Analyzing First Person Historic Documents

With information from the Library of Congress

Why use FPH sources in the classroom?What are FPH Sources?

Activity: Conflicting Records

Finding sourcesEvaluating sources for usePlanning lessons/Activities

Student evaluation of sourcesAssessment

Activity: Sources Scavenger Hunt

First Person Historical Sources

Why use FPH sources in the classroom?

They help students:• Develop observational skills• Develop vocabulary and reading-comprehension skills. • Develop inquiry skills. • Understand that history has local links.• Develop empathy for the human condition. • Analyze different points of view. • Understand that history is a continuum and that people

all make their own personal histories. • Develop research skills that lead to analyzing sources

and forming conclusions.

1)Construction of knowledge through 2) the use of disciplined inquiry that 3) has some value or

meaning beyond success in school.

Standards of Authentic Instruction

http://www.metiri.com/AE/Newmann5Standards.pdf

A Guide to Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Vision, Standards and Scoring

Fred M. Newmann, Walter G. Secada, Gary G. Wehlage

Disciplinary Content: The task asks students to show understanding and/or use ideas, theories, or perspectives considered central to an academic or

professional discipline.

Standards of Authentic Instruction

Historians are prisoners of sources that can never be made fully reliable, but if they are skilled readers of sources and always mindful of their captivity, they can make their sources yield meaningful stories about the past and our relationship to it.

-Martha Howell & Walter PrevenierFrom Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods

The central paradox of our profession [history]:

What are First Person Historical Sources?

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Click the book to purchase it from Barnes and Noble.

Oral History and the Bdote Memory Map

Click the image above to visit the Bdote Memory Map.

What Order?

Source-Based – have resources first, build lesson around them.

Topic-Based – have lesson, find resources to support.

Finding First Person Sources

Internet

Library of Congress

Local Library

Magazines

Books

Purchased Sets

Evaluating Sources for Use

• Interest

• Reading Level

• Length

• Points of View

• Variety of Sources

• Location

Planning Lessons/Activities

To organize the use of primary sources in your classroom, consider the following:

• Activity Types

• Classroom Management

• Time

• Assessment

Different Ways to Use Documents

• Focus – sparking interest

• Inquiry – finding out more

• Application – using what you know

• Assessment – showing what you know

Focus Activities

For focus activities, choose primary sources that: • present a puzzle; • challenge a stereotype or conventional wisdom; • present a contradiction; • offer an insight (or aha! experience); • promote empathy (through a human interest story);

Present focus activities using the following techniques: • Generate one or two well-crafted questions about the sources.

Use the questions to spark a class discussion or as a task for pairs of students to answer.

• After reviewing one or two primary sources, have small groups of students generate a list of questions about the upcoming topic of instruction.

Inquiry Activities• To develop an inquiry approach, provide students with

a set of primary sources on a topic, concept, or time period. Students can use the Internet and other research tools to assemble sets of primary sources for themselves.

• Student inquiry can range from working exclusively with primary source documents to using selected primary sources to supplement the student textbook and other instructional materials.

Application Activities

• Have students expand or alter textbook explanations of history based on primary sources they study.

• Present a set of primary sources in sequence. How does each new documents support or challenge information and understanding garnered from previous documents? Have students refine or revise conclusions.

Explain how the source supports or challenges a commonly accepted conclusion about a time in history.

Based on analysis of several primary sources, prepare an oral presentation taking a stand on an issue in history.

Select primary source documents to create a museum display about an historical topic. Write captions for the items and justify the documents that were selected.

Write a response to a primary source (speech, news article, sermon), taking the position of someone who lived at the time the source was created.

Ideas for Activities

Helpful Resource

Click book to purchase

Overview of Types of Primary Sources with sample questions.

Leveled Sample Lessons

K-3, 4-8, 9-12

Student Evaluation of Documents

OPVL

Origin

Purpose

Value

Limitation

Document-Based Questions•How is this document a good/bad example of historical event X?

•Document-Based Questions are about analysis, not identification.

•For evaluation activities, select either sources from the historical era under study or choose contemporary sources related to the historical topic.

Projects•Museum Curator: Create a museum display about an historical topic. Choose the best examples of documents, write captions for the items and justify the documents that were selected.

•Magazine Editor: Prepare a visual display (poster, magazine cover, illustrated timeline) that highlights the most important points to be gained from the primary sources under study.

Assessment

Which of these sources would you use in your classroom and how would you use them?

http://minnesotahumanities.org/programs/historic612

Finding and Choosing Sources