Integrating Primary Sources into the Social Studies Classroom

Primary Sources in the Social Studies Classroom Glenn Wiebe ESSDACK glennw@essdack.org

sticky ideas

primary sources encourage high levels of learning

there’s lots of stuff you can use

“A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable.” Thomas Jefferson 1817

With your partner, make some decisions & place your dots

Primary or secondary? Old history Copy of email textbook Journal New history Blog textbook Digital photo Band of Brothers Wikipedia Photo article Artifact World Book

characteristics?

• direct traces of the event accounts created at the time it occurred, by firsthand observers and participants accounts created after the event occurred, by firsthand observers and participants

• direct traces of the event • accounts created at the time it occurred, by firsthand observers and participants accounts created after the event occurred, by firsthand observers and participants

• direct traces of the event • accounts created at the time it occurred, by firsthand observers and participants • accounts created after the event occurred, by firsthand observers and participants

Definitions?

Definitions? Primary sources • Contemporary accounts of an event, created by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question • “a first-hand account of an event, person, or place”

Secondary sources • Materials that interpret, assign value to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about the events reported in primary sources • “An account of an event, person, or place that is not first-hand”

Secondary sources? • Materials that interpret, assign value to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about the events reported in primary sources • “An account of an event, person, or place that is not first-hand”

Do you need to change any of your dots?

Examines multiple primary sources to understand point of view of an historical figure

Examines a variety of primary sources in World history and analyzes them in terms of credibility, purpose, and point of view

Uses at least three primary sources to interpret the impact of a person or event from Kansas history to develop an historical narrative

Compares contrasting descriptions of the same event in United States history to understand how people differ in their interpretations of historical events

Three stage media analysis See? Similarities & Differences? So what?

Three stage media analysis Boston Massacre

Paul Revere 1770 Alonzo Chappel 1868

Training kids to analyze “What really happened in Boston on March 5, 1770?”

Historical Scene Investigation web.wm.edu/hsi

5 W’s and credibility

Who 1st, 2nd or 3rd person?

What format?

Why audience?

Where present?

When date?

take advantage of analysis worksheets

Whatcha thinking?

Social Studies Central www.socialstudiescentral.com

National Archives & Records Administration www.archives.gov/education

Library of Congress www.loc.gov/teachers

American Memory memory.loc.gov

Our Documents www.ourdocuments.gov

Making Sense of History www.primarysourcelearning.org

Historical Scene Investigation web.wm.edu/hsi

Browse through lesson plan archives Select a lesson you can adapt How might it look different? Share what you find!

how might chapter nine in Medina tie into primary sources?

what are these things?

What are some problems with using primary sources?

Time in planning

Time in planning Time in class

Time in planning Time in class Validity of source

Time in planning Time in class Validity of source Training of teacher and students

Time in planning Time in class Validity of source Training of teacher and students Reading level of students

Jigsaw: “Primary Sources in History: Breaking Through the Myths”

Code the text already know = star question = ? aha = !

Myths?

Primary sources are reliable

Primary sources are reliable Primary sources are naturally engaging for students

Primary sources are reliable Primary sources are naturally engaging for students Evidence can be neatly packaged

Primary sources are reliable Primary sources are naturally engaging for students Evidence can be neatly packaged The more primary sources the better

Primary sources are on the state assessment but . . . other than that?

Students develop critical thinking skills

“I learned that to do history, you have to be objective and be able to look at a puzzle of historical events and put them together in order.” 10th grader

Students acquire empathy for the human condition

“When my students read the Whitman letters, I saw a sheen of tears in their eyes and noted an avid interest in the soldiers as people, not just historical figures.” HS teacher

Students consider different points of view

“Discovering that two students view a document differently creates a kind of dissonance that opens up meaning and creates new understanding in learners.” MS teacher

Students understand relationships over time

“The Civil Rights Movement finally made sense to me when I looked at lynching postcards from the 1900s and some of the writings of Ida B. Wells.” HS student

Some assumptions?

History is incomplete & open to interpretation

History is incomplete & open to interpretation Use raw evidence as much as possible

History is incomplete & open to interpretation Use raw evidence as much as possible Activity should be “ill structured”

History is incomplete & open to interpretation Use raw evidence as much as possible Activity should be “ill structured” Don’t get too involved

Use provocative problems

Use provocative problems Provide scaffolding

Use provocative problems Provide scaffolding Incorporate collaboration

Use provocative problems Provide scaffolding Incorporate collaboration Focus on the process, not the “correct” answer

Some other ideas

• Footnote • Digital Vaults

Provide some “velcro”

Use analysis worksheets

Use analysis worksheets Use NARA / LOC kits

Use analysis worksheets Use NARA / LOC kits NCSS lesson plans

Images

Images • Select a historical photo, have kids predict events one hour before or after

Images • Select a historical photo, have kids predict events one hour before or after • I am poem

Images • Select a historical photo, have kids predict events one hour before or after • I am poem • Create a “5 senses” description of an image

Images

Images • Use maps to guide questions

Kids create tour of US import countries Tours of explorer routes List of natural resources Provide placemarks / good area to settle? City scavenger hunts

Andersonville prison

Images • Use visual DEIs

“Backwards” DEI • Student stands facing class • Project picture on wall • Student must ask the questions

Compare Flickr.com photos of a specific event or place

Let’s go find some

Objects • Keil Hileman

Objects

Objects • Trace the development of specific types of technology or inventions

Objects • Trace the development of specific types of technology or inventions • Predict what the technology might look like 50 or 100 years from now

Objects

Objects • Use a spreadsheet program to document deaths and births based on tombstone data

Objects • Use a spreadsheet program to document deaths and births based on tombstone data • Predict use of unknown object / research and present findings

Audio • Record oral interviews with family or community members

Audio • Record oral interviews with family or community members • Study lyrics of popular music from WWI, WWII, the Vietnam War, and Iraq

Audio • Compare transcripts or newspaper accounts of famous speeches to the actual speech

Text • Analyze advertising of specific products over time

Text • Analyze advertising of specific products over time • Select cookbooks from different periods

Famous quotes - Age, location, time, purpose, who?

Text • History in a Box

Text • History in a Box • Read letters to analyze point of view

Document Based Questions (DBQs) • Series of short answers or an essay based on prior knowledge and a select set of documents • Encourages students to think historically

Was Christopher Columbus good or bad?

Did imperialism help or harm colonial societies?

Is it ever okay for the government to violate the Bill of Rights?

Technology?

Using the Library of Congress framework, begin developing your own primary sources activity • Start with the end in mind • Develop an assessment • Create the activity

high levels of learning lots of resources & activities exist technology is important

have more questions? contact: Glenn Wiebe glennw@essdack.org socialstudiescentral.com historytech.wordpress.com View presentations at: slideshare.net/glennw98

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Integrating Primary Sources into the Social Studies Classroom

by Glenn Wiebe on Feb 22, 2010

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Integrating Primary Sources into the Social Studies Classroom Presentation Transcript