Applying Teaching with Primary Sources

Included in each of the five lessons taught were primary sources for the students to analyze. Each of these primary sources were taken from the Library Of Congress, this helped the students develop a deeper understanding of the focus of each lesson. Instead of having the students look at a primary source and not know what to do with it, Miss. Karlie and I always included a fun activity to get the students thinking. Included in our first lesson was a primary source of a map of France. The students had to jot down what they knew, saw, and wondered about the map. After many questions and realizations, a group discussion was created and got each of the students highly engaged. Included in one of our lessons we also did a matching activity to get the students to better understand the difference between primary and secondary sources. 

In one of our lessons, we gave the students a primary source to look at and we completed a game of hide and seek pretending to put ourselves in the picture. Including fun activities like these help to better student understanding and feel like they are playing a game rather than analyzing the source. Another way of analyzing a primary source is through the use of the five senses. The students enjoyed analyzing sources in this way and always stayed engaged and provided an answer and questions regarding the source.

Throughout my time with these fourth grade students I have provided them with primary sources of maps, landmarks, money, voting rights, and refugees wandering in France. Each of the primary sources have a relevance with France and its history. Although incorporating primary sources is a way to get students engaged it also requires the students to dive deep into history and develop critical thinking skills. Throughout each of the lessons, I believe that using the "I see, I think, I wonder" chart was most effective. It got the students to observe, reflect, and interpret the meaning of the source provided. As a future educator, I will continue to include primary sources into my teaching as it targets the students critical thinking skills and interpretations through historic images. 















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