Resources for Learning

What is a primary source?

Primary sources are the raw materials of history.   They are the original documents and objects created at the time under study. Primary sources are either an eyewitness account or and artifact of its time.  They are different from secondary sources which are created by someone without firsthand experience. [from the Library of Congress]

Why use a primary source?

• Primary sources engage students

• Primary sources develop critical thinking skills

• Primary sources construct knowledge

There are so many historical documents, maps, that are hundreds of years old.  If you select the right ones, you students can get really interested and engaged with them. Students can work on analyzing primary sources collaboratively.   They are the original fact, and much more impressive than reading a fact out of a book. 

How do I analyze a primary source?

Observe - "I see"            [I see a hat, a bonnet, children, tri-cornered hats]

Reflect - "I think"            [I think the people sitting are watching, I think it is an old Thanksgiving parade]

Question - "I wonder"     [I wonder what year it is? I wonder where the school is?]

BEST PRIMARY SOURCE WEBSITES

The Library of Congress

• Chronicling America [Newspaper Collection]

• American Memory [Teacher collections and resources]

• Primary Source Sets [Complete sets by topic]

• Vermont Historical Society

• University of Vermont - Digitized collections of Vermont History, Civil War broadsides

• Smithsonian Digital Library : History and Culture  - Also pages on Art & Culture, and Natural & Physical Sciences

• National Archives - Go to Docs Teach

• 100 Milestone Documents

• British Library

• Harvard University

• Archiving Early America

• Project Gutenberg [Children's Bookshelf]

• Clement Library, University of Michigan. [Spy letters from the American Revolution]

• University of Virginia

For Teachers

Inquiry Learning