Teaching Early American History with Primary Sources

and Active Learning Strategies

Justin Reich

edtechteacher@gmail.com

Justin Reich

• Co-Director, Center for Teaching History with Technology

• Best of History Web Sites (www.besthistorysites.net)

• Teaching History with Technology (www.thwt.org)

• EdTechTeacher (www.edtechteacher.org)• Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology

Agenda

• Using Primary Sources in the Classroom– Learning about Primary Sources– Teaching students how to evaluate primary sources– Sample strategies for teaching with primary sources

• A Sequence for Using Primary Sources in the Classroom– Shared Practice– Formative Assessment– Summative Assessment

• History Strategies for Active Learning– Sampling the strategies

Primary Sources:Shared Practice

• Breaking complex skills into manageable components

Ashby, MA; resolution on independence; July 1, 1776

Agreeable to a Resolve of the late honourable House of Representatives, passed on the 10th of May last, the inhabitants of this town being assembled for that purpose, on the 1st day of July instant, and unanimously voted as follow, viz: That should the honourable Congress, for the safety of the Colonies, declare them independent of Great Britain, the inhabitants of Ashby will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.

Documents talk, but only if you ask them the right

questions.-Dan Levine

Bowdoin College

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source

• Purpose

• Argument

• Context

• Subtext

• So What?

– With an intellectual debt to Keene and Zimmerman’s Mosaic of Thought

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source• Purpose

• Argument

• Context

• Subtext

• So What?

Who wrote it?When?Where?For Whom?What else do we know about this person?

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source

• Purpose• Argument

• Context

• Subtext

• So What?

Why was it written?What is the document trying to do?Are their stated and unstated motives?

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source

• Purpose

• Argument• Context

• Subtext

• So What?

What is the argument?What is the evidence?Is the writing persuasive? Accurate?

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source

• Purpose

• Argument

• Context• Subtext

• So What?

What was going on at the time it was written?What words or phrases would have meant something different at that time?

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source

• Purpose

• Argument

• Context

• Subtext• So What?

Are there hidden or secret messages in this source? It the author overt with his or her bias, or subtle, or even sneaky?What can we read between the lines?

Get the SPACSS on the source!

• Source

• Purpose

• Argument

• Context

• Subtext

• So What?

How does this particular document shed light on the broader themes we’re studying?How does it help us understand other sources?

EMABI: Another Primary Source Algorithm

• Empirical Evidence

• Motivate

• Argument

• Bias

• Insight

Finding Primary Sources

Search Directories

Vs.

Search Engines

Search Directories:Best of History Web Sites

www.besthistorysites.net

Search Engines: Google Advanced

Questions?

Visual Evidence

• Year-long Prompt:

– Connect specific details within the image to the broader themes of the course.

Photographs

•Divided Images•List the people, objects, and activities in your picture

The Repeal, Or The Funeral Of Miss Ame-StampBenjamin Wilson, 1776

Paintings, Photographs and Prints

Analysis Questions:• What type of picture is this? (photo,

painting, portrait, engraving, print)• What are the people or objects in the

picture?• What is familiar to you? What is not?• What questions do you have about this

picture?• Why was this image created?

Paintings, Photographs, and Prints

• Types of Images– Multiple elements – Painted/Photographed Portraits– Strong focal point– Landscapes

Strong Focal Point Image

Landscapes

Philadelphia 1700

Questions?

Maps and BrowserPoint

www.thwt.org

Questions?

Assessments

• A DBQ Framework– Formative Assessments

• Document Analysis

– Summative Assessments• The DBQ

Document Based Assessments

Assessment Strategies

• Document Analysis

• Document Based Questions– Rubric Bank– Rubistar.4teachers.org

How to study for a test,

any test that requires learning very specific facts: vocabulary,

science, history, foreign language, math equations…

If you are just looking over notes, you are not studying;

• You need a

PLAN!!!!

“If your pen isn’t moving, you aren’t studying…”

P - the “P” is for PREVIEW

• Gather all the notes, books, handouts, vocabulary, maps, quizzes, and diagrams that could have information you need to know for the test

L - the “L” stands for LAYOUT• A layout is the the way the information will be written or

typed over• Start by identifying the essential elements and themes of

the unit. Organize these at the top of your layout• Then create a series of sheets in the form of a chunked list

(5 items or fewer*), a clear outline, a map, or a combination of these

• Be sure you can connect the details (terms, sources, people, facts) to the essential elements and themes

• Use color - research shows that color and images help the memory process

• Once you have written or typed over all the information that might be on the test, get rid of all the books, notes, handouts. Use the layout sheets to study.

A - the “A” stands for AGAIN AND AGAIN!

• Now that you have these sheets, you need to have a clear way of assimilating the information. Just writing the information over is studying, but going through these sheets chunk by chunk will solidify the knowledge.

• Start with the 1st chunk, then to the 2nd, then back to the 1st. Then continue to the 3rd, back to the 1st, to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th…always reviewing prior chunks.

• Research shows that music is the best glue to memory. How many song lyrics do you know? If you are having trouble memorizing, put the information to a melody or beat you love and can remember. (This does not mean you should be listening to music while studying!)

• It is helpful to be saying the information aloud so that you have another sense involved.

N - the “N” stands for NAIL DOWN

…what you don’t know after you have gone through the study sheets again and again.

Then create a new study sheet of just this material.

Active Learning Strategies

• Participatory activities engaging students in content learning

• Integrated, interdisciplinary approach

• Content, process, and

products are balanced

Language Arts Integration Strategies

• Flexogeneous Reading Circles

• Playlets (and choral readings)

• The Scavenger Hunt

• Prewritten Play

• Songs & Raps

• -flocabulary.com

• -StudentProduced– www.musicthatteaches.com

The Strategies

• Brainstorming Strategies• Discussion Strategies• Deductive Reasoning Strategies• Language Arts Integration

Strategies• Primary Sources Strategies• Assessment Strategies

Brainstorming Strategies

• Often used at the start of a unit of study to assess and build background knowledge and vocabulary– Carousel Brainstorming– KWL Charting– Venn Diagrams and T-Charts– Web Design– Concept Attainment

Discussion Strategies• Often used in the middle or at the end of a unit

of study to learn about complexities of history.– Accountable Talk– Lobbyist Hearing– Magnetic Debate– Stix Discussion– Socratic Seminar– Bartering– Negotiations and Settlements

Deductive Reasoning Strategies

• Often used at the end of a unit to develop higher order thinking skills and assess learning.– Making Decisions– Vote On It!– Identity Crisis– The Real Deal

Putting it All Together• Planning for Classroom Implementation

“Primary Sources are the ore from which history is made.”

Two Sites for More Stuff

• TeacherCreatedMaterials.com

• EdTechTeacher.org