Social Studies Methods: The Primacy of Primary Sources

Jeni Venker Weidenbenner, MLIS, MAT, PhD Student Section web site: ate.cgi?command=select&xmlfil e=u14119.xml ate.cgi?command=select&xmlfil e=u14119.xml Section room: 192 Education

Pair & Share How has your own past affected your life today? How has your own past affected your life today? Select 1 of the most significant things that has changed your life. How would your life have been different if this event hadn’t happened? Select 1 of the most significant things that has changed your life. How would your life have been different if this event hadn’t happened?

Why study history? "The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history, Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was. The world around it will forget even faster." (Source: Attribution: Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting; )

What questions will help students connect with history? Fundamental historical questions (NCSS, 1994) –Who am I? –What happened in the past? –How am I connected to those in the past? –How has the world changed and how might it change in the future? –How do our personal stories reflect varying points of view and inform contemporary ideas and actions?

What are some teaching strategies that can build knowledge? Field trips Guest speakers Demonstrations Lecture/Teacher presentations Games Role playing and simulations Discussions Reading/writing activities Social Studies kits Media Learning centers Inquiry Discrepant events

What are primary and secondary sources? Primary sources –Firsthand testimony or direct evidence related to topic of study –Can be in the form of a document or artifact –Item could be a primary source in one investigation but a secondary source in another Secondary sources –Accounts or interpretations based on the use of primary sources –Textbooks are secondary sources – but may contain facsimiles of photographs, documents, etc. that are primary sources

Why use primary sources? Beyond the Textbook: –Expose history through multiple perspectives and interpretations Personal Touch: –Connect students personally with people from the past Point of View: –Help students recognize points of view and biases, including their own, and analyze/evaluate interpretations

What types of primary sources are available for classroom use? Personal records –Birth certificates –Social security cards –Passports –Diaries –Photographs –Report cards –Letters –Drawings –Interviews –Scrapbooks –Recipes –Clothes Other types of records –Medical records –Government records (e.g. census) –Newspapers –Artifacts –Maps –Sound recordings –Motion pictures –Cartoons –Posters –Historical landmarks

What questions can help evaluate sources? Who created the source and why? Was it a spontaneous or thoughtful creation? Was the creator an eyewitness or a voice for others? What biases, prejudices, values, opinions, or interests may have influenced the creator? Who was the intended audience? Did the author wish to inform or persuade? Did the author have reasons to be honest or dishonest? Was the information recorded during the event, immediately afterwards, or after some time had elapsed? Can the information be corroborated by another source?

What instructional techniques can be used with primary sources? Evaluate the documents – ask questions to determine accuracy and reliability Translate the documents – paraphrase, interpret Examine unexpected, interesting, confusing events List recurring topics and events – look for patterns Explore the meaning of peculiar vocabulary words Create imaginary sources based on the information found in real sources Compare the primary source with the information and views expressed in the textbook Compare the primary source with the information and views expressed in children’s trade books (fiction and non-fiction)

What historical thinking skills can be taught with primary sources? –Chronological thinking –Historical comprehension –Historical analysis and interpretation –Historical research capabilities –Historical issues-analysis and decision- making

What kinds of activities can foster chronological thinking? Creating timelines Tracing changes in opinions, activities Identifying how current tools or resources that would have changed the historical person’s life (e.g., George Washington with a cell phone) Matching dates in the document with timelines

What kinds of activities can promote historical comprehension? Conducting interviews/obtain oral histories of modern events Locating historical places, tracing routes on a map Writing narratives of the event from various perspectives Citing evidence from the source that reveals a creator’s side of a conflict

What kinds of activities encourage analysis and interpretation? Creating Venn diagrams to illustrate comparisons and contrasts of ideas, attitudes, behaviors Constructing a poster persuading people to support a certain viewpoint Analyzing how the world would be different today if an event from the past had not happened – or had ended differently

What kinds of activities strengthen historical issues-analysis and decision-making? Citing evidence from the sources to support a particular decision, course of action Identifying causes of conflicts Analyzing difficulties faced Assessing the alternatives that historical figures faced Identifying reasons for people’s actions Analyzing impact of events

Pair & Share Think of a primary source that you could use in whatever content area you expect to teach (i.e. math, science, language arts, health, etc.). Brainstorm possibilities for using the source in a middle school classroom to teach each of the 5 thinking skills in the context of your content area: Think of a primary source that you could use in whatever content area you expect to teach (i.e. math, science, language arts, health, etc.). Brainstorm possibilities for using the source in a middle school classroom to teach each of the 5 thinking skills in the context of your content area: Chronological thinking Chronological thinking Historical comprehension Historical comprehension Historical analysis and interpretation Historical analysis and interpretation Historical research capabilities Historical research capabilities Historical issues-analysis and decision-making Historical issues-analysis and decision-making

Primary Sources Resources Using Primary Sources on the Web – U.S. Census Bureau – National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) – Library of Congress – Smithsonian National Museum of American History – Eyewitness to History –