Just One Day - an Activity
Cross posted on the Teaching with Primary Sources Teachers Network
I was looking around for a New Year's Eve relevant image and this front page from 1936 jumped out at me. One day of news from any old random day can provide so many avenues for questioning and research. I would love to give this page to a room of 11th graders and see what they could figure out in 30 minutes.
What happened to Dr. Mattson and his son? Was this related to any other prominent kidnappings?
What regulations existed in 1936 that made a 5 day work week not the norm? Who was involved in this endeavor? What happened to it?
Robert Cuse seems to be quite a player in international arms dealing - what ended up happening to him and his business?
Why is it news where Mrs. Wallis Simpson is staying?
What were the United Dry Forces?
What happened to Sen. Burke's plan to limit the President to one 6 year term? How far did this idea get?
If I were still in the classroom I think I might get a randomizer that gives us a date and a year between 1890-1960 - and send the students into Chronicling America to see what the country was talking about that day. Students could look to local papers, regional ones, more nationally focused... You could have categories for most random story, biggest national impact, strangest reporting, a story about something still relevant today, a story about something completely irrelevant today, something connected to a topic studied, something/someone you've never heard about before, etc.
The ability to practice research skills, questioning and expand understanding of the past is vast. The resources of the LOC make something like this so possible, engaging and relevant. Join us for more ideas and discussions about primary sources in the classroom - https://tpsteachersnetwork.org/
