The Practice of Historical
Thinking – Learning to Read
Primary Sources and
develop/use document based
questions (DBQs)
Ken Tothero, Ryan Crowley and
Cinthia Salinas
The University of Texas at Austin
Ways in which we may already
approach primary sources- ExampleAPPARTS
• Author - Who created the source? What is their point of view?
• Place and Time -Where and when was the source produced?
• Prior Knowledge - What do you already know that would further
your understanding of this sources?
• Audience - For whom was the source created? Does this affect
the reliability of the source?
• Reason - Why was this source produced at the time is was
produced?
• The Main Idea - What is the source trying to convey?
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* Significance - Why is this source important?
• (College Board)
• A note—we consider each of these elements-a scaffolding
collection of document based questions
Ways in which we may already approach primary
sources- Example-SOAPS
1. What type of document is it (newspaper, map, advertisement, letter,
telegram, report, journal, photo, film, etc.)?
2. What are some of the unique physical qualities of the document
(letterhead, handwritten, seals, notations, stamps, etc.)?
3. What kind of primary source is it ?
4. Who is the Speaker? (what do we know of the speaker strictly form
the document, what do we know from the metadata, what do we know
from further research?)
5. What is the Occasion? (Time period, historical significance, other
contemporary events)
6. Who is the Audience? (Who was the document designed?)
7. What is the Purpose of the document? (What did the document do or
achieve? Was that its intended purpose?)
8. What is the Subject of the document? (what is the basic story?)
9. What is the Bias you find in the document? (What did the creator leave
out, who did the creator leave out?)
10. What new questions do you have that leads to further research? (Dig
deeper!)
A note—we consider each of these elements-a scaffolding collection of document
based questions
Ways in which we may already
approach primary sourcesExample-OPVL
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Origins (primary and/or secondary),
Purpose,
Values,
Limitations
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A note—we consider each of these elements-a scaffolding collection of
document based questions
Ways in which we may already approach
primary sources-Example-The National
Archives Analysis Worksheets
• Written Document *
• Artifact
• Cartoon *
• Map
• Motion Picture
• Photograph *
• Poster
• Sound Recording
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/
SCIM-C
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Summarizing
What type of historical document is the source?
What specific information, details and/or perspectives does the source provide?
Contextualizing
When and where was the source produced?
Why was the source produced?
Inferring
What is suggested by the source?
What interpretations may be drawn from the source?
Monitoring
What additional evidence beyond the source is necessary to answer the historical
question?
What ideas, images, or terms need further defining from the source?
How useful or significant is the source for its intended purpose in answering the
Corroborating
What similarities and differences between the sources exist?
What factors could account for these similarities and differences?
(Hicks, Doolitle, & Ewing, 2004) http://www.historicalinquiry.com/
Any other approaches?
• What is common to your classroom in
working with primary sources?
At the core of historical
thinking
• It’s about READING a primary source…getting all
you can out of it by being systematic and deliberate—
be as close to a historian as we can be
• First…sourcing
• Second…epistemology (fancy word for
comprehension)
• Third…typically significance (guiding big idea)
• But consider Agency and Empathy BEFORE
significance
At the core--Where do we begin
(initial)…with the source/sourcing DBQs
• Identification-What do we know about the source—what is it?
How old is it?
• Attribution-why was the primary source created by the
author?...in what context?
What type of document is it (newspaper, map, advertisement, letter, telegram,
report, journal, photo, film, etc.)?
What are some of the unique physical qualities of the document (letterhead,
handwritten, seals, notations, stamps, etc.)?
What kind of primary source is it ?
• (VanSledright, 2010)
Sourcing questions
• What type of
historical document
is the source?
• Who ‘produced’ it?
When was it
produced?
• Via voice
thread.… we will
respond by typing
into the
Voicethread
Logging into Voicethread
• You can get the link to our Voicethread on the
institute website
– tinyurl.com/fordinstitute
– Click the “Cinthia and Ryan’s Voicethread link”
• Click “Sign in or Register” on the bottom left of image
• Email is the email you used when you registered for
the institute
• Password is first three letters of first name and first
three letters of last time (first letter of each capitalized
• For me: RyaCro
• For Cinthia: CinSal
BREAK
Epistemology DBQs—warning— at all times watch
the flow of prior knowledge
• How Do You Know What
You Know—this is basic
comprehension What
do you see (visual--what
do you see—what is
going on)(text-what are
the points being made?
What historical terms do
you need to know more
about?
• Via voice thread…(we
all respond with voice)
At the core-Reading/negotiating
through primary sources
• DBQs-the only way we can see ourselves as
a part/participant of history –a way to make
history accessible to students (though need
to be aware of ‘presentism’
• Historical Agency (the power to make
decisions)
• AND Empathy (the notions of feeling)
• Historical Significance DBQs-why is it
historically significant? (Seixas,1993 )
Historical Agency DBQs
• Agency implies that
people in the pasts
faced choices, they
made decisions,
and the resulting
actions had
consequences-what options did
American policy
makers have?
Empathy DBQs
• Empathy understand
historical figures are
agents who faced
conflicts, constraints,
& hardships under
circumstances & with
ways of thinking quite
different from their
own-- how did they
feel?
Historical Significance DBQs
• What is important in the
past, and why is it
important?
• Note that we must
explore what makes an
event significant and
recognize that
perspectives may differ.
Build your own Primary
Source/DBQs with Voicethread
• To your own voice
thread via Ryan
• Choose from
cartoons on our
tinyurl site.
• With a partner– write
Epistemology,
Agency, Empathy,
Significance
document based
questions
• Whole share
Let’s Build a Voicethread
• Download two of the Vietnam editorials from the institute
website
• Go to our Voicethread site:
• http://ptlsummerinstitute.ed.voicethread.com/
• You should be logged in already, so click “Create” at the
top of the page
• Click “Upload,” click “My Computer,” select the Vietnam
editorial you downloaded.
• Repeat the process to upload the second editorial
cartoon
• Click the “Comment” tab, then click “Comment” on the
Voicethread.
• Upload your DBQs on each Voicethread slide
Building a Voicethread (cont.)
• After posting your DBQs, click on
“Share”
• Click “Get a link”
• Make sure “anyone can view” and
“anyone can comment” are checked
• Make sure that “Moderate comments” is
not checked
• Click “Copy the Link” and then paste it
to share the link.
Overall then…systematic
• Historical thinking is
intuitive for those of
us constantly
immersed in the
field—but how can
we help to make it
intuitive to others-to
our students?
• Sourcing as a simple & yet
essential starting DBQ
collection
• Epistemology DBQs as a
way to ensure we don’t miss
the obvious
• Agency & Empathy DBQsto bring our student in
• Significance DBQs-to finally
get at the students to the big
questions and answers
Reflections on using
Voicethread
• Whole class
• Small group
• Individual