Every good teacher knows that while textbooks are helpful, they are limited and biased sources of social studies and history content. Moreover, authentic materials—such as primary source documents—have the power to engage students in learning. Therefore, the objective of this assignment is to have you begin to collect resources for your classroom. In this course you are to create a resource collection from the materials at your cultural institution, other institutions, and online. Your resource collection could be in the form of a binder, bin, or website or can be submitted on a flash drive.
You are not required to purchase anything, but you are encouraged to contact local and state elected officials, visit historic sites and museums, go to the library, and obtain resources online. The resources could include maps, museum brochures, photographs, video clips, newspapers, postcards, articles from education journals, primary source documents, and artifacts. The idea is to find original and creative materials for authentic teaching and learning, not to collect textbooks and worksheets.
Include with the resource file a two- to three-page cover letter (single-spaced) that discusses:
(1) the contents – how this folder is organized and the range of its contents;
(2) the social studies themes, topics, or concepts that are addressed. For this you should refer to the NCSS ten thematic strands, the PDE standards in history, geography, civics and government, and/or economics, or the expectations of a particular school district. In other words, your folder should not focus on one topic or theme, but should be broad and encompassing;
(3) at least two teaching ideas based on one or more of the resources.
Link to Historic Germantown’s website.
https://www.freedomsbackyard.com/
