ONLINE CLASSROOM

The online classroom is just the beginning of the educational resources that are available from the Library of Virginia for teachers and students. This page will show you how you can incorporate Virginia Memory's features into instruction, find out about upcoming events, and access information about our other programs for educators and students. If you want to know more about Virginia, this is a great place to start.

"Shaping the Constitution" features important primary source documents and paintings from the Library of Virginia and the Library of Congress related to America's Founding era and the U.S. Constitution, and will serve as an educational resource for teachers and students exploring the beginnings of the U.S. government and Virginia's connections to those events, as well as amendments to the original document that have continued to change the course of our national history.

Union or Secession: Virginians Decide describes and analyzes the secession crisis as it unfolded between the 1860 presidential campaign and the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861, with a particular emphasis on the state convention called to consider whether Virginia should secede. By using the words of Virginians in approximately 200 documents including correspondence, newspapers, speeches, official documents, and other records, Union or Secession allows Virginians to speak for themselves as they experienced the crisis.

Are you looking for ways to incorporate more primary sources into your classroom? If so, the Library of Virginia has the solution for you. We have developed lesson plans based on primary sources in our collection and correlated to the Virginia Department of Education's Standards of Learning (SOL). This site will be updated as more lessons are created so please check back regularly.