Isaac Fesler Junior High School teacher Karen Mackley was chosen from a pool of more than 500 applicants to participate in one of the Library of Congress’ summer teacher institutes.
Each year the library chooses a group of K through 12 educators to attend one of its five teacher institutes in Washington, D.C. During the five-day program, participants work with education specialists to learn how to use primary sources in the classroom.
Primary sources are “the raw materials of history,” according to a press release sent out by the Library of Congress. They’re original documents and objects that were created at the time.
Students can check out all the digitized historical artifacts and documents on the library’s website.
Educators attending the institutes get the chance to develop primary-source-based teaching strategies they can take back to their districts.
Mackley is one of several teachers selected to attend the institute from different states representing large metropolitan school districts and smaller rural ones. She will be attending the institute June 10 through 14.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.