New & Noteworthy

Meet Archie, the JR! Archivis t, and discover how fun digging into history can be! New York Archives JR! is a free educational publication that gives students a fun and engaging way to explore primary sources and build their critical thinking skills. Educators can order free classroom sets of each issue and access additional activities and resources online. Order your free copies of New York Archives JR! today at the project webpage.

The New York History Conference is committed to supporting informal educators, classroom educators, and lifelong learners.

The 2024 workshop 'Connecting Your Collections to the K-12 Curriculum,' presented by NYSED's Office of Cultural Education, is an asynchronous professional development opportunity. View this and all videos at the New York History Conference Resources for Educators webpage .

Save the date for the 2025 New York History Conference: Thursday, June 5th, and Friday, June 6th, at the Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY. If you are Interested in presenting, proposal submissions are being accepted through December 15th.

New York State themed ceramic Installation by middle school and high school students at Alfred-Almond Central Schools in Almond, NY. Visit the New York Spotlight: Arts Education webpage for a full project description.

New York Spotlight: Arts Education Personal History Initiative Now Launched!

New York State is a vibrant home to the arts and a leader in arts education. The New York State Library just launched this New York State Personal History Initiative collection focused on arts education where schools and teachers can highlight student art!

What are your students creating? How are your teachers and schools contributing to our cultural landscape? Share dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts stories to celebrate arts across our great state! Share student work and archive a piece of school history through this collection.

Expanded Learning Opportunities

Join OCE for a panel discussion with the authors of Creating Reading Rainbow: The Untold Story of a Beloved Children’s Series. This book tells the story of how the wonderful series came to be, and how collaboration between libraries, educators, and public broadcasting was instrumental in its development and success. Founded to address knowledge losses seen over summer breaks from school, Reading Rainbow premiered in 1983 to an audience of 6.5 million young viewers, and went on to become one of the longest-running and most impactful PBS children’s television series, standing beside Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It earned 26 Emmys and a Peabody award, but most importantly, it helped generations of children cultivate a love of reading.

This live, virtual event will be held Thursday, October 10th, 2024 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Registration is required and CTLE credit will be available. Visit the event webpage for full details.

Are you looking for a way to get recognition for project-based learning? New York State students in grades 4-12 from public, private, and home schools are invited to submit their historical research projects to the New York State Archives Student Research Awards. Winners receive a cash award. All entries containing an annotated bibliography and use of historical records receive a Certificate of Merit. Deadline for submission is July 1st. For more information, visit the Student Research Awards webpage.

Looking for a fun way to integrate local history into the classroom? Historical diary entries could be a great place to start. The New York State Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections unit has several “memoranda” books written by 8-year-old Mary Leavenworth of Franklin County, New York, and her younger sisters from 1896 to 1926.

In these diaries, Mary chronicles the life of her family and community members from over a century ago. These entries offer an exciting opportunity for third graders to connect with history and inspire discussions about how life has changed – and stayed the same – since they were written.

See below for some excerpts from Mary’s diary:

February 10^th, 1896

It was so stormy and I thought

I could not go to school

but Mr. Prentice came along

and I rode to school with him

February 11^th, 1896

O my it was so stormy and the

roads was drifted so bad that

I could not go to school how bad I felt

March 19^th, 1896

I had a sore throat and could

not go to school.

April 26, 1896

Letty and I went up on

the hill and found another

little lamb

June 1896

Mamma and I went strawberry[ing]

and got ten quarts.

Mamma and Clarence went and got 20 quarts

December 25^th, 1896

I must tell what we got for

Christmas. Mamma got a pair of

shoes and a clothesline.

Clarence got a cup and saucer.

Letty and I got two yards of

ribbons apiece.

Chloe got a pair of shoes us three

girls got a new dress.

Chloe got a little knife and fork

and spoon.

Letty and I got five cents apiece

and I got a pocketbook and

we had some peanuts and candy

and I found ten cents in a sack [?]

of peanuts.

Students can be encouraged to keep their diaries (daily or weekly) as a companion activity to explore these entries. Entries could be written in a notebook or Chromebook, and students can document their daily lives in a similar way. Daily writing can help increase student writing fluency, and personal reflection can help bolster social-emotional health.

For a digital copy of the diary Mary and her sisters created from 1896 to 1899, plus a complete transcription for 1896, please email mscref@nysed.gov and include "Vicki" in the subject line.

Classroom Resources

The Hispanic Heritage Month webpage from the New York State Museum offers a variety of Hispanic heritage resources, including material for educators, recorded lectures, and program opportunities at the museum, the Office of Cultural Education, and throughout the state.

Access the Indigenous Culture & History folder, featuring curated classroom resources from PBS LearningMedia. These multimedia support materials are teacher-created, standards-aligned, and free for use in K-12 learning environments.

bluebird on a branch and the text science everywhere

Science Everywhere is an early learning initiative, that emphasizes the importance of Inquiry-Based Learning. Spearheaded by the New York State Education Department's Office of Early Learning and Office of Cultural Education, the initiative seeks to foster a love for science and nature in young children through hands-on learning experiences.

Science Everywhere offers cost-free prekindergarten explorations based on inquiry, which can be implemented in any local community, providing students with a wider understanding of natural science and the world. The initiative aligns with the New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards.

The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) lends audio and braille books, magazines, and playback equipment to borrowers who are unable to use standard printed materials because of blindness, low or declining vision, reading disability, or a physical disability that makes it difficult to hold a book or turn a page.

TBBL borrowers get access to over 100,000 titles in our collection. Materials are shipped free of charge via the Unites States Postal Service (USPS) or can be downloaded to a mobile device via Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD). Institutions like schools, libraries, and community service providers may also register for service.

TBBL can provide brochures, coloring pages, braille alphabet cards, and posters to build awareness at school. TBBL Librarians are also available, in person or remotely, to make a presentation, table at an event, or answer questions. For more information or to apply for service today, contact us for assistance.

Cultural Education for Your Classroom

FindNYCulture.org is a free database of New York State cultural education organizations. Connect with art galleries, historical societies, libraries, museums, parks, planetariums, science centers, zoos, and more!

Be sure to follow @FindNYCulture

on X for classroom-relevant information.

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