Gateway Writing Project

Exploring How Primary Sources & Place-Based Writing Can Expand Our View of the World

This project, run by Gateway Writing Project  at the University of Missouri-St. Louis  , worked in partnership with the Gateway Arch National Park and Missouri Botanical Garden to design field trip experiences that bring together primary sources and place based writing. The goal of the project was to broaden the definition of literacy by asking students to approach the park’s museum as a text/source for writing. The project trained in-service teachers in the use of digital primary sources from the Library of Congress, provided immersive field trip experiences, and closed with the in-service teachers sharing their experiences with the broader Gateway Writing Project network.  

Good morning! A research team from National Louis University is thrilled to announce that we have received funding from the TPS Midwest Region for a new grant project in collaboration with Illinois State University. A description is provided below.

“Integrating Critical Visual Literacy with Library of Congress Visual Primary Sources for Equitable Education in Illinois” 

The proposed professional development project aims to assist pre-service and in-service teachers in Illinois in developing critical visual literacy skills necessary for analyzing and utilizing Library of Congress visual primary sources to create engaging classroom activities. A critical visual literacy framework and tools for integrating critical visual literacy skills into lesson planning will be developed and implemented into teacher preparation and teacher education programs at National Louis University and Illinois State University. In addition, a virtual workshop series will be offered to educators in Illinois to guide them in utilizing visual primary sources through a critical visual literacy lens into their lesson planning and implementation in their settings.

We welcome collaboration with others interested in this topic and look forward to hearing from you!

The Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Region is proud to showcase an article composed by Midwest Region Consortium partner Meghan Davisson with the Minnesota State Historical Society! This article titled, "Empowering Communities with Local History" showcases some of the excellent work and strategies utilized through the completion of their grant project, "Inquiry in the Upper Midwest."

This article is now live on the resources page of the Midwest Region's updated website, on which we hope to continue to gather writing to showcase the work of our excellent grantees! Thank you, Meghan, for your contribution!

The PBL3 STEAM Institute in Detroit is a multi-day professional learning experience introducing teachers to project-, problem-, and place-based learning. The institute leverages Detroit's histories, culture, museums, community organizations, and outdoor spaces as launching pads for PBL3 unit ideation. 

Using Detroit’s island park, Belle Isle, as home base, a cohort of fifteen Detroit Public Schools Community District teachers (DPSCD) grades 3 through 7 will visit an array of local, informal learning spaces to discover everything from underlying histories to current community-action efforts. Institute staff will then lead collaborative conversations with our participants, helping them see the valuable connections these rich community resources have for student learning across grade-level curriculum connected to larger educational goals.

To deepen and enrich their unit, we will introduce teachers to relevant Library of Congress primary sources and strategies from the Teaching with Primary Sources program. For example, teachers in our institute visit Henry Ford’s automobile assembly Piquette plant and discuss the societal impact of car production from the past, and the industry’s continued effects today. We will deepen this experience by layering in primary sources from the Library, such as this text set on early electric vehicles from Chronicling America, the blog post on early electric cars from the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog, and images from the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library like these. We recognize that the Library is rich in historical documents that teachers can use to enhance their PBL3 units, and we will guide them through discovery of these relevant resources, model use of primary sources, and assist them to incorporate the Library resources into their teaching. 

The Institute will conclude with a gallery walk of teachers presenting their unit plan to their colleagues and to community leaders from the spaces they visited during the week.

The PBL3 STEAM Institute in Detroit is designed and enacted by InnovatED313, a nonprofit that creates and delivers innovative educational programs and teacher PD in Detroit (the 313 area code).