Education Kit

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Activities

These shorter activities can be used to explore the TAMI online library as a class, practice archival research, explore video as a source of historical information, and involve your classroom in contributing to TAMI’s mission to discover, preserve, provide access, and serve the community interest in Texas Moving Image History.

Show-and-Tell: Discovering Texas Moving Image History in Your Community
(Social Studies Middle School and High School)
From Edison’s turn of the century kinetoscopes to modern-day streaming video on the Internet, moving images have recorded history, provided entertainment, documented daily life, and informed us about our communities and the world.  When discussing film and video, we often first think of Hollywood films and national television, but there are numerous other types of moving images that provide us with important historical information about our lives, communities, and cultures.  In this activity, students will discover a piece of film or video in their community, present it to the class and construct an argument for its representation of Texas history.  This activity targets TEKS objectives in Social Studies Grades 6 through 8, United States History Studies Since Reconstruction, and Social Studies Research Methods.
Grades 7-12 (pdf)

History Detectives: Researching Found Films
(Social Studies Middle School and High School)
The TAMI online library is a resource providing easy access to thousands of moving images related to the state of Texas.  Many of these films were discovered through TAMI’s Texas Film Round-Up, a campaign encouraging Texans to contribute digital copies of their own films and videos to the archive.  Since many of these films and video were unplayed for decades, the original details of the production are often unknown.   In this activity, students choose from a list of TAMI films and embark on an in-depth research project to determine as much information as possible about the materials.   This activity targets TEKS in Social Studies Grades 7 through 8, United States History Studies Since Reconstruction, and Social Studies Research Methods.
Grades 7-12 (pdf)

Scavenger Hunt
(Social Studies Elementary, Middle School and High School)
Use these worksheets alone or in conjunction with other activities as a tool in exploring the TAMI video library.   BY exploring the library as a resource for both primary and secondary sources of information, students will be improving their general social studies skills.  This activity targets TEKS in Social Studies Grades 2 through 8, United States History Studies Since Reconstruction, and Social Studies Research Methods.
Grades 2-5 (pdf)
Grades 6-12 (pdf)

Have you used the TAMI online library in your classroom? If so, please let us know. We would love to hear your ideas for activities and lesson plans that use Texas-related films and videos. Send us an email at education@texasarchive.org. Send an email with “List” in the subject line to the same address to join TAMI’s education mailing list and receive updates of new film postings, activities, and lesson plans.

A Project of the Texas Moving Image Archive Program