2 Easy Ways to Use Primary Sources In the Classroom

I wanted to share with you all something that I have made a
goal for myself this year, and that is to incorporate primary sources into each
unit I teach. I’m not sure about you, but I found myself shying away from using primary documents because a) I didn’t know where to find quality primary sources,
b) I wasn’t sure how to use them in my classroom, and c) I just wasn’t sure if
I had time to spend. In the past I did use primary documents, but not as often as
I knew I should be.

Before I get into how I use them and offer some ideas, I want
to talk about why we all should be using primary sources in our classrooms. And
it just isn’t for social studies teachers! ELA/reading teachers can absolutely
use primary sources, too. It’s an easy way for ELA/reading teachers to
integrate social studies into their content, and social studies teachers will
be integrating ELA/reading as well.

I think a comment several of my students made sums it up
best- “I can touch history!” History is something that can be elusive to our
students. It can be abstract. History is events that occurred, and we can read
about it and watch videos to help our students better understand. However,
history is something that our students can’t touch or feel. We know students
learn best when they can manipulate objects or ideas. History occurred in the
past, and we can’t take our students there. If we live near a museum then we
can certainly go on a field trip, but for those of us who aren’t close to
museums or don’t have the funds available, how are we supposed to allow our
students the opportunity to get up and close and personal with history? Primary
sources are how!

Like I said earlier, I made it a goal of mine this year to
incorporate as many primary sources as possible this year because I knew it
would help unlock the mysteries of history for my students. I am four months
into the school year, and my students this year have a better understanding of
the topics we have learned than my students last year because I bring in
primary documents multiple times a week. My students are able to piece together
what we have talked about in class and what they are analyzing from primary
sources to construct new knowledge that they better understand than if we had
just read about it and watched a video. They are able to view history from
multiple perspectives and compare primary sources that sometimes contradict one
another (propaganda) to better understand the complexities of history.

Not only do my students understand the topics I teach at a
deeper level, they are also learning how to be critical thinkers and analyze
sources like a historian would. Oftentimes primary sources lack all of the
information needed to fully understand the message or point. Students have to
use prior knowledge and analyze multiple sources to be able to fully understand
them. Students must move from making observations about the primary sources
(explicit facts) to making inferences (implicit facts). Not only this, but
students must also be aware of the bias present in propaganda they look at and
question the point of view and purpose of the author, especially when they are
presented with contradictory primary sources. If you are going to be using
Document Based Questioning (DBQ), then it’s REALLY important for students to
learn how to analyze primary documents.

This is probably my favorite reason for using primary
sources. My students this year are at an all time high level of engagement,
even during those topics that are typically considered boring. I have had
several students comment that they used to be bored during social studies, but
now they can’t wait for class to begin. I had several students comment that
history has come alive for them because they can touch and feel the past. Using
primary sources has helped my students make connections with the events of the
past in meaningful ways. Many of my students have told me they have went home
and continued researching what we discussed in class because they wanted to
learn more. There is a difference between reading a second-hand account and a
first-hand account, and even if students haven’t learned the technical
differences between the two, they know that a first-hand account helps make
events seem more real and personal evoking emotions. Primary documents help
students feel what it was like to be alive during that particular time period,
especially when you use not only paper documents but also music and art.

I spent a lot of time this fall researching a variety of
sites that offer primary sources, and some site are easier to navigate than
others. Some sites seem to have more useful primary sources than others. I love
the Library of Congress, DocsTeach, and the Digital Archives; but there are so
many more…too many to list. I usually start with these sites, and then I also
Google primary sources + the topic I am teaching. Yes, it can be time consuming
because you have to weed through a lot of “junk”, but once you find those
hidden gems, you can use them year after year. As I find a quality site, I
bookmark it as a favorite site so I can easily navigate to it in the future. You
can find tons of print documents online to use in the classroom.

If you want to truly bring history into your classroom, then
I highly suggest traveling trunks. Sometimes there is a fee, but I have found
trunks for free. I live in north Georgia, and Kennesaw State University offers
traveling trunks free of charge. The only fee is the return shipping. However,
they also offer free in-house programs, so I make sure we are finished with the
trunks so the speaker can take the trunks back with him for free. They allow
you to keep the trunks and traveling exhibits for three weeks, so I schedule
the in-house program at the end of those three weeks. We are able to use
multiple trunks, a traveling exhibit, and have an in-house program for free! It
took a little bit of time to research, but it is well worth it! The trunk
contents are actual items from that time period, so students are able to touch
and feel history. The looks on their faces are priceless! We were able to create our own museum using the contents of the trunks and the traveling exhibit. Before we create our own museum, I use my no prep lesson about the Holocaust to provide students with background information they need, so when they do visit our museum and listen to guest speakers, they are able to make those connections.

Also in one of the trunks was a CD with music from the time
period of the Holocaust. The mood in my classroom while my students were
listening was very somber. We know that music can evoke emotions that reading
does not. My students were able to make an emotional connection that they had
not made during our unit until they listened to the music.

Also, don’t count out other staff members in your school.
One of my fellow teacher’s father served in the military during World War 2. He
has several artifacts from his dad including his Purple Heart medal, the
telegrams his parents received when he was thought to be missing/killed in
action and then later found to be “slightly wounded in action”, money used in
Nazi Germany, and even a Nazi soldier’s armband that he took off a dead Nazi
soldier. A little gross, yes, but my students LOVED it!

Another staff member visited Germany during the time of the
Berlin Wall, and she was able to bring in an actual East German flag that flew
in East Berlin (not quite sure how her mom was able to get it through
Checkpoint Charlie) and a piece of the Berlin Wall. As my students were passing
around these items, I could see the spark in their eyes and curiosity/interest
growing.

In both of the above cases, I also gave my students print
primary documents to examine. It was amazing the connections they were making and
how engaged they were. I realized that print primary sources are important to
use, but so are actual artifacts. Those artifacts are what help students make a
connection with the past. Finding actual artifacts is not as easy because you
can’t Google and print, but once you find museums that offer these types of
services, it’s very easy to reserve for future years. I wrote a blog post about
Holocaust resources and trainings that you can obtain for free. Many states have
similar commissions/museums that provide very similar services (click {HERE} for Georgia’s), and there is
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that you should check out for your
Holocaust and WW2 units. The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust will even help you schedule a Holocaust survivor to speak with your students. We did this last year and this year, and it is such an incredible opportunity for students to listen to a survivor’s story. It’s absolutely incredible.

Once I was able to locate primary sources, I needed to
decide how I was going to use them in my classroom. I wanted to use them to
enhance our units as well as provide my students with the opportunity to play
detective and analyze these sources for new information and to deepen their
understanding. I created a document analysis that I give to my students when
they are using primary sources. I also created three posters that I hang in my
classroom when using primary sources as a reference for my students.

The first document analysis poster walks students through
the steps of what to do before reading, during reading, and after reading. My
students use this often to keep them on track until they become proficient on
their own. The second poster lists out the types of documents students might be
given to analyze. It also helps students find their own primary sources when I
give them a research project to complete. One of the requirements is that they
have to include primary sources.  The third
poster lists out unique characteristics of primary sources that students refer
to when they are complete the document analysis sheet. Identifying unique
characteristics helps students better identify the time period, purpose, bias,
and other factors they must analyze.

The document analysis sheet helps students focus on the
important aspects of the primary source, whether its print, video, or audio,
and guides students to conclusions based on the primary source.

When I first started using primary sources, I knew I had to
teach my students how to analyze. We worked through the gradual release model,
moving from whole group with me modeling, to whole group with students
modeling, to small group with students working together and sharing out, and
finally to independently analyzing primary sources. Not all of my students are
independent yet, though. Students who were ready to move on, I let move to independence.
However, I still have several students who need to work in small groups and
listen to other groups’ analysis. I model to my students how to use the steps on
the poster I described above, and the poster matches the analysis sheet, so as
we move step by step, students are able to complete the analysis sheet.

If you would like this FREE analysis sheet along with the three
posters, click {HERE} or the image below (The posters are 8×10, but you can adjust your printer
settings to print it out over multiple sheets to enlarge it). I also have primary document resources available for purchase in my TpT shop. They are carefully curated and ready to go!