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Lesson Overview
Teacher Material
Overview
| Materials and Preparation |
Instructional Procedure | Evaluation
and Extension
Overview
| Objectives
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After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
- distinguish between primary and secondary
sources;
- assess
the credibility of primary sources; and
- use a variety of primary sources to clarify, elaborate, and understand a historical period.
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| Time Required |
Two to three 45 minute class periods |
| Target Level |
Grades 8-12 |
| Grouping |
Individual or Small Group Activity |
| Curriculum Fit |
Use this lesson to introduce primary sources
to classes studying U.S. history, or insert this lesson into units
on slavery, the Civil War, or African-American history. |
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Materials and Preparation
Online Option
- To conduct this lesson online, your class
will need computer access to the World Wide Web.
- For each student or group of students, it is
recommended that you print and duplicate the Questions for Analyzing
Primary Sources
- Post instructions for logging onto the lesson on the
chalkboard.
Offline Option
- To conduct this lesson offline, you will need
to Download Lesson Materials, duplicate
documents, and distribute them to students.
- For each student or group of students, it
is recommended that you print and duplicate the following:
- Follow the procedures listed for each lesson section,
have students use paper copies of lesson materials instead of working
online.
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Instructional Procedure for Student Lesson
What Are Primary Sources
| Analysis of Primary Sources
| Types of Primary Sources | Discussion
What Are Primary Sources?
In this section, students learn the definition of primary sources and
do the Mindwalk Activity. Students can complete this section online in class or as homework.
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In-Class Option
- Assign students to work individually
or in small groups. Alert students that they will share their
activity responses with the class. Plan 25 to 45 minutes for this
section.
- Have students log on to the lesson and
read What Are Primary Sources?. Then
have students complete the Mindwalk Activity.
- When the allotted time has passed, conduct
a group discussion using the questions below:
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Homework Option
- To assign this activity as homework,
print out and duplicate What Are Primary
Sources? and the Mindwalk Activity
for students.
- Before assigning the homework, distribute What
Are Primary Sources. Give students time to read the material.
Discuss differences between primary and secondary sources. Ask
students to explain how the historical record can be huge and
limited at the same time.
- Distribute the Mindwalk Activity and assign
students to bring in responses the following day. At the next
class period, collect student work and conduct a group discussion
using the questions below:
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Questions
- Now that you have learned the definition of a primary
source and participated in the Mindwalk Activity, what do you think
are the strengths of the historical record?
- What are the limitations of the historical
record?
- How can a historian draw conclusions based on this huge body
of evidence?
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Procedure Index
Analysis of Primary Sources
In this section, students review rules and questions to use when evaluating
primary sources.
- After students have read What Are Primary Sources?
and completed the Mindwalk Activity, have students read
Analysis of Primary Sources.
- Discuss the Time and Place Rule and the Bias Rule.
- Print out Questions for Analyzing Primary Sources.
Have students pre read the questions. Explain that students will answer these questions using
historical documents in the next section of the lesson.
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Procedure Index
Types of Primary Sources
In this section, students learn about different types of primary sources
and analyze primary source documents.
- Have students read Types of Primary Sources.
- Assign two documents from Primary Source Set:
Slavery in the United States, 1790-1865 to individuals or groups. Students should be assigned
to look at two different kinds of primary sources to allow for comparison.
- Allow 30 to 50 minutes for students to analyze the documents using
Questions for Analyzing Primary Sources.
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Procedure Index
Discussion
In this section, students discuss their primary source analysis with the
entire class and compare and contrast analysis results.
- Have student groups summarize their analysis of a primary source document
for the class. Ask students to comment on the credibility of the source. If several groups have
analyzed the same document, encourage supporting or refuting statements from other groups.
- Conclude the lesson with a general discussion of the following questions:
- What was slavery like for African-Americans in the period before
the Civil War?
- Was any document completely believable? Completely unbelievable? Why or
why not?
- Did some types of primary sources seem less believable than other kinds
of sources? Why do you think this is true?
- What information about slavery did each document provide? How did looking
at several documents expand your understanding of slavery?
- If you found contradictory information in the sources, which sources did
you tend to believe? Why?
- What generalizations about primary historical sources can you make based
on this document set?
- What additional sources (and types of sources) would you like to see
to give you greater confidence in your understanding of slavery?
- You may print these questions as a separate
file for your reference.
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Procedure Index
Evaluation and Extension
Evaluation
As an assessment activity, ask students to select a document from the Primary
Source Set: Slavery in the United States that they have not yet analyzed.
Have students write an analysis of the document using the rules and questions
provided in the Analysis of Primary Sources
section of the lesson.
Extension
Provide time for students to explore the Further
Internet References listed in the lesson. Each student might be asked
to find one additional primary source document on slavery. Individuals
or groups might be challenged to research and gather a set of primary
source documents on a topic other than slavery.
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