TPS EIU 2014 SUMMER INSTITUTE
PRIMARY SOURCE ACTIVITY DESIGN PACKET
This packet is designed to guide you through the process of creating your activity. Information about searching
for primary soures at www.loc.gov can be found in the Overview, this packet specifically addresses the activity.
You can download these items from the TPS EIU website Support Materials page at
http://www.eiu.edu/~eiutps/materials.php or you can email Cindy at cwrich@eiu.edu for copies.
Contents:
Brainstorm .................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Primary Sources in the Classroom .............................................................................................................................. 3
Why Use Primary Sources?......................................................................................................................................... 4
How to Use Primary Sources ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Authentic Use of Primary Sources .............................................................................................................................. 6
Primary Sources, Literacy and Inquiry ........................................................................................................................ 7
Curriculum Design ...................................................................................................................................................... 8
Example of Teaching with a Primary Source .............................................................................................................. 9
Primary Source Activity Format Guide ..................................................................................................................... 11
Brainstorm some more! ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Primary Source Activity Effectiveness Checklist (there is a reason that I put this before the worksheet!)............. 13
Primary Source Activity Worksheet.......................................................................................................................... 15
Reflection Questions ................................................................................................................................................ 18
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What are some topics you will be teaching? Primary Sources are most powerful
when they are used in authentic learning situations, opposed to a “special project”
that may not connect to curriculum. Let’s look at what you plan to teach and how a
primary source can engage learners, promote inquiry and help you assess student understanding.
Brainstorm!
Topic #1
Topic #2
Topic #3
Possible Primary Sources!
Possible Primary Sources!
Possible Primary Sources!
How I can use them!
How I can use them!
How I can use them!
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Primary Sources in the Classroom
A primary source is something that was created in
the time under study. A primary source is an original
work written by someone who witnessed or wrote
close to an event.
Defining Primary Sources
A secondary source is created using information
provided by someone else. Secondary sources are
often created with some distance from the event.
What are Primary Sources?
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/psources/types.html
Published Documents - Some primary sources are published documents, created for large audiences
and distributed widely. Published documents include books, magazines, newspapers, maps,
government documents, non-government reports, literature of all kinds, advertisements, pamphlets,
posters, laws and court decisions. When reviewing published documents, remember that just because
something was published does not make it truthful, accurate, or reliable. Every document has a creator,
and every creator has a point of view, blind spots, and biases. Also remember that even biased and
opinionated sources can tell us important things about the past.
Unpublished Documents - Many types of unpublished documents have been saved, and can be used as primary
sources. These include personal letters, diaries, journals, wills, deeds, family Bibles containing family
histories and many other sources. Unpublished business records such as correspondence, financial
ledgers, customer information, minutes and research and development files also give clues about the
past. Unpublished documents may come from community organizations, churches, service clubs,
political parties and labor unions or government at all levels that create unpublished records. Unlike published
documents, unpublished records may be difficult to find because few copies exist and may be found only in the
possession of the person to whom the letters were sent. Because unpublished documents were seldom meant to
be read by the public, they provide interesting clues about the past.
Oral Traditions/Oral Histories-Oral traditions and histories provide another way to learn about
the past from people with firsthand knowledge of events. Recently, spoken words that make
up oral histories have gained importance as primary sources. Oral histories provide important historical evidence
about people who were excluded from mainstream publications or did not leave behind written primary sources.
Oral histories are as old as human beings. Before the invention of writing, information passed from generation to
generation through the spoken word.
Visual Documents and Artifacts-Visual documents include photographs, films, paintings, and types of artwork.
Because they capture moments in time, they provide evidence of changes over time and are
evidence about a culture at specific moments in history: customs, preferences, styles, special
occasions, work, and play. Like other primary sources, they have a creator with a point of view -such as a painter, sculptor, or film maker. Even photos were created by photographers to create
desired effects. Think about the creator's point of view. What was the creator's purpose? Why this pose? Why
that perspective? Why that framing? Why this distance? Why this subject? What was included? What was
excluded?
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Why Use Primary Sources
Why Use Primary Sources (red) handout from
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/handouts/index.html
Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and
political thought and achievement during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived during
that period.
Bringing young people into close contact with these unique, often profoundly personal, documents and objects
can give them a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.
1.
2.
3.
Engage students
a. Primary sources help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper
understanding of history as a series of human events.
b. Because primary sources are snippets of history, they encourage students to seek additional
evidence through research.
c. First-person accounts of events helps make them more real, fostering active reading and response.
Develop critical thinking skills
a. Many state standards support teaching with primary sources, which require students to be both
critical and analytical as they read and examine documents and objects.
b. Primary sources are often incomplete and have little context. Students must use prior knowledge
and work with multiple primary sources to find patterns.
c. In analyzing primary sources, students move from concrete observations and facts to questioning
and making inferences about the materials.
d. Questions of creator bias, purpose, and point of view may challenge students’ assumptions.
Construct knowledge
a. Inquiry into primary sources encourages students to wrestle with contradictions and compare
multiple sources that represent differing points of view, confronting the complexity of the past.
b. Students construct knowledge as they form reasoned conclusions, base their conclusions on
evidence, and connect primary sources to the context in which they were created, synthesizing
information from multiple sources.
c. Integrating what they glean from comparing primary sources with what they already know, and
what they learn from research, allows students to construct content knowledge and deepen
understanding.
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How to Use Primary Sources
How to Use Primary Sources (green) handout from
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/handouts/index.html
A Quick Start Guide
Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the
time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by
someone without firsthand experience.
Examining primary sources gives students a powerful sense of history and the complexity of the past. Helping
students analyze primary sources can also guide them toward higher-order thinking and better critical thinking
and analysis skills.
Before you begin:
• Choose two or three primary sources that support the learning objectives and are accessible to students.
• Consider how students can compare these items to other primary and secondary sources.
• Identify an analysis tool or guiding questions that students will use to analyze the primary sources
1. Engage students with primary sources.
Draw on students’ prior knowledge of the topic.
• Ask students to closely observe each primary source. • Who created this primary source? • When was it
created? • Where does your eye go first?
• Help students see key details. • What do you see that you didn’t expect? • What powerful words and
ideas are expressed?
• Encourage students to think about their personal response to the source. • What feelings and thoughts
does the primary source trigger in you? • What questions does it raise?
2. Promote student inquiry.
• Encourage students to speculate about each source, its creator, and its context. • What was happening
during this time period? • What was the creator’s purpose in making this primary source? • What does
the creator do to get his or her point across? • What was this primary source’s audience? • What biases
or stereotypes do you see?
• Ask if this source agrees with other primary sources, or with what the students already know. • Ask
students to test their assumptions about the past. • Ask students to find other primary or secondary
sources that offer support or contradiction.
3. Assess how students apply critical thinking and analysis skills to primary sources.
• Have students summarize what they’ve learned. • Ask for reasons and specific evidence to support their
conclusions. • Help students identify questions for further investigation, and develop strategies for how
they might answer them.
• Analysis tools and thematic primary source sets from the Library offer entry points to many topic
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Authentic Use of a Primary Source
Effective Teachers:
1. Prepare students to
work with sources
Preparation/ Question
Phase
Choose a “good source”
E.g. one that:
Supports a clear aim
Is accessible to students
Offers a mystery or puzzle
Give students a method
for analyzing primary
sources
Create an analysis guide
tailored to the specific
type of primary source
Model or review the
method with students
prior to lesson
Elicit students’ prior
knowledge about the topic
What do students already
know or believe to be
true?
What do they want to
know? What questions do
they have?
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Library of Congress definition: Using a primary source
within an historical context as a basis for inquiry and
discovery.
2. Use primary sources well at any of three phases of a lesson or unit
Intro/Investigation
Phase
Primary Sources engage
students and help them
“greet” the topic
Inquiry/Check
Phase
Primary Sources provide
rich data for student
investigations
Presentation/Share
Phase
Primary Sources provide
evidence for students’
conclusions
Effective teachers …
Pose questions to elicit
active student response
Where does your eye go
first?
How does this make you
feel?
What questions about the
topic does this raise for
us?
Effective teachers …
Target subject-specific
ideas & skills (in history,
math, art, English, etc.)
Effective teachers …
Clarify the purpose of the
report or presentation
Persuasive
Narrative, informational
Advocacy or argument
Develop fundamental
visual & print literacy skills
Close observation,
decoding, vocabulary, e.g.:
Write down everything
you see
Underline powerful words
Circle key details
Identify difficult words/
phrases, create glossary,
etc.
Work with multiple
sources, looking for
patterns
Does this source agree
with the others? With
what you already know?
Can you group the sources
according to similarities?
How would you
summarize what the
patterns tell us?
Comprehension, e.g.:
Strategies for summarizing
Deciding what is
important and what is not
Identifying what the
author wanted to convey
Writing a personal
response
Develop critical thinking
What biases or
stereotypes do you see?
Is this fair/balanced?
How might it look if the
author had different
experiences?
E.g. help students:
Put sources in context
Who made this? When?
For what audience? For
what purpose?
Teach students how to use
a source as evidence
What specific parts
support what you’re
saying?
Which don’t?
How do you know?
Probe for understanding
Ask for reasons &
evidence, e.g., “Why do
you say that? Where in
the doc. do you see that?”
Be alert to student
misconceptions & correct
them.
Help students summarize
what they’ve learned from
all the sources, and what
questions remain.
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Primary Sources, Inquiry & Literacy
Teaching and Learning Strategies
Connect
 Facilitate conversation
 Small group discussion
 Learning logs / Charting
 Webbing
 Pre-reading aids
 Engagement and exploration
Wonder
 Class brainstorming
 Peer questioning
 Question stems
 Anticipation Guide
Investigate
 Find information
 Two column note taking
 Notes/Reflection
 Main Idea/Details, Examples
 Guided Practice
 Ideas from Text/ Connections to
Prior Knowledge
 Organize sources
 Evaluate information
Literacy
(read media – maps, images, documents, etc.)
Pre-Reading & Sharing
 Relate topic to own life, real world
 Activate prior knowledge
 Understand context, specialized vocabulary,
purpose of text
 Recognize central them or big idea
 Connect personally to topic (human
face of history)
 Context, background knowledge
 Find central theme/, big idea
 Identify pre-existing mental models
 Interpret individually
Pre-Reading
 Generate original questions
 Develop questions to push comprehension  Pursue deep questions over superficial
 Predict what text will say
During Reading
 Use text to extract meaning & frame ideas
 Boost comprehension (skim, find main idea,
paraphrase, organizer, summarize, generate
questions, determine author point of view)
 Deepen thinking while writing (identify key
ideas & supporting evidence, generate
questions, organize, clarify point of view)
 Check comprehension while reading, clarity
and coherence while writing.
Construct
 Charting/ Mindmapping
 Post-Reading
 Composing
 Interpret the meaning of the text (finding
 Questioning: teacher-to-student, patters and relationships, comparing to
prior knowledge, making inferences)
student-to-teacher, student-tostudent
 Draw Conclusions and develop new
understandings
Express
 Use rubric with specific criteria Post-Reading
 Select format based on topic and  Share new understandings with others
through discussion, writing, presentation
audience
 Identify sources
Reflect
 Feedback from teacher & peers Post-Reading
 Reflect on new ideas and new questions
 Reflection Log: I Used to
that have emerged
Think/Now I Know
 Reflect on own progress in reading and
writing
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Inquiry + Literacy In A Digital
Environment
 Establish authority of sources
 Corroborate information
 Connect meaning across sources
 Interpret visual/audio as well as text
 Read for deep meaning rather than
superficial collection of facts
 Actively seek multiple perspectives
 Organize & Interact with text
 Resist “graphic seduction” and
“presentationism”
 Synthesize bits of information
 Use interactive tools to collaborate
 Employ critical thinking strategies to
strengthen quick action, quick decision
 Resist copy-and-paste
 Communicate through multiple media
 Use social writing and presenting tools
Present to authentic audiences
 Overcome “all about me” by building
reflection into blogs and social
networking
 Create contemplative environment
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Curriculum Design
Motivation for Creating Learning Experiences Incorporating a Primary Source.
Content: Library of Congress primary sources provide the impetus for learning and
are directly related to curriculum standards. Primary sources are essential to the learning experience and used to
add dimension, depth, and different levels of challenge or interest to the topic under study. Occasionally… An
educator comes across a primary source that is exceptional and they build a classroom event
around that item and the teachable moment. Process: The learning process is centered on a
question based on curriculum standards connected to an explicit understanding goal. Effective
Practices provide a means for students to develop understanding, knowledge, and skills.
Products: The student response to a question reveals progress toward learning goals including:
understanding, knowledge, and skills.
Underwood. (1905). Baby’s
introduction to the chicks.
Library of Congress, Prints and
Photographs Division
Activity Types Defined by Primary Source Purposes
Introductions use the primary source(s) to invite students to greet the topic under study.
Students interact with primary sources much like visitors interact with items in a museum exhibition. An
Introduction is like meeting someone for the first time. We take a moment to learn about each other and find out
what we have in common. Introductions spark interest, identify learning goals, and help develop connections with
experiences and prior knowledge
Introduction: Build Relationship with the topic under study using primary sources to:
1. spark interest and curiosity.
2. connect topic to personal experiences.
3. recognize prior subject area knowledge to topic.
4. identify questions the primary sources inspire about the topic.
Investigations challenge students to be researchers and examine primary sources to learn about a topic.
Investigation: Make Sense of the primary sources to learn about the topic under study:
1. read: comprehend the message of the primary source by using word attack and vocabulary skills,
comprehension strategies, and media literacy skills. (Read could be listen for an audio recording or view
for an image).
2. analyze: consider the purpose of the primary source, context, and point of view.
3. interpret: stretch thinking about the topic under study by checking to see how this information,
confirms, challenges, or changes our previous thinking on the topic.
4. question: identify questions for future research based on this investigation.
Formal Assessments use primary sources as evidence to support thinking. Students reveal thoughts on a topic
and use primary sources to support their hypothesis about the topic.
Formal Assessment: Recognize Growth and Use Learning Productively
1. reflect on learning from Introduction and Investigation, recognize how individual thinking has been
confirmed, challenged, and sometimes changed.
2. determine a useful product or performance to show thinking to others.
3. use thinking, knowledge, and skills to create the product or performance.
4. consider how well the product or performance makes thinking, knowledge, and skills visible.
5. revise product or performance to increase the thinking, knowledge, and skills shown
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These pages offer a look at one way that a primary
source can be used in the classroom. YOU know
what the students in your classroom need. Customize
an analysis sheet or questions to encourage discussion of a specific topic or guide learning. Remember, there
are several analysis sheets on the TPS EIU site that you can use for inspiration or create your own from scratch!
Example of Teaching with a Primary Source
Analyzing a Primary Source
Topic of Study
Title of Source:
Author:
Genre
(cartoon, letter, photo?)
WHO
Author: background, sex, race, social class, education,
WHEN & WHERE
Place and Time: When and Where was it published?
credibility, expertise, perspective?
Historical Context: What was going on during this event or
Audience: Who is the intended audience?
OBSERVATIONS
Description of Source
Meaning
What I see…
Evidence of…
What the objects, words, etc.
mean
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era/period?
Questions
Message/Argument
The author is trying to tell me…
I wonder…
My reaction to the source is…
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IDENTIFYING THE MAIN IDEA
Looking at your observations of the primary source, what is the main idea or message of the source?
APPLYING THE SOURCE
I think I can use this source in my essay because…
WRITING USING THE PRIMARY SOURCE
Focus Question:
tells us that
(title of source or author)
(author or subject)
thought
(the primary source’s message, what it is trying to tell me)
because
(evidence in the primary source)
This primary source relates to the focus question because
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Primary Source Activity Format for Dissemination
This is the format that your activity will follow.
These items are required.
Final version due before Friday, July 31, 2014
A. Title
B. Overview
C. Essential Question
D. Learning Objectives
1. Objective One
2. Objective Two
3. Objective THree
E. Time Required
F. Grade Range
G. Discipline/Subject
H. Topic (American Memory)
I.
Era
J.
Common Core State Standards
K. Materials Used
1. Support Materials
2. Library of Congress Primary Sources Used
3. Other electronic resources
L. Procedure
1. List every step and all resources used
i. Document as if they are detailed plans for a sub!
M. Activity Assessment
N. Extension
O. Author Credits
P. Appendices
1. all materials and handouts
2. print versions of primary sources
3. etc.
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Brainstorm more!
Events associated with my topic
People associated with my
topic
Objects associated with my topic
Topic
Places associated with my
topic
Other things to consider…
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Are you getting the most bang for your buck
with the primary source that you chose? Don’t
just use it for decoration – it is a powerful
teaching tool!! TPS lessons engage students, promote critical thinking, and build content knowledge. Use these
guidelines to review lessons and check for key components.
Primary Source Activity Effectiveness Checklist
I. Does the activity include all of the following approaches:
Supports inquiry by posting questions that are relevant to learning goals
A
and require analysis of primary sources.
Models primary source analysis that includes observing, reflecting and
B
questioning.
C
Uses primary sources that connect to the subject/topic under study.
D
Presents primary sources in a historically accurate context.
E
F
Provides for students of varying abilities, learning styles and interests to
learn with primary sources.
Requires students to demonstrate knowledge or skills gained from the
analysis of primary sources.
II. Include one or more of these student activities:
Beginners and students in lower grades
Comments:
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Comments:
Identify details when observing a primary source
Connect primary sources to self, family and/or community
Ask questions related to observations and the topic of a primary
source
Speculate about who created a primary source, when and for what
purpose
Place a primary source(s) in a timeline
Consider whether observations contradict or support what they know
Identify point of view with primary sources
Categorize primary sources to show relationships between them
Make comparisons with primary sources
Consider issues of cause and effect, context and/or continuity and
change
Articulate ideas of beliefs formed by observing primary sources
Express learning in a variety of ways using primary sources
Reflect on their learning
Connect new knowledge from primary sources to other
learning experiences
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Experienced students and those in higher grades
Analyze primary sources to formulate questions that
connect to the topic of study
Identify who created the primary source, when and for what
purpose
Use previous knowledge to place primary sources into
historical context
Examine primary sources closely to form conjectures about
their meaning and intent
Investigate issues of cause and effect, causality, context and
continuity and change
Corroborate information using additional primary and/or
secondary sources to form and test hypotheses
Comments:
Draw conclusions about questions and hypotheses
Formulate investigative questions
Select primary sources to support their own investigations
Reflect on their learning process to consider expansion,
extension or modification
Seek feedback from peers
III. Check that the following elements are included:
Element
Description and comments
Library of
Learning with Library of Congress primary sources is central to the lesson
Congress Primary
Lesson includes appropriate citations and copyright information.
Sources
Learning
Standards
 Yes  No
 Yes  No
Lesson aligns to an identified set of content curricular standards
 Yes  No
Learning goals align to curricular standards
 Yes  No
The content of the lesson supports the learning goals
 Yes  No
Lesson Structure Procedures are clear and replicable
and Alignment Lesson provides explicit instructions for analyzing primary sources
Student assessment aligns to learning goals
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Acceptable
 Yes  No
 Yes  No
 Yes  No
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Primary Source Activity Worksheet
Use this worksheet to create a draft of your activity. You can
download it from the TPS EIU site and type right in the boxes.
(They will grow with your text.)
A. Title.
B. Overview Who, what, how and why in 2 or 3 sentences
C. Essential Question What big idea(s) do you want students to explore through this activity?
D. Learning Objectives statements describing learner outcomes in measurable & obtainable terms.
After completing this activity students will be able to:
1.
2.
3.
E. Time Required
______ class periods of ______ minutes
F. Grade Range
3-5
G. Discipline/Subject
6-8
9-12
H. Topic – Circle those that apply from American Memory homepage at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Advertising
African American History
Architecture, Landscape
Cities, Towns
Culture, Folklife
Environment, Conservation
Literature
Maps
Religion
Sports, Recreation
Government, Law
Native American History
War, Military
Immigration, American Expansion
Performing Arts, Music
Presidents
Technology, Industry
Women’s History
I. Era – Circle those that apply www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/
Settlement, Beginning to 1763
National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860
Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929
The American Revolution, 1763-1783
The New Nation, 1783-1815
Civil War and Reconstruction 1861-1877
Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900
Great Depression/World War II, 1929-1945 Postwar United States, 1945-1968
J. Standards Common Core standards that you feel are applied or addressed in this activity
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K. Materials Used ALL materials needed to conduct the lesson and are referenced in the “Procedures.” Obey copyright
laws. All materials used must be included within or attached to when submitted.
Handouts or instruction sheets:
Analysis Tools:
Rubrics:
Presentation tools:
Other:
Library of Congress Primary Sources
Image
thumbnail
Title:
Creator & Date of Creation:
URL :
Notes:
Image
thumbnail
Title:
Creator & Date of Creation:
URL :
Notes:
Other
Image
thumbnail
Title:
Creator & Date of Creation:
URL :
Notes:
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L. Description of Procedure a numbered list of teacher actions needed to implement this lesson. The description gives
specific, clear and concise instructions and lists all materials used and referenced.
It is better to provide too much and remove extra later.
Procedure Step #
Resource/Material
Used
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Notes:
M. Activity Assessment
N. Extension Ideas
O. Author Credits
Name:
School:
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Primary Source Activity Reflection
This must be completed AFTER the primary source activity has
been implemented.
Answer all parts of all questions. Completed reflection should be between 2 – 4 pages in length.
If multiple activities are created, a separate reflection document is required for each activity.
1. Teacher and School Name:
2. Activity Title:
3. Library of Congress primary source(s) used:
#1-3 are found on the bibliographic page of the primary source, the description is your own words
(1) Complete Title:
(2) Author, Creator:
(3) Found in LOC Collection/Division:
(4) Description:
4. Grade Level and Class:
5. Topic/Theme/Unit Being Studied:
6. Date Implemented:
7. Analysis of Student Engagement and Learning:
a. Did the primary source support teaching by engaging students? Please provide examples that you
observed to support your opinion.
b. Do you feel that this activity supported your teaching goals for this topic? Explain.
c. Do you think students enjoyed the activity? Why or why not?
8. Activity Analysis
a. What do you feel was the strength or best piece of this activity and why?
b. Identify two things that you would change or add to this activity? What brought you to this
decision?
9. How do you feel that your activity supports the implementation of any of the Common Core State
Standards? Please provide an example.
10. Optional: Any other comments or ideas you want to share.
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