Teaching + Learning

Building Elementary School Students’ Curiosity Through Trial and Error

In this blog post, educator James Staton writes about how he values moments when he is wrong because they lead him to new lessons. Read more on his strategies to encourage all elementary students to explore their questions without fear of being wrong.

What Makes a Primary Source a Primary Source?

This is a post from the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog.

Primary Sources & QFT: Interactive Unit Plan

Explore this clickable, interactive unit plan from history teacher Johnny Walker's classroom to understand how you might incorporate the QFT with primary sources multiple times throughout a unit. See how you can center student questions in your curriculum.

Primary Sources & QFT: Google and Other Tips for Finding Primary Sources

Watch a demonstration of a search for a primary source QFocus from the Library of Congress, starting with Google. Learn how to do a Google search limited to the Library of Congress website and how to dig into the collections once you get there.

Primary Sources & QFT: Introductory Video

Primary sources are powerful tools to use in learning, but they can pose a challenge for students. What happens when we teach students how to ask their own questions about primary sources? Hear from students and teachers who are using resources from the Library of Congress in combination with the QFT to spark more joy, curiosity, and a deeper engagement with primary source learning.

Lesson Snapshot: QFT & Primary Sources in an ESL 4 Classroom

In this lesson snapshot, a high school ESL 4 class delves into factory farming, sustainability, and the food industry through Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma. They use the QFT twice throughout the unit; once as a pre-reading exercise and later to unpack two juxtaposed primary sources images of farming then and now, armed with knowledge from the book.

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Teaching + Learning

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