Fundamentals of Primary Source Instruction

Goal

Participants gain strategies for using primary sources to help students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and build content knowledge.

Objectives

• • Justify conclusions about whether a source is primary or secondary depending upon the time or topic under study
  • Describe examples of the benefits of teaching with primary sources
  • Analyze a primary source using Library of Congress tools
  • Access teaching tools and primary sources from loc.gov/teachers
  • Identify key considerations for selecting primary sources for instructional use (for example, student needs and interests, teaching goals, etc.)
  • Access primary sources and teaching resources from loc.gov for instructional use
  • Analyze primary sources in different formats
  • Analyze a set of related primary sources in order to identify multiple perspectives
  • Facilitate a primary source analysis using Library of Congress tools
  • Demonstrate how primary sources can support at least one teaching strategy (for example, literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical thinking, etc.)
  • Create a primary source-based activity that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and construct knowledge