EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO
INCORPORATE PRIMARY
SOURCES
Objectives
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Upon completion, the learner will know:
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Lessons learned from archivists and how to apply them to your field
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How to apply ready-to-use primary analysis strategies
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Where to find digitized primary sources
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How to access tools to create activities
A Few Questions to Start
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How do you define primary and secondary sources for your students?
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How do you ask your students to work with primary source and/or archival materials?
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What specific questions do you have about increasing engagement or inquiry with primary sources?
Lessons Learned From
the Archives
Provide a Common Definition
Primary Sources
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The original records of the political, economic, artistic, scientific, social, and intellectual thoughts and
achievements of specific historical periods.
Secondary Sources
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Documents, texts, images, and objects about events, issues, people, and places used or created by
someone who typically referenced the primary sources for their information.
Something to Consider…
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Can a record ever be both a primary and a secondary source?
Choose Consistent Analysis Tools
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When students have a “method” they can fall back on, they spend less time trying to understand
how to look and more time looking
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Consistency is key
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If you don’t like the tools demonstrated, work with students to make your own
Students Need Safe Space for Analysis
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Scaffold analysis
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Avoid hard no’s or saying “you’re wrong”
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Teach analysis as a process rather than a right or wrong answer
The Power of Primary Sources
Analyzing Primary Sources
Where/how do your students struggle in analyzing primary sources?
Analysis Strategies
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•
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SOAPPS-Tone
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Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Point of View, Speaker, Tone
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About, Background, Change
ABC
STAC’D (Stacked) Method
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See, Tell, Audience, Clues, Decide
NARA’s Analysis Sheets
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Documents, Photographs, Cartoons, Posters, Maps, Artifacts, Motion Pictures, and Sound
Recordings
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Visual Thinking Strategies
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Consider Wordle for the big picture of documents
Visual Thinking Strategies
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Wordle Comparison
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FDR’s Pearl Harbor Speech
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George W. Bush’s 9/11 Speech
Where to Find Digitized Collections
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National Archives
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Doc’s Teach, www.docsteach.org
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Lesson Plan Templates
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Digital Vaults, www.digitalvaults.org
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Our Documents, www.ourdocuments.gov
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Presidential Timeline, www.presidentialtimeline.org
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iTunesU
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Online Public Access, www.archives.gov/research/catalog
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Limit by “Available online”
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Flickr Photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives
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YouTube, www.youtube.com/usnationalarchives
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Social Media, www.archives.gov/social-media
Other Digital Archives
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British Library, Online Gallery
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British Museum, Collection Online
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Library of Congress, Digital Collections & Services
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Smithsonian, Digital Library
Alaska Archives
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Alaska Digital Archives
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Alaska State Archives
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Alaska State Library
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UAA’s Consortium Library, Archives and Special Collections
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UAF’s Rasmuson Library, Alaska & Polar Regions Digital Collections & Exhibits
General Tips When Searching
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Check back often!
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Use search engines to find what you’re seeking
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Think outside of the box (British collections as example)
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Check finding aids and reach out to archivists
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Educators as the “back door” to the archive
Effectively Incorporating Primary Sources In the Classroom
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Place students in the role of historian
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Builds inquiry and lasting learning
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Adds an experiential richness to learning that cannot be replicated with a textbook
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Require them to analyze any primary source you share; don’t let anyone “off the hook”
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Ask them to research in archives or take advantage of digital collections
Suggestions for How
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Supplement the textbook with primary sources
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Power of “personal” in history
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Google Slides (embedded)
Scaffold your use of primary sources
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Start with images or objects
Ask students to curate a mini collection related to content being studied based on their interest;
Museum project
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VoiceThread
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Blackboard Discussion Board or Collaborate Presentation
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Google Slides
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Use VoiceThread to create asynchronous analysis (document, image, audio, video)
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Take advantage of NARA’s templates to create online activities
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Work with local archives or museums to create projects that work for your students
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Think big – don’t be afraid to ask
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Reach beyond Alaska for virtual guests or traveling programs
Any other ideas?
Why archives?
And why we should discuss them with our students…
The Importance of Archives
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Direct link to our history
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Foundation of a democracy
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Define our existence
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They protect us
Other Resources
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NARA: Research Our Records
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NARA: Teacher’s Resources
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Library of Congress: Using Primary Sources
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Library of Congress: Ask a Librarian
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Texas Archive of the Moving Image, Using Archival Film in the Classroom and Guide to Moving Image
Genres