TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY GRANT PROGRAM University of California, Irvine History Project in partnership with Saddleback Valley Unified School District
UCI History Project and Grant Goals Increase teachers’ mastery of U.S. history using primary sources Improve teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogy skills Increase and enrich students’ knowledge of American history Increase student appreciation of American history
Review: Primary and Secondary Source Identification To develop an inquiry-based classroom, students should have experience reading, analyzing, and questioning source material Students need to be explicitly taught the difference between primary and secondary sources
According to the Library of Congress, primary sources are the raw materials of history — 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. Definition
Primary sources Primary sources are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event or topic under consideration. Think of them as first-hand information. Examples of primary sources include eyewitness accounts, speeches, letters and diaries, newspapers and magazines, tax and census data, marriage, birth and death records, works of art, and interviews.
Secondary sources Secondary sources construct an explanation of the past based on primary sources and usually in consultation with other secondary sources. The best secondary sources will both report on events in the past as well as generalize, analyze, interpret and/or evaluate.
Discussion Have teachers explicitly taught the difference between primary and secondary sources to their students this year? How have you implemented this into the classroom? How do you intend to implement this into the classroom?
Teaching with Primary Sources What primary sources have you used/are you planning to use in your classroom? What are the big ideas you want to develop among your students using primary sources?
4 C’s of Primary Source Analysis
4 C’s Content What is the text about? What is the main idea? What are important phrases/words? Connections Communication How does this text express bias/ point-of-view? What type of text is it? What is the purpose of the text? Who is the audience? What is the message? What words are repeated, emphasized, or used as adjectives and why? Conclusions Content What is pictured or represented in the image? How is the image organized? What is the focal point? If there is text, what does it say? Connections Communication How does this image express bias/ point-of-view? What is the purpose of the image? Who is the audience? What is the message? What colors/ visual clues are important and why? Conclusions Textual SourcesVisual Sources
Communication Communication How does this text express bias/ point-of-view? What type of text is it? What is the purpose of the text? Who is the audience? What is the message? What words are repeated, emphasized, or used as adjectives and why? How do you teach point-of-view?
Women’s Indenture Contracts Why is the work different for the different women? What do you note about the names? Why provide clothing to indentured servants? How are the terms different for the African American woman than the other women?