In this module, educators will learn 5 different strategies to engage students in reviewing, comprehending, and analyzing primary sources.
What is a Primary Source?
Primary sources are the voices of the past. They are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience. Documents, letters, posters, film, artifacts, photographs, maps, etc. can be primary sources that tell the story of people, places, an events of the past.
Why Use Primary Sources in the Classroom?
Examining primary sources gives students a powerful sense of history and the complexity of the past. Helping students analyze primary sources can also guide them toward higher-order thinking and better critical thinking and analysis skills (from the Library of Congress).
Using Primary Source Analysis Strategies Helps:
Enrich student understanding of content Build historical thinking skills and context Derive conclusions based on evidence Examine bias, perspective, and POV Reinforce the importance of sourcing
2. Sentence-Phrase-Word
The Sentence-Phrase-Word thinking routine helps learners to engage with and make meaning from text with a particular focus on capturing the essence of the text or “what speaks to you”. The power of the routine lies in the discussion of why a particular word, a single phrase, and a sentence stood out for each individual in the group as the catalyst for rich discussion. Learners must justify their responses and it sets the stage for considering themes, implications, predictions, and lessons to be drawn. We are going to look at slave narratives for this strategy.
The Library of Congress and Slave Narratives
- What they are, context of collection, etc.
- Caution: These slave narratives contain language and themes that may be offensive to some. Must be understood as historical language and taken in context.
Read through the excerpts of the slave narratives linked below.
-
Slave Narratives
-
1. John Crawford and Jack Cauthern - Texas (Document pages 212-213, 257-259) (PDF Pages 219-220, 264-266)
-
2. H.B. Holloway - Arkansas (Document pages 295 - 302) (PDF Pages 296-303)
-
3. Sam Rawls - South Carolina (Document pages 5-8) (PDF Pages 9-12)
Here is the Sentence-Word-Phrase graphic organizer
- Review the text that you have read and select:
- a sentence that was meaningful to you and helped you gain a deeper understanding of the text.
- a phrase that moved, engaged, provoked or was in some way meaningful to you.
- a word that captured your attention or struck you as powerful. It is useful to have students write their sentence, phrase and word on three separate post-it notes.
2. In a group, briefly share your responses and explain why you selected
the sentence, phrase and word that you chose.
As the group is sharing have one member of the group act as a recorder.
Or, if using post-it notes, post the notes for each response in a chart under the
headings sentence, phrase and word.
3. Look at the groups’ responses. Consider:
- What implications/interpretations surrounding the text emerge from the group’s responses?
- What common themes emerge in the group’s responses?
- What aspects/points of the text are lacking? Why do you think this is? 2 Have each group member reflect briefly on their current understanding of the text and how the protocol process contributed to his or her current understanding.