowa. Approximately 11,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend several pre-school sites, eighteen elementary schools, three junior high schools, two senior high schools, and one www.iowa-city.k12.ia.us/ hoover/hh.html Unified School District 230 www.usd230.k12.ks.us/pictt Odvard Egil Dyrli, dyrli@uconn.edu, is senior editor and emeritus professor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. . |
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