Sometimes there’s no better way to learn about something than to just simply dig in, explore and then share what you learned with others. I spent a few winter days exploring Noodle Tools new citation and literacy features in order to help others learn about this comprehensive package. It was a fun and very interesting experience. It was great discovering how Google Docs and Noodle Tools are integrated into one logical package. A just published Internet@ Schools article, Noodling around in the New Noodle Tools will be helpful for media specialists considering an upgrade or acquiring a citation and information literacy tool.
What do we collect? Why do we fill our desks, cupboards, and shelves with jewelry boxes, athletic event tickets, or matchbooks?
Curious Collectables, a Winona County History Center exhibit, tells us that people have been collecting for centuries; museums were started so people could
show off what they collected. This current exhibit includes items from the Historical Society’s own collections and others 
brought in by Society members. Collectables displayed include yardsticks, thimbles, chain breakers, gnomes, postcards and coffee mugs from all 50 states, canning jar lids, malformed hardware, and Native American snowshoes. Clothing includes beautiful gowns such as one from the 1850′s, some from the Jazz Age, and army helmets. Porcelain bedpans are especially unique and attention getting!
Minnesota State University professor and archivist Terry Stoptaugh said we collect to stimulate memory. It was fun to 
reminisce as I sorted through my personal collection of theatre playbills. Several from local professional, community and school productions are displayed for others to enjoy. It’s fun to share and perhaps evoke memories in people who see their own name in a playbill.
What do you collect? What stories would your personal display tell?
Credits: Winona County History Center, April 2013. Create a personal display in an online class: Teaching Digital Media Literacy in the Content Areas: Using Primary Sources
I’m student teaching this semester. I’m looking for primary sources about world history. I don’t know where to start.
Teachers and media specialists looking for digital primary resources representing world history and cultures will be excited to learn about the World Digital Library, a collection of significant, multilingual resources. Primary sources from over 150 cultural institutions from throughout the world are accessible in one easy to search portal.
Curriculum ideas and more about finding these resources are in the New Media Center column published in the March/April issue of Internet @ Schools. The column is available via Ebsco or this Power of Primary Sources page.
WDL is growing. Recently added are several issues of Layla, the first women’s magazine published Iraq.
Background information about WDL, January 2013 post.
Where can I find information about. . .? 
The First Minnesota Volunteers
Company K
Photos of Charley Goddard’s mother and brother
Charley Goddard Biography
Battle of Gettysburg primary sources
Charley Goddard letters
Charley Goddard 15 years old
Charles Goddard
Old Abe
It looks like middle level students are reading Gary Paulsen’s young adult novel Soldiers Heart; at least that’s what the search term log suggests. This post suggests resources for students and teachers who are looking for the background and historical information behind the novel. Some of these were also cited in an earlier post.
The real-life Charles Goddard lived in Winona, Minnesota, served with Company K of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Regiment, and fought at Gettysburg. Regiment casualties were high and many Winona County soldiers lost their lives. Charles survived the battle and returned to Winona. He died in 1867 at age 24. The Goddard family name appears often in accounts of early Winona.
Resources
- Charles Goddard’s letters. (Winona County History Center)
- Company K, A Civil War Journal, Minnesota 1st Volunteer Regiment.
- Eulogy selections, given by Goddard’s friend Charles Ely. (Winona County History Center)
- Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Search words: Christmas in Early Winona. What unique menu item was served at in 1852 for Christmas dinner at a Winona home? (American Memory Collection)
- Civil War Photos in the Brady Collection. Middle School students I worked with at Winona Middle School enjoyed viewing and discussing these historic photos. Keywords: Minnesota Troops, Gettysburg
- Birds Eye View of Winona Minnesota, 1860s era Map. (American Memory Collection)
- The Civil War 1861-1865, The First Minnesota Volunteers and Company K entered the army at this historic location. (Historic Fort Snelling)
- 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, overview (top of page) (Minn. Historical Society) Look for The Battle of Gettysburg as seen by Minnesota Soldiers.
- Visual resources, 1st Minnesota Volunteers (bottom of page) (Minn.Historical Society)
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The Last Full Measure Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection. This exhibit of Civil War photographs and other artifacts were originally acquired by teenage boys living in Washington DC
The Civil War in America, a Library of Congress Exhibit - The Total Number of Officers & Enlisted Men the First Minnesota Regiment Had, the Number of Men to Each Company, the Number Accounted For and Those Not Accounted For, Minnesota (Minnesota Reflections)
What about Old Abe? Was he in Company K? This gallant eagle was from our neighboring State of Wisconsin, but he also served in the Battle of Gettysburg!
Photos: Civil War Memorial, Winona Veterans Memorial Park; Catherine Goddard Smith
Earlier post about Charlie Goddard and Company K
Online class for educators: Teaching Digital Media Literacy in the Content Areas: Using Primary Sources
Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers (A short review of a new book)
Posted on: March 18, 2013
Staff development is an important, exciting role for school library media specialists. Media specialists have a unique perspective of the school and curriculum; they work with all learners and staff and have the expertise in technologies, literacies and information resources.
I was excited to see that Noodle Tools founder Debbie Abilock, along with co-editors Kristin Fontichiaro and Violet Harada have compiled sixteen essays by a diverse group of contributors that address both the why and practicality of the staff development role. I enjoyed the “real-life” examples, tips, and sample lessons.
This welcome book is available from Libraries Unlimited. It’s a great addition to all professional development collections and for media specialists who want to be instructional leaders and impact change. It will be a wonderful resource for me as an online educator.
Who is Rockwell Kent?
Posted on: February 12, 2013
A year ago I had no idea. Now I know he a prolific artist, writer, illustrator, adventurer, progressive thinker, and social activist who spent a year in Winona one hundred years ago. Kent came to Winona, Minnesota from the east to work as an architectural supervisor overseeing the
Winona Republican Herald, 1913
construction of the twin Briarcombe Mansions built for two wealthy families. While here he developed friendships with wealthy and working class people. His art show was not well received, but his runaway horse in downtown Winona made the local news. He raised a few eyebrows when he organized an anti-bosses convention and picnic.
Winona Republican Herald, 1953
Kent’s time here was celebrated in a multi-day festival including art gallery openings, a symposium presented by Kent experts, a documentary film, and a lecture about his troubles with the McCarthy hearings and U.S. Passport office. There were even ice sculptures of Moby Dick and Captain Ahab to commemorate Kent’s illustration for Moby Dick. A Winona County History Center exhibit has reproductions of original materials from the Smithsonian, the Center’s own Briarcombe artifacts and a video tour of Briarcombe narrated by a 5th generation family member. Primary sources including letters, It’s Me Oh, Lord (Kent’s autobiography) and newspaper articles from the era were resources for a playwright who wrote an original play.
The Kent Festival was a unique event that brought a significant 20th century artist and local history to life, adding more than we expected to our knowledge. I was inspired to explore online collections to learn more; here are a few idea.
Discover photos, documents and prints like Workers of the World Unite in Library of Congress digital collections.
Explore Rockwell Kent’s papers at the Smithsonian
Search The Winona Newspaper project and the Library of Congress Historic Newspaper Collection for countless newspaper articles such as those shown above.
Ctn. Ahab greets visitors at the MN Marine Art Museum in Winona
How can I use primary resources like these in the media center or classroom to teach local history or make interdisciplinary connections?
Teaching Digital Media Literacy in the Content Areas: Using Primary Sources
My collection of playbills began in the late 60’s when my high school English teacher introduced us to Shakespeare and took us to plays. We saw Richard Burton as Hamlet in the 1964 movie and plays at area colleges. I loved the St. Mary’s University Theater department’s performance of Sheridan’s The Rivals and put the program the fan-shaped program trimmed with doilies in my scrapbook.When I was a college student I attended Winona State University theatre department productions, had a very small role in the controversial St. Mary’s production of The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade and ushered at many others.
My collection grew to include programs for countless plays I enjoyed at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, 70’s era musical such as Hair and Godspell in Chicago, Winona Summer Theater, Lacrosse Community Theatre, and even programs for plays I co-redirected Caledonia High School. Among these treasures are programs for The Man Who Came To Dinner, The Skin of our Teeth, Arsenic and Old Lace, and You Can’t Take it With You. It’s fun to remember the students; it’s even more fun when I see them at a theater event.
Playbills from the 1990s bring back memories many trips Minneapolis to see Broadway touring productions of musicals such as Showboat at the Ordway, Cats at Northrup Auditorium, In Coya’s House at St. Paul’s History Theater, or dinner shows at The Chanhassen Dinner Theater. Other programs evoke memories of going to the Milwaukee Rep or theaters in other cities. A huge part of the collection is over 50 programs from Lanesboro’s Commonweal Theatre.
Some surprises. Have I really seen The Fantasticks 5 or 6 times? I was convinced I had only seen twice before seeing the Great River Shakespeare Festival’s production. I can’t remember a thing about the Merry Wives of Windsor, but I apparently saw it at the Guthrie many years ago.
Lasting connections. The box has several playbills from Winona Community Theatre productions from the late 1980’s – early 1990’s. I was on the theatre board and was a stage manager for a couple. Some of the people I work with as a volunteer for the Great River Shakespeare people are people I met through Community theatre. My expanding collection of Great River Shakespeare Festival playbills documents the festival’s history, actors, staff and my involvement as a Friend of Will.
Regrettably, I’ve tossed some programs from the past few years. Those hundreds of playbills I kept tell stories about of my love of the theatre, places I’ve been, plays I’ve enjoyed, people I’ve met. They tell the stories of theatres, the people who make them happen and for many, the community and regions strong support for the arts. It’s impossible to name a favorite in this collection of treasures; each tells a story!
What have you collected? Could you use your collection to make a personal primary source display?
How can I use primary resources in the media center and classroom or to support Common Core Standards?
Teaching Digital Media Literacy in the Content Areas: Using Primary Sources
