Using Primary Sources

What are some examples of Primary Sources? Raw materials of history. Original documents and objects such as diaries, letters, journals, oral interviews. historic documents, photos and newspapers. Also, sheet music, drawings, maps, movies, athletic event ticket stubs and statistics.

Primary sources have the potential to foster an interactive classroom and deepen understanding. They can give students a very real sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era.

Primary Sources

1. Engage students - help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events

2. Develop critical thinking skills - primary sources are often incomplete and have little context so students must use prior knowledge and work with multiple primary sources to find patterns.

3. Construct knowledge -students construct knowledge as they form reasoned conclusions.