Between 6-8 August 2014 Letters of 1916 hosted a workshop for secondary school history teachers and others involved in the education sector. The aim of the workshop was to explore ways in which the Letters of 1916 archive can be used as a resource to teach history and the technologies used to create digital humanities collections at second level.
A group of eighteen, including the Letters of 1916 team, took part in the workshop in An Foras Feasa, Maynooth University. Through a combination of discussion, presentation and collaboration the participants created three distinct lesson plans with primary source material from several national institutions and private collections.
The workshop offered a fantastic opportunity to brainstorm and exchange ideas among a group of teachers, historians and archivists with a broad range of experience and expertise. We were inspired and overwhelmed by the creativity and enthusiasm of the group and were excited about working on the next phase of the initiative and planning a second workshop in Summer 2015.
Each lesson plan comes with a collection of document packs, each of which is based on a letter from our collection and contains a summary of the letter, images of the original letter, a transcription of the text and information about the author and recipient. You will also find questions and activities for students and resources for teachers to facilitate the use of the letters in the classroom.
This is an innovative and exciting was to engage with original primary source material and to learn about digital technology and the ways it can help us to learn about the past. These lesson plans offer an innovative and exciting way to encourage students to engage directly with primary sources and with digital technology, bringing both well-known and ‘ordinary’ figures and events from 1916 to life. The workshop participants trialled the lesson plans in their classrooms in 2014/2015.
DOWNLOAD lesson plans and documents packs:
Maynooth Post Primary Kildare and Glenties Community School Donegal
St Angela’s College, Cork & Wesley College, Dublin
St. Angela’s Waterford, Hartstown Community School Dublin & Beara Community School Cork
We would like to thank all those who took part in the workshop for making it such a success and for contributing their time, knowledge and ideas. We look forward to working to bring Letters of 1916 into the classroom and sharing this valuable resource with teachers and students alike.
Workshop Participants
Karolina Badzmierowska, NUI Maynooth, Kildare
Emma Clarke, NUI Maynooth, Kildare
Niamh Crowley, St. Angela’s School, Waterford
Barney Doherty, NUI Maynooth, Kildare
Thomas Gerrard, Hartstown Community School, Dublin
Genevieve Harden, NCAD, Dublin
Hannah Healy, Trinity College Dublin
Aaron Hoey, NUI Maynooth, Kildare
Brian Hughes, NUI Maynooth, Kildare
Pauline Hurley, Beara Community School, Cork
Peter Keane, Maynooth Post Primary School, Kildare
Sharon Kearney, Bridge 21, Dublin
Gerry Moore, Glentees Community School, Donegal
Claire Mortimer, Bureau of Military History – Defence Forces Archive, Dublin
Danielle O’ Donovan, Bridge 21, Dublin
Helene O’Keefe, St. Angela’s College, Cork
Susan Schreibman, NUI Maynooth, Kildare
Derek Shaw, Wesley College, Dublin
If you have used Letters of 1916 in your classroom we would love to hear your feedback and suggestions about how we can improve the website as a teaching resource. We are also very happy to answer any questions relating to the project, just email us at letters1916@gmail.com.
Teachers’ Workshop 2014 | Images: Letters of 1916