All History is Local:   Students as Archivists

The Arkansas Memory Project

Neal Gibson and George West

The collection of an archive of primary source materials constitutes the principal activity of a year-long American Studies class focusing on historiography and the use of primary sources. Students collect primary source materials from their families or local communities. In analyzing these primary sources, students examine the interplay between national, state, local, and personal history. Over a period of several weeks, students produce a digital collection modeled on the Library of Congress' American Memory. In the culminating unit of the Arkansas Memory Project described here, students built a Web page based on the analyzed archival collection, and made their own projects available online to other Arkansas schools. Many students provided a lesson plan linked to their Web page. The Arkansas Memory digital collections produced by members of the class may be viewed at the Web site of the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences. Teachers and students from other states and localities may easily follow this model to create local history Memory Projects of their own. Teachers may choose to limit the lesson to a single unit in which students build the archive of primary source materials, or may extend the lesson to a year-long project by including units in which students create Web pages and lesson plans based on their archives.

1. Introduction to Assignment  (1 class period)
   1. Print and distribute to the students printed copies of the assignment, Collecting Primary Source Materials.
   2. Explain or review the concept of a primary source. (See Historian's Sources.)
   3. Explain or review the concept of an archive.
   4. Discuss the different types of primary source materials that may be collected in an archive.
   5. Discuss the concept of field work in collecting primary source materials.

2. Introduction to Digital Archives  (1 class period)
   1. Introduce students to American Memory, showing examples of the different types of materials collected and digitized in this project. (See More browse options)
   2. Introduce students to concepts of online searching. Use different approaches to searching the American Memory collections, such as keyword and title browsing, and searching by region, time period, or materials format. (See the Learning Page: Getting Started section for background information.)
   3. Provide ample classroom time and guidance so that students may explore American Memory collections as a model for their own archival projects.
   4. Introduce students to the Arkansas Memory Project, by showing several examples of Web pages and archival collections produced by their peers. Show the students the list of Examples of Project Topics.

3. Formulating Individual Student Projects  (2-3 class periods)
1. Students propose possible topics for collections and relate these topics to themes in state or U.S. History.
2. Provide students with information about where and how to search for primary source materials in their own localities.
3. Provide students with information about where and how to search for secondary source materials in support of their projects.
4. Students determine criteria for assessment checklists based on the questions in "Analyzing the Collection" on the student handout Collecting Primary Source Materials.
5. Students choose their topics. Students produces written statements describing their topics and outlining their plans for collecting materials  (by end of ninth week of class).
4. Collecting the Archive  (approximately 16-18 weeks, time outside of class, and 6 class periods for peer review)
1. Students collect primary source materials, research related materials, and analyze their findings, using 25 Questions to Ask Your Primary Source.
2. Referring to the criteria for assessment checklists that they have created, students monitor each others' progress through monthly roundtable discussions during the period of researching, collecting, and analyzing materials.
5. Written Analysis of Archival Collection
   1. Teachers may choose to culminate this unit with a written analysis of the archival collection and/or other demonstrations of mastery of the concepts of archival collection and analysis   (1-2 class periods and/or time outside of class).
   2. Teachers may also choose to extend the unit with activities outlined in the Extension section below.

6. Oral Presentations of Memory Projects  (2 class periods)

   Students present their final Memory Projects in class. Their formal oral presentations are illustrated by the artifacts themselves.

1. Create Web pages for their analyzed archives (seven class periods and time outside of class). See Teacher Procedure and Student Guide: Creating a Web Page.
2. Follow the procedure in Creating a Lesson Plan for their Web pages (two class periods and/or time outside of class).
3. Exchange their findings with students in other states.

• Peer Review Assessment
  1. Students determine criteria for assessment checklists of the archive based on the questions in the "Analyzing the Collection" of the student handout Collecting Primary Source Materials.
  2. As students continue to collect, analyze, and research related materials, the progress of their project is monitored by their peers. Classroom teams meet for a monthly roundtable discussion and evaluation of their projects, using their criteria for assessment.
  3. The peer review process may be used in evaluating the final project, the written analysis, and the oral presentation.

• Teacher Assessment
  
  1. By the end of the ninth week of class, each student produces a written statement describing his or her topic and outlining a plan for collecting materials
  2. Students turn in peer review after each monthly roundtable.
  3. Teachers may choose to culminate this unit with a written analysis of the archival collection and/or other demonstrations of mastery of the concepts of archival collection and analysis.
  4. Teachers evaluate oral presentations of final projects.

Lesson Extensions: Creating a Web Page and Lesson Plan for Your Collection

• Peer Review Assessment
  1. Students assess each others' Web pages using the Web Page Evaluation Worksheet.
  2. The peer review process may be used to evaluate the final archival collection and the oral presentation.

• Teacher Assessment

  Teachers assess the following products:

  1. Classwork:
     1. Classroom teams make printouts of at least three sample history Web pages, including two student-produced pages and one Web page introducing a related American Memory collection.
     2. Classroom teams complete a Web Page Evaluation Worksheet for each of these three Web pages (one set per team).
     3. Each student creates an Internet Search Log.
     4. Each student does a Web Page Evaluation Worksheet on one of the team's selected Web pages.
  2. Homework:
     1. Students complete a rough draft of their Web page. Each student submits a printout of the draft, an index of the Web page, and Web Page Evaluations by two (2) peer reviewers.
     2. Students complete a final draft of their Web page. Each student submits the final draft and a self-evaluation using the Web Page Evaluation Worksheet.
     3. Students may earn bonus points by Creating a Lesson Plan for use with the Web page.
  3. Oral Presentation of Project to Class.