Recollection

Wisconsin
Sharing our stories. Exploring our past.
Recollection Wisconsin brings together more than 200,000 state and local history
resources from libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across Wisconsin.
Find lesson plans and guidelines for using this free collection of historic photos, maps,
newspapers, letters, diaries, artifacts, oral histories and other primary sources at
http://recollectionwisconsin.org/teachers.

Resources for teachers

Recollection Wisconsin offers tips and activities to help you effectively incorporate primary sources from our
collections into your Social Studies and English Language Arts curriculum. Our freely accessible lesson plans support
the development of select skills emphasized in the Common Core and can be adapted to suit all grade levels.
Disciplinary Literacy in Social Studies and the Common Core State Standards
Use newspaper articles, photographs and other primary sources as evidence to support a historical argument
Read original letters and diaries from Wisconsin settlers, immigrants and soldiers in order to experience
multiple perspectives
Understand change over time by examining historic maps, photographs and artifacts

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Use historic newspapers to encourage close reading and identification of key themes and ideas in a text
Develop speaking and listening skills by listening to and conducting oral history interviews
Use historic photographs to inspire creative narrative writing
Gather multiple sources and evaluate the credibility and accuracy of each source

Bringing history into the classroom

Discover collections near you
Explore our interactive map to find digital collections from your community, county or region.

Browse by topic
Sort collections by subject categories like Civil War, Industry, Logging or Tourism and build your own activities
to meet your students needs.

View online exhibits
Investigate the history of sausage making in Wisconsin, take a tour of early department stores around the
state, or get a closer look at intricately beaded rNative American bandolier bags. Learn more about these and
other state and local history topics in our online exhibits, curated by Wisconsin historians and other experts.

Share stories
Students can contribute their own voices to the collective history of our state by adding their own photos,
stories and memories to our shared digital collection.


Discover all that Recollection Wisconsin has to offer at http://recollectionwisconsin.org.
Questions? Contact Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager Emily Pfotenhauer at emily@wils.org or 608-616-9756.
Recollection Wisconsin is sponsored by WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services) in partnership with the Milwaukee Public Library, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Financial support is provided by a grant from the Nicholas Family Foundation and
annual membership dues from contributing partners.