Review by Jennifer Sitkin, Common Sense Education | Updated July 2014
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Rag Linen

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Historical newspapers have value; site needs more support for learning

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
9–12
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (2 Reviews)
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

4 images
The Pennsylvania Gazette was printed in 1745.
Links to resources for educators are provided.
Users can view historic coverage of the Revolutionary War.
This list identifies the first twenty-five newspapers in the American colonies.

Pros: Collection of historic newspapers can be used to support primary-document analysis in the classroom.

Cons: The online collection is limited, content is written at a high level, and there's no curriculum or support for educational use.

Bottom Line: A good resource for learning about historical newspapers; some more scaffolding for classroom learning would be a nice addition.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Rag Linen is a good reference site for teachers to increase their own content knowledge about the role of newspapers in early American history. In addition, teachers can create lessons that utilize the newspapers for a primary-document analysis, pull excerpts about early American history, or show a relevant video clip or image during a teacher-directed lesson.

For direct student use, Rag Linen could serve as a resource for a research paper on historical newspapers or topics related to early American history. For example, a student writing a paper on the Boston Massacre could read about what was happening during the time period and watch a short video.

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Standards:

Rag Linen is an online museum of historic newspapers. The site is named for the heavy-duty paper on which pre-19th century news was printed. An Education page provides links to a number of useful outside resources, but there's little else here specific to learning.

The History of Printed News page offers information and images related to the beginnings of newspapers. The Multimedia page is full of links to videos and blogs that cover related content. The site also includes lists of early American newspapers, historical circulations, and newspapers printed during the Revolutionary War era. The Reporting the Revolution page previews the site’s companion book with excerpts of the Revolutionary newspaper coverage and historical context. There's also a link to the companion book’s site, Reporting the Revolutionary War. This site has its own Education page that includes sample lesson plans, a more updated mini-archive of the newspapers, and related videos and articles. 

Rag Linen’s value as a learning tool lies in its offering of primary source material -- beyond this, there isn't much in the way of learning content. That said, the images of newspapers, short video clips, and other content can provide students with valuable historical context about the Revolutionary War. 

Students who already have a high interest in the subject will enjoy the opportunity to get a glimpse into these early drafts of history. The challenge is to make the content accessible to all types of learners. What's here is more suited toward advanced learners and historians than to a general secondary-school population. Instructional activities with guided questions or teacher-led discussions about a particular event or newspaper would better support students' understanding of the site.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

History enthusiasts -- both teachers and students -- will enjoy exploring the site and viewing the newspapers. The addition of instructional activities could help make the site's resources more accessible for learning.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Viewing these primary-source documents can be a valuable exercise, but the site doesn't offer suggestions for curriculum or classroom use. The site's Education page has links to some classroom-friendly resources hosted elsewhere.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

The site's About section introduces its purpose. Elsewhere on the site, there are a few links to blogs and outside resources. Users can leave comments throughout the site. More guidance throughout the site could boost usability.

Common Sense Reviewer
Jennifer Sitkin Classroom teacher
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Reading History/Social Studies

  • RH.9-10.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

  • RH.9-10.5

    Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

  • RH.9-10.6

    Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

  • RH.9-10.7

    Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

  • RH.9-10.8

    Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.

  • RH.9-10.9

    Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

  • RH.9-10.1

    Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

  • RH.9-10.2

    Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

  • RH.9-10.3

    Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

  • RH.9-10.10

    By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.9-10.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

  • RI.9-10.5

    Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).

  • RI.9-10.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

  • RI.9-10.7

    Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.

  • RI.9-10.8

    Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

  • RI.9-10.9

    Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington’s Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”), including how they address related themes and concepts.

  • RI.9-10.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.9-10.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.9-10.3

    Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.

  • RI.9-10.10

    By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9–10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.11-12.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

  • RI.11-12.5

    Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

  • RI.11-12.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

  • RI.11-12.7

    Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

  • RI.11-12.8

    Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).

  • RI.11-12.9

    Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.

  • RI.11-12.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

  • RI.11-12.2

    Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.11-12.3

    Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

  • RI.11-12.10

    By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 2 reviews) (2 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Sara J. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Fort Bend ISD
Sugar Land, United States
Treasure trove of Revolutionary War primary source documents
History fans will enjoy the rich collection found in the mini-archive, but student will often prefer the easier to understand lecture or textbook. However, this websites offers students a chance to BE historians by doing what historians actually do: delve into sources to draw conclusions. For many US History standardized tests - including AP - ability to read and infer based off primary sources is vital for success.
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