Nevada & the West/Online Digital Libraries Christy G. Keeler, Ph.D.

You may find some of these resources of particular interest: The First 100 Persons Who Shaped Southern Nevada: This site includes biographies of 100 of the most influential people in the history of Southern Nevada. Online Nevada Encyclopedia: A collection on encyclopedic entries relating to Nevada history along with collections of digitized artifacts. Southern Nevada: The Boomtown Years: This is the portal for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' digitized collection of resources relating to the Southern Nevada boomtown era (1880s-1920). It includes a collection of teacher resources including primary source-based lesson plans for all grade levels. For a particular interest in the Donner Party, review these resources: The Emigrants Guide to Oregon & California by Lansford HastingsDiary of Patrick BreenInteractive Map Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George StewartThe Donner Party, a PBS Video by Ric BurnsThe Donner Party Chronicles: A Day-by-Day Account of a Doomed Wagon Train, 1846-47 by Frank Mullen, Jr.Statistics and Maps (Source Unknown; please advise if you can identify the source)

To guide students through the process of analyzing primary sources, consider using primary source analysis sheets. For a thorough list of analysis sheets separated by media type, visit the University of Northern Colorado's Colorado Rural Partnership Analysis Tools. Additional primary source analysis sheets from the National Archives and Library of Congress assist in working with: Written documents General Artifacts Photos Maps Cartoons Life HistoriesIn addition, some instructional methods are particularly amenable to working with primary source documents. Examples include use of inquiry, primary source sets, scavenger hunts, found poems, life-in-a-box activities, gallery walks, sort it out activities, reading maps in sections, and zooming-in to pictures. Inquiry Questions Instructional Strategy Defined: Students answer higher-level thinking questions requiring they engage in artifact analysis. The goal of historical inquiry is to have students work with primary sources to think historically — doing what historians do. Primary Source Sets Instructional Strategy Defined: Primary source sets are collections of primary source artifacts that, when presented as a group, enable students to engage in historical inquiry. Scavenger Hunts Instructional Strategy Described: Ask students to engage in a scavenger hunt where they simply seek the types of resources available in the collection(s). This activity may require independent searching, or scaffolded, linear searches with a particular end-goal. Found Poems Instructional Strategy Described: Have students work with a single teacher-selected primary source document. Students review the document highlighting words that are important to them. They then cut out twenty of those words (of their choosing) that are the most meaningful for them. They then make a poem by arranging these words into their own creation. Life in a Box Instructional Strategy Described: Create a packet of six artifacts (with the artifacts scaffolded leading from more to less obscure), numbering each from one to six. Pass around each artifact one time at a time. Have students try to determine the name of the person in the box in the least number of artifacts. Gallery Walks Instructional Strategy Described: Find a collection of relevant primary sources including pictures, maps, and other documents. Separate students into groups and provide each group with a different inquiry question. Have students move from source to source collecting data relating to their question. Upon completing the browsing process, each group should work independently to analyze findings and prepare a response to their question. After completing the responses, allow each group to read their inquiry question and response. After all groups complete their presentations, have students discuss whether they might dispute some of the conclusions based on data uncovered by either their group or another group. Sort It Out Instructional Strategy Described: Provide approximately ten artifacts and have students start with a question (e.g., “How have resources and materials changed the way we live and travel?”). Using that question, have students separate the artifacts into categories. Students must determine category names while fitting each artifact into their self-selected categories. Map Sections Instructional Strategy Described: Download several maps and print them out on large paper. Cut the maps into several sections and provide small groups with one section each of the map and a map analysis sheet. Hide map sections with essential information (e.g., title, date). Have students analyze their map section and then have groups find other groups who have sections from the same map. Combined groups should then work together to continue their analysis (identifying more than they were able to identify in their smaller groups). Upon exhausting information accessible in the joint groups, have groups find the remaining part of their maps in the hidden loc

Some schools implement an annual Nevada Citizenship Awards Ceremony. Though all students in all fourth grade classes must master certain content (that which appears in the State Curricular Standards), some students achieve the award by successfully memorizing and completing the following: Place all county names and county seats correctly on a map of Nevada;Recite the names of all Nevada governors in order of office;List all Nevada state symbols;Sing the Nevada state song;List the tribes of Native Peoples from Nevada's history and accurately place the territory of each on a map of the state;Recite the preamble to the Nevada State Constitution; and,Draw all major physical features on a map of the state. The planner students receive at Heckethorn Elementary School lists the requirements for both the Nevada Citizenship and Great American Awards. See a sample below. Nevada Citizenship Award ExpectationsGreat American Award ExpectationsAt an end-of-year ceremony, students and their families celebrate their accomplishments. Example of invitation for an awards ceremonyExample of an awards ceremony programExample of an awards certificate*Note: All files are in Word format for easy modification. **Special thanks to Mr. Colin Haas and Mrs. Pearl Nagoshi for sharing this idea and their materials.

Click here to access Dr. Michael Green's lecture titled "Nevada during the American Revolution."

Click here for a copy of the syllabus. Upon completion of the module, third through fifth grade teachers will have the ability to competently plan and deliver historically accurate, standards-based instruction that relies heavily on historical inquiry and primary sources. With a focus on teaching the history of Nevada, teachers will use technology skills to access and record self-created instructional plans.