Doing Research For
Lesson Plan Development
South Carolina Department of
Archives and History
Joel Walker: Presenter
The Historical Method
1. Choose a research topic
2. Do preliminary research with secondary sources
on the topic
3. Develop a research question or a working thesis
4. Do primary and (even more) secondary research
until question is answered or thesis is supported
5. Develop paper, book, presentation or lesson plan
The Difference Between
Primary and Secondary Sources
• Primary Sources: Sources
from the time and event in
question
• First-hand accounts
• Letters, photographs, newspaper articles (from the time),
first-hand interviews, etc.
• These sources need context so,
as a rule, do not “start” with
primary sources
• Primary sources “prove” your
argument, your thesis
statement
• Secondary Sources: Sources
created by historians (and
others) using primary sources
• Second-hand accounts
• Histories, biographies,
historical articles/papers, etc.
• These are the sources you
start with: They explain
context and help you get the
big picture
• They help you form your
argument, your thesis
Choosing a Lesson Topic:
Reasons for Choosing a Specific Topic
• My students in past years did not comprehend this topic and
test scores were low.
• The understanding of this topic is developmental to my
students.
• My understanding of this topic is weak and as I strengthen
my understanding, I may strengthen my students’
understanding.
• I really like this topic and my enthusiasm may be
contagious!
Narrowing or Broadening
a Topic
• General to Specific
– Native Americans
• 8-1.1 Summarize the culture, political systems, and daily life of the Native
Americans of the Eastern Woodlands, including their methods of hunting and
farming, their use of natural resources and geographic features, and their
relationships with other nations.
– There were Eastern Woodland cultures in the Northeast and Great Lakes
area – still too broad
• 8-1.2 Categorize events according to the ways they improved or worsened relations
between Native Americans and European settlers, including alliances and land
agreements between the English and the Catawba, Cherokee, and Yemassee;
deerskin trading; the Yemassee War; and the Cherokee War.
– Catawba and Cherokee a little more specific but Yemassee is actually too
vague
– Culture, political systems, and daily life of Cherokee or Catawba
Narrowing or Broadening
a Topic
• Specific to General
– Be careful about picking obscure topics for
lesson plans
• for example-a specific colonial governor
– Students may have a difficult time in placing the proper
amount of significance on the topic
– Always tie a specific topic back to the big
picture
Preliminary Research
• Purpose: To familiarize yourself with the
topic and to develop the context and setting
of your topic
• Example: What does the phrase “All men
are created equal” mean today? What did
the phrase mean in 1776. The 1776
meaning is an example of historical context.
Preliminary Research:
Key Words
• Although you may not know a lot about your topic
at this time, make a list of all words, names, and
phrases that you do know about your topic
• And as you do research and you learn more about
your topic, continue to add to your list of key words,
names, and phrases
• Purpose of Key Words: a) familiarizes you with
overall topic and b) helps develop research
directions (index searches, Google searches, etc.)
Preliminary Research:
Making a List of Sources
• Check the Shelves
– Libraries, archives, book stores
• Do an Internet Search
–
–
–
–
Google
Libraries (USC, SC State, County Libraries)
Data Bases: Discus
Abebooks, Amazon
• Look at encyclopedias
– The more specific the better
Preliminary Research:
Making a List of Sources
• Look for both primary and secondary
sources
• But concentrate on FINDING secondary
sources first
– Don’t read/use secondary sources found on the
web unless they are from a reliable, respected
source at this time in your research (.gov and
.org are usually reliable)
Keep Citations as You Go
• MLA and Turabian (Chicago Style) are acceptable
• Arranged by
– Primary or Secondary
– Alphabetical by author
• Author, Title, City, Company, Date
• MLA is double-spaced with annotation starting at end of
citation line. Indent all but first line.
• Turabian (Chicago Style) is single-spaced with separate
line for annotation. First line of citation is not indented
but first line of annotation is.
Keep a Working Bibliography
• Cite sources you plan to find and look at
– Separate them by primary and secondary source as you go
• Annotate them at this stage, too.
– Where I might find the source
– What might I expect to find in the source
• When you find the source and read/analyze it,
change the annotation to what you found or how
you used the source
• Let’s do some sample citations
Preliminary Research
• Read at least one thorough secondary
source completely
– The best book on the topic
• Skim and scan other secondary sources
Developing a Research Question
and/or Working Thesis
• Purpose: The research question is what you
want to find out about your topic and the
thesis is the significant aspect of your topic
that you want to prove through your
research. As an educator, this translates into
what you want your students to learn from
the lesson (the objective).
Ideas on Developing a Research- Based
Question and Lesson Plan Objective
• Focus on a specific SS standard
– 8-1.2
Categorize events according to the ways they improved or
worsened relations between Native Americans and European settlers,
including alliances and land agreements between the English and the
Catawba, Cherokee, and Yemassee; deerskin trading; the Yemassee War;
and the Cherokee War. (H, P, E)
• Categorize events according to the ways they
improved or worsened relations between Native
Americans and European settlers, including the
Yemassee War
Ideas on Developing a Research- Based
Question and Lesson Plan Objective
• Think about the level of attainment you
want from your students (Bloom’s
Taxonomy)
– Do you want students to:
• Analyze –compare, contrast, question
• Evaluate – argue, defend, support
• Create – construct, formulate
Ideas on Developing a Research- Based
Question and Lesson Plan Objective
• What intellectual foundational structure is
present in this topic?
– For example, what is so important about
knowing about Gullah or the Stono Rebellion?
The Research Question
• How did the Yemassee War improve or worsen
relations between Native Americans and European
Settlers?
• Did the Yemassee War worsen relations between the
Yemassee and the European Settlers yet improve
relations with other Native tribes? (Analyze –
Compare and Contrast)
• What does the development of the Gullah Culture
say about the African culture’s ability to adapt,
survive, and endure under the hardships of slavery?
Developing Your Topic’s
Story Outline
• From your preliminary/secondary research, explain the
following:
• What were things like BEFORE your topic started to occur?
(the background or context of your topic)
• Develop an outline of your topic
– Stories have 3 parts:
• Beginning, Middle, and End
– It should be organized in a way that will help support your thesis,
answer your research question, or help your students attain the
educational objective.
Story Outline Chart
Background Beginning Middle
Outline
Description
Strongest
Primary
Sources (if
you want one
per section)
End
Doing primary
research to answer the question
and support the educational objective
• Plan a visit to primary source repository
– Archives, Historical Society, possibly a Library
– Have an idea what you are looking for when you go to an
Archives – You’ve made a list during your preliminary
research
• Or use a respectable primary source website
– Most dot coms (.com) have an agenda
– .gov, .edu, and .org are more reliable as a rule
Doing primary
research to answer the question
and support the educational objective
• Do not assume that a source is truthful or
trustworthy because it appears in print or is on the
internet
• Sources may be based on incorrect or outdated
information, poor logic, or author may be biased or
have limited knowledge
• Even primary sources may not be truthful or
trustworthy
Looking at Sources
– Always ask “how does this source
• Help answer the research question or support
the attainment of the educational objective?”
• Help me tell my story outline?”
Engaging the Source(s)
• Take time to read engaging sources twice
– First, skim the source quickly without an overly critical
eye to understand the “breath” of the source
• If you are too quickly critical of a source, you may
misunderstand it, under-estimate it or exaggerate its weakness.
– Second time, read in depth to engage and evaluate the
source
– In the beginning stages of your research, you will likely
not know your topic to be overly critical of certain
sources, but in time you will get very good at it.