This document discusses how teachers can use primary sources from the Library of Congress to help students meet the College and Career Ready Standards. It provides examples of English Language Arts standards for history/social studies for grades 6-12 that involve analyzing primary and secondary sources. The document explains how to determine if a source is primary or secondary and gives examples. It also provides advice on how to search the Library of Congress databases for relevant primary sources to use in the classroom.

1. It’s Been Digitized!
Meeting the Challenge of the College
and Career Ready Standards Using
Primary Sources From the Library of
Congress
Wendy Stephens
AETC June 12, 2013

2. Wendy Stephens
Cullman High School
wstephens at cullmancats dot net
A Member of the Library of Congress Teaching
with Primary Sources Advisory Board,
2010 to date

3. How do you study
the past, a time
that no longer
exists?
By referring to objects, records,

4. Artifacts that existed close in
time, place, and experience
to the topic being researched
are called primary sources.
Records that interpret
primary sources are called
secondary sources.

5. For the CCSS…
English Language Arts Standards »
History/Social Studies » Grade 6-8
Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1 Cite specific
textual evidence to support analysis of
primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2 Determine
the central ideas or information of a
primary or secondary source; provide an
accurate summary of the source distinct
from prior knowledge or opinions.

6. For the CCSS…
English Language Arts Standards »
History/Social Studies » Grade 6-8
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.9 Analyze the
relationship between a primary and
secondary source on the same topic.

7. For the CCSS…
English Language Arts Standards »
History/Social Studies » Grade 9-10
Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific
textual evidence to support analysis of
primary and secondary sources, attending to
such features as the date and origin of the
information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the
central ideas or information of a primary or
secondary source; provide an accurate
summary of how key events or ideas develop
over the course of the text.

8. For the CCSS…
English Language Arts Standards »
History/Social Studies » Grade 9-10
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and
contrast treatments of the same topic in
several primary and secondary sources.

9. For the CCSS…
English Language Arts Standards »
History/Social Studies » Grade 11-12
Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2 Determine
the central ideas or information of a primary
or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary that makes clear the relationships
among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3 Evaluate
various explanations for actions or events
and determine which explanation best
accords with textual evidence, acknowledging
where the text leaves matters uncertain.

10. For the CCSS…
English Language Arts Standards »
History/Social Studies » Grade 11-12
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 Integrate
information from diverse sources, both
primary and secondary, into a coherent
understanding of an idea or event, noting
discrepancies among sources.

11. Text complexity

13. Consider the following.
Are they primary or
secondary sources?

14. You’re researching Alexander
Graham Bell, credited as
inventor of the telephone. By
chance, you find a book about
Bell's life in your attic. The book
was published in 1936, and the
author does not seem to have
known Bell in person. Can you
consider the book a primary
source in your research on
Alexander Graham Bell's life?

15. Instead of researching Alexander
Graham Bell, you've decided you
want to research telephone use
before World War II. The book you
found in the attic has many asides
about what the author thinks of
telephones and what she's learned
about them while researching Bell.
Can you cite the book as a primary
source in your research about
telephone use?

16. You're taking a break from reading, and
decide to watch a documentary about
the telephone instead. Onscreen, two
actors perform a scene portraying a
man making a phone call in the 1920s
and an operator taking the call. The
caller expresses frustration at how long
it takes for the operator to connect the
call. Can you consider the actor's
words a primary source on phone use
before World War II?

17. After finishing the documentary, you
decide you want to know more about
what using a phone was like before
World War II. You write to a great-aunt
who was a little girl in the 1930s. She
responds with a letter reminiscing
about how much technology has
changed and telling you a story about a
friend's family business that had a
phone. Can you cite her words as a
primary source on phones before
World War II?

18. http://tinyurl.com/TPS-AETC

19. My advice:
Don’t approach searching the
LC databases like you would
the Internet with keyword
strategies
Instead,
• browse
• use subject directories
• use hyperlinks
• look for featured resources

20. Reverse-engineer it…

21. It’s Been Digitized!
Meeting the Challenge of the College
and Career Ready Standards Using
Primary Sources From the Library of
Congress
Wendy Stephens
AETC June 12,
2013