
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920;
cgonzal@unm.edu
September 5 , 2006
UNM/APS Mentor Teacher Takes Part in Library of Congress Institute
Barbara Form, a fourth/fifth grade teacher at Manzano Mesa Elementary School, was one of 21 teachers nationally to take part in the Library of Congress Teacher's Summer Institute. Form is a mentor teacher for the career development program, a partnership program between the University of New Mexico College of Education and Albuquerque Public Schools. She has also taught social studies methods courses for education students.
“As teachers, we were learning how to incorporate primary source documents in the classroom to help history come alive for our students,” Form said.
The teachers were exposed to manuscript, photo and map collections. “In the manuscripts, we saw George Washington's notebook where he learned calculus while learning to be a surveyor,” she said.
The teachers were taught how to download materials from the Library of Congress. “As printed documents they are made to look old, authentic, without losing any of the text,” she said.
Lessons from history also came through. “Photos of the immigrant experience enhance the texts. The influx of Irish and Chinese immigrants from the 1840s to the 1860s comes to life. They experienced the same prejudice being played out against immigrants today,” she said.
The teachers were shown maps from 1482. “We saw maps like those Christopher Columbus would have used as well as those that showed the world 10 years later,” she said.
The maps, she said, are on velum and parchment with vibrant colors. “They feature sea monsters, which shows how unknown the ocean and the world beyond was,” Form said.
Form said that she will share her training with other teachers through professional development workshops. She will instruct other teachers on accessing the Library of Congress Web site for subject area lesson plans incorporating archival materials.
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