General Strategies
Primary vs. Secondary Sources Sort
Before engaging students in the use of primary sources, students must know the difference between a primary and secondary source.
Primary sources provide first hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later. Secondary sources are materials that interpret, assign value to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about events reported in primary sources.
Help students learn the difference by having them participate in this primary vs. secondary source sort.
Before engaging students in the use of primary sources, students must know the difference between a primary and secondary source.
Primary sources provide first hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later. Secondary sources are materials that interpret, assign value to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about events reported in primary sources.
Help students learn the difference by having them participate in this primary vs. secondary source sort.
Character Analysis
Knowing the background of historical characters and being able to analyze how those character traits impacted a historical event is critically important for painting a picture the character of the events in which they played a part. You can find one example of a character analysis form below.
Knowing the background of historical characters and being able to analyze how those character traits impacted a historical event is critically important for painting a picture the character of the events in which they played a part. You can find one example of a character analysis form below.
Character Analysis Form | |
File Size: | 31 kb |
File Type: |
Document Walks
Document walks are a way to get students moving while analyzing a set of primary sources. Find out more here.
Document walks are a way to get students moving while analyzing a set of primary sources. Find out more here.
Four Corners
The four corners strategy gets students moving around the room and provides a visual representation of where students stand on an issue. For example, if you were studying World War II the teacher might state the following: "The primary reason the United States entered the War was because of the Pearl Harbor bombing." The teacher would label corners of the room with strongly agree, strongly disagree, agree, and disagree. Students would move to specific corners of the room based on their opinion of the question. You can also ask students to cite evidence from primary sources to back up their logic for moving to a specific corner.
The four corners strategy gets students moving around the room and provides a visual representation of where students stand on an issue. For example, if you were studying World War II the teacher might state the following: "The primary reason the United States entered the War was because of the Pearl Harbor bombing." The teacher would label corners of the room with strongly agree, strongly disagree, agree, and disagree. Students would move to specific corners of the room based on their opinion of the question. You can also ask students to cite evidence from primary sources to back up their logic for moving to a specific corner.
Weighing the Evidence
Give students 5-7 documents related the lesson topic or concept. Ask students to "weigh" which documents carry more weight to help answer the lesson question.
Give students 5-7 documents related the lesson topic or concept. Ask students to "weigh" which documents carry more weight to help answer the lesson question.
Five Senses
The analysis of primary sources often brings out the senses. Get students to think about how their analysis connects to the five senses by asking them to complete this chart as part of their analysis.
The analysis of primary sources often brings out the senses. Get students to think about how their analysis connects to the five senses by asking them to complete this chart as part of their analysis.
Book Backdrops
Book backdrops merge the wonder of historical fiction with the use of engaging and relevant primary sources. Check out a PowerPoint with information on how to create a book backdrop below.
Book backdrops merge the wonder of historical fiction with the use of engaging and relevant primary sources. Check out a PowerPoint with information on how to create a book backdrop below.
creating_book_backdrops.pptx | |
File Size: | 3942 kb |
File Type: | pptx |