American Writers Museum

Chicago, Illinois, 60601

Last updated on September 9, 2022
Grant awarded by
Library of Congress
Region
Midwest(includes South Central states - AL, AR, LA, MS, and TN)
Organization Type
Non-profit Organization
Congressional District(s)
Fiscal Year Of First Grant
FY 2022 [10/01/21 - 09/30/22]
Contributing Organization(s)
Organization description

The American Writers Museum is the first museum of its kind in the United States. The mission of the American Writers Museum is to engage the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, and our daily lives. The museum is located at 180 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60601, and offers something for every age group including permanent exhibits and special galleries highlighting America’s favorite works and the authors behind them. Tickets to the museum are $14 for adults, $9 for seniors, students, and teachers. Free for members and children ages 12 and under. To inquire about discounted rates for groups of 10 or more, including adults, student travel groups, and University students, visit AmericanWritersMuseum.org/visit/groups/ or call 312-374-8770. Museum hours are Thursday – Monday 10 AM – 5 PM. For more information visit AmericanWritersMuseum.org or call 312-374-8790.

Project description
Funded by a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program, Exploring the Writing Process with Primary Source Materials complements classroom writing instruction with activities using primary source materials from the Library of Congress’s digital collections that inspire, motivate, and empower students to write. Using primary sources coupled with complimentary learning materials, students will learn more about the steps of the writing process, including journaling, drafting, revision, editing, collaboration, and publishing. Exploring the Writing Process with Primary Source Materials offers teacher-created lesson plans as well as student exercises that can be incorporated into class curriculums or be used for individual study.

Our downloadable lesson plans invite students to study primary sources from the Library of Congress’s digital collections to further their exploration of the writing process. Lesson topics in this collection include journaling, drafting, revising, editing, collaboration/corresponding, and publishing. Each lesson includes direct links to primary source materials on the Library of Congress’s website, lesson instructions for students, and accompanying student hand-outs that can be used for in-person or virtual learning. These lessons may be used individually or together in order to model the writing process. Our lesson plans are teacher-created and align with Common Core State Standards as stated in each lesson. For these lesson plans, the assumption is made that students can define what a primary source is and what an artifact is. Current lesson plans focus on Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Clare Boothe Luce, Langston Hughes, Woody Guthrie, and Walt Whitman.
TPS project focus
  • Curriculum
  • Teaching Materials
Content focus
  • English Language Arts
  • History
  • Literacy
Audience
  • Classroom teachers
  • Homeschoolers
  • Librarians/Media specialists
  • Students
  • Teacher candidates/Student teachers
  • Writers
Level(s)
  • 6 - 8
  • 9 - 12
Population focus
Organization Contact
Courtney Borjas
[email protected]
Visit website
TPS Products