Connecting ESSEX LINCs

Fifth Cohort
Explores Primary Sources
At National Archives

At the first workshop of the 5th set of sessions, new Essex County educators were happy to begin an ongoing discussion of how to incorporate primary source materials into their lessons. Teachers spoke about the historic contributions of their own communities and how they can get those stories out to their students. The first workshop focuses on the value of an exploration of local history as a way to tell national stories. Strategies for adaptation of lessons using local materials were offered for teachers to develop materials tailored to their own classroom needs.

Essex County offers a rich and varied history that can be used to tell national stories. From maritime to industrial, economic to political – this region played an important role on so many levels.

National Archives staff led teachers on a behind-the-scenes tour of their facility and showed them original documents that offer an insight into common people's involvement with the federal government.

The lesson this time is really a three part use of resources, encompassing topics that are diverse and related to a varied set of grade levels and backgrounds. The first sub-lesson involves an exploration of United States symbols, in particular the use of eagles on documents that are then recognizable as related to governmental issues. Educators tried out a "concentration" memory game devised for kindergarten and first graders.

The middle level lesson discusses regional resources and how even in colonial times certain areas were known for certain goods. In this activity students look at the primary documents behind textbook maps that show how New England traded with the South and the Middle Colonies to get materials that they could not produce themselves. By looking at a 1770s coastal manifest, you can see trading patterns evolve and better understand the disucssion of regionalism in a social studies text.

In the third sublesson our museum educator, Rebecca Zimmerman has unearthed interesting materials relating to a voyage of a schooner, Two Friends, from Beverly to the Carribean. Looking solely at the listing of goods coming in and out of port does not tell the whole story. After researching at the Beverly Historical Society, she found a set of Captain's orders that instructs him to purchase slaves in Haiti and sell them in Cuba to finance a shipment of sugar and molasses. The number of slaves purchased is small and their time spent on ship is relatively short - however this document tells a hidden tale which can bring alive the past. Check out the documents in our primary resource section!

"The presentations helped me realize how important it is to explain what primary sources are. The wealth of lessons created and the shared with other educators made the task less daunting. I want to bring more primary sources into my classroom!"

Connecting ESSEX LINCs: Connecting Elementary Teachers, Sources, and Scholarship to Explore Local History in a National Context.

Beverly Public Schools (BPS) in partnership with Salem State College (SSC), the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC) and the National Archives and Records Administration—Northeast Region (NARA) presents Connecting ESSEX LINCs: Connecting Elementary Teachers, Sources, and Scholarship to Explore Local History in a National Context. This project increases elementary school teachers’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of events and topics in American history through an intensive professional development program.