An amazing tool to delve into the past in a more digitally relevant way
Community Review for Digital Public Library of America
My Take
The Digital Public Library of America is really a great tool for social science teachers looking to make their content and research projects more appropriate for a technologically driven 21st century. It's free and can be used to really delve into many time periods without having to just focus on a textbook or oral stories. Obviously, it can't go too far into the past because of digital restrictions in the early 1800s and before, but this is a great tool for teachers who want to teach about primary sources.
How I Use It
There is a specific project I love to do when we get to the Roaring 20s/Great Depression. I call it a 1920s Document Book, and my students are to pick at least 8 primary sources from the 1920s and early 1930s and analyze these two major events through comparing and contrasting what they can see, hear, and experience from the past. I always recommend the Digital Library when they're searching for primary sources because they get a great range of images, songs, speeches, etc. that they can use for this project.