Primarily Teaching: Using Primary Sources to Engage Students in the

Study of History Stefanie Rosenberg Wager

Email: stefanie.rosenbergwager@gmail.comTwitter: @srwteacher

Blog: www.stefaniewager.blogspot.com Websites: www.technologynow.wikispaces.com

www.usingprimarysources.weebly.com

Poll Everywhere

Question: Do you use primary sources in your classroom at least once a week?

http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/MTQ1ODUzOTA3Ng

Using Primary Sources?

In a recent study, teachers cited three main reasons they don’t use primary sources:

No time to find primary sources.

Too many resources available. It’s hard to funnel down to “best” resources.

Don’t know how to effectively use primary sources with students.

So, What is a Primary Source?

What is your definition of a primary source?

Primary Source Sort

Working with your elbow partner, rework your definition of a primary source.

Be ready to share out!

One Definition

Primary sources provide first hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later.

Using Primary Sources to Teach

Inquiry

Guiding Questions

Observe Reflect Question I Know

• What do you notice first?

• What people and objects are shown?

• How are they arranged?

• What is the physical setting?

• What details can you see?

• Why do you think this image was made?

• What’s happening in the image?

• When do you think it was made?

• What can you learn from examining this image?

• What do you wonder about?

• Who?• What?• When?• Where?• Why?• How?

• What do you now know about the image after examining it?

Political Cartoons

Cartoon analysis guide

Have students label elements of political cartoons

Symbolism

Exaggeration

Labeling

Analogy

Irony

Prints & Photographs

Zoom in

strategy

(use magnifying glasses)

Prequel/

Sequel

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Dividing the image

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Put yourself

in the image

Thought

Bubbles

30 Second

Look and Then

Dig Deeper

Analyzing Maps

The Devil is in the Details

Give students pieces of a map and have each student examine one piece of the map.

Have them record what they know on sticky notes and place on the map.

Then have them share with a partner or larger group.

Finally, have students put the map together to see the “big picture.”

Analyzing Documents

Quote MVP

Give students quotes and ask them to select their MVP (most valuable point) related to the lesson essential question.

Tampering with History

Change the document so it’s easier to read for struggling readers.

Jigsaw with cooperative learning groups

Music/ Sound Recordings

Use a song or sound recording as a class opener.

Using music to teach a certain time period in history

Example: Civil War music, Great Depression, etc.

LOC Jukebox (www.loc.gov/jukebox)

LOC Sound Recordings

Example: WPA Slave Narratives http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/

Using Art to Teach Historical Analysis

“Reading” a Portrait

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Discussion of art as a primary vs. secondary source

General Strategies

Weighing the evidence

Example: Give students 5-7 documents related to causes of the Civil War. Students have to “weigh” which documents carry more weight and answer the essential question.

Civil War Causes and Effects

http://docsteach.org/activities/3895

Sorting/categorizing primary sources

Five senses chart

Students analyze various documents and record what they hear, see, taste, feel, and smell.

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Historical Debates

Have students play the role of historical figures.

Four Corners

Pose a historical question and ask students to move to the corner of the room they agree with. Label corners agree, strongly agree, disagree, strongly disagree.

For example: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War.

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Structured Academic Controversy (SAC)

Socratic Seminars

DBQs (Document Based Questions)

Check out the DBQ Project (www.dbqproject.com)

Reading Like a Historian

Sourcing, Contextualizing, Corroboration, Close Reading

Wordle (www.wordle.net)

Copy and paste text to create a visual image

Great discussion starter and to compare documents

Historical Book Backdrops

Book backdrops are a way to infuse primary sources into children’s literature.

Steps:

Find a piece of children’s literature that deals with some historical aspect (slavery, WWII, etc.)

As a way to teach the book, select 2-3 primary sources that connect to the book in some way. This varies depending on age level and other factors. For younger students you might just select one image. For older students, you can usually select one short piece of text and photographs.

Use primary source strategies to not only teach the book, but also the historical aspects of the book through the use of the primary sources. (You can also bring in technology such as QR codes to help with this step.)

Book Backdrops Example

For a more detailed explanation go to www.stefaniewager.blogspot.com

QR Codes

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Where Can I Find Primary Sources?

Top Ten Places to Find Primary Sources

Other sources?

One of the best places to find primary sources is….

The Library of Congress (www.loc.gov)

Key Parts of Library of Congress

Website American Memory (contains over 20 million digitized items)

Exhibitions (place to view all exhibitions that have been at LOC)

THOMAS (access to past and present Congressional records)

World Digital Library (key primary sources from each region of the world)

Veterans History Project (oral histories of veterans and other resources)

Kids and Families Section

Teachers Section (lots of resources on using primary sources, lesson plans, etc.)

Researchers

Quick Guide to American Memory

Click on American Memory and then more browse options.

Here you can search for primary sources by date,topic, region, etc.

Today in History at LOC

Click on Today in History. You can either see the document of the day or search by a specific date.

Exhibitions at LOC

Go to www.loc.gov. At the bottom, click on more exhibitions. You can see a list of every exhibit that has been at the Library of Congress.

LOC Resources for Teachers

Go to www.loc.gov and click on Teachers. Here you can find a wealth of resources specifically for Teachers.

One example of the resources availableto teachers on the LOC site. These are ready-made primarysource sets.

Using Primary Sources to Teach Historical

Thinking Historical Thinking Skills

Chronological Thinking

Historical Comprehension

Historical Analysis and Interpretation

Historical Research Capabilities

Historical Issues- Analysis and Decision Making

An Introduction to Historical Thinking Skills

www.teachinghistory.org/historical-thinking-intro

Technology to Enhance Your History Classroom

(Find many more links at www.technologynow.wikispaces.com)

C-SPAN Classroom- Especially check out American History TV

www.c-spanclassroom.org

Glogster– Poster yourself

www.edu.glogster.com

Stixy– Create virtual bulletin boards

http://stixy.com

Live Binders- Create virtual binders

http://livebinders.com

Scribble Maps- Maps you can scribble on, add pictures, text, etc.

www.scribblemaps.com

Docs Teach- Hundreds of ready-made activities around primary source documents from NARA.

www.docsteach.org

Voicethread- Collaborate around almost any type of media

http://ed.voicethread.com

Weebly- Create easy to use websites

http://education.weebly.com

Fotobabble- Create and share talking photos

http://fotobabble.com

Bitstrips- Create your own comic strips

http://bitstrips.com

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Capzles- Create virtual timelines

http://capzles.com

Dropbox- Free doc space and can share docs

www.dropbox.com

Show Document- Free web meetings

www.showdocument.com

Easy Bib- Create free bibliographies in MLA and APA

http://easybib.com

Edmodo- It’s like Facebook for K-12 education

http://edmodo.com

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Tube Chop- Easily edit any YouTube video

www.tubechop.com

Skype- Talk with anyone in the world… for FREE

www.skype.com and http://education.skype.com

Living Room Candidate- Presidential campaign ads since 1952.

www.livingroomcandidate.org

Cool Tools for Schools- Collection of Web 2.0 tools

www.cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com

Questions? Comments?