Teaching with primary sources engages students in that it requires that they draw upon prior knowledge, make connections, and promotes student inquiry. I believe that examining primary sources gives students a powerful sense of history and that teaching students how to analyze primary sources pushes them to use higher-order thinking, which improves critical thinking and analysis skills. I use the following Web resources to support my unit on using and analyzing primary sources with my students.
Library of Congress:
I use this source often and for many different reasons. I show students how to access primary resources in an effort to support their research with authentic, quality resources. I also show them how to read/evaluate primary sources by using much of what’s available on this site. I use The Teacher's Page to access lesson plans, themed resources, primary source sets, presentations and activities as well as collection connections. This page also includes information about the what/how of using primary sources to teach. It's truly a useful source you should investigate if you haven't already.
TPS Quarterly Newsletter:
Each issue explores how to use primary sources and focuses on a specific theme, i.e. research and inquiry learning. It also provides summaries of and links to online resources that provide research and current thinking relating to the current theme.
National Archives Digital Classroom:
This source provides lesson plans by era for teaching with documents. Here you can access activities correlated to the national history standards, national standards for civics and government, and cross-curricular connections.
Smithsonian Source - Resources for Teaching American History:
This is the Smithsonian Web source for which provides actual lesson plans that incorporate teaching with primary sources, historical topics like Civil Rights, transportations and Westward expansion. This online resource provides a means for accessing various primary sources on any topic related to American history. For example, if you search for the keyword 'revolution' you will be provided with documents beginning with one from 1769 which outlines a key issue of why the American Revolution took place. It even provides a way to narrow a search by choosing the type of primary source needed and/or a specific era.
Primary Sources at Yale:
I use this source to access primary source materials to help students during the research process as well as during a unit on evaluating primary sources. I like to use this site to show students what a primary source is, because it is defined so nicely on this site. I also like to use their 'tools for discovery' page which includes tips on identifying materials relevant to research.
Voice Thread:
I use this for teaching students about primary sources. I post actual pictures for them to evaluate and make comments about. This is a means for getting students to share opinions and view others’ opinions. It’s very much like a classroom discussion, but students work independently or in small groups to access and contribute to our Voice Thread projects.
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Valuable learning can take place through primary sources. Many teachers use only social studies textbooks to teach students lessons about the Revolutionary War, but students can learn the same information and more using primary resources. Students might also actually enjoy reading primary resources, a change from the daily routine. Reading an article that was written during the Revolutionary War by a primary source (a solider or a townsperson) may spark interest and allow students to see their point of view and relate to how they were feeling, instead of just reading about the facts of the War.
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