I recently taught an embedded lesson for a social theory course.\u00a0 While planning this lesson, I decided to turn to Google for some support; wow, there is a lot of information on Google, but I bet you already knew that.\u00a0 As I sifted through searches for best practices to teach primary sources, I came across several links that I found extremely helpful.\u00a0 I used a page from the National Archives and another from the Library of Congress.\u00a0 (To see those links, see my references below.)<\/p>\n
The National Archives link gave me a simple, basic idea for how to discuss primary sources.\u00a0 First, I had the students write a \u201cone-min essay\u201d telling me everything they knew about primary sources (Nilson, 2013).\u00a0 This was a great way to check the students\u2019 prior knowledge.\u00a0 After they wrote, I had them quickly share their ideas aloud to me and their peers.\u00a0 Then I asked them this question, \u201cDo you have any primary documents?\u201d\u00a0 Because of their knowledge of primary documents, resources that are historical documents and used for research papers, they initially answered, \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
I then displayed a copy of my birth certificate (with many items blanked out), which led to an interesting discussion about primary documents.\u00a0 Many of them came up with great thoughts: noticing the seal of the validation of this document, the state that I was born in was different from where we currently are, and more.\u00a0 One student even brought up the paper that was used and how this could determine the technology or process used during that time period.<\/p>\n
To help them with reading primary sources like Marx and Engel, Durkheim, and Weber, I turned to my second website source I found, the Library of Congress (LOC).\u00a0 The LOC has a format on their website to encourage students to engage with and inquire about the source and analyze their findings.\u00a0 So I decided to make the students a resource with the LOC\u2019s questions and format for engaging, inquiring, and analyzing primary sources.\u00a0 (To see or use this resource, click here\u00a0SOAN300PrimaryDocSheet<\/a>.)<\/p>\n To finish up this lesson, I had the students reflect on what ideas they found most helpful during this session, something tangible they could take away from today\u2019s lesson.\u00a0 I could tell that the activity we did today was laying the groundwork for them for the semester as they tackle other social theorists and philosophers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/p>\n History in the raw. (n.d). In National Archives. <\/em>Retrieved August 30, 2016, \u00a0 \u00a0 from\u00a0http:\/\/www.archives.gov\/education\/research\/history-in-the-raw.html<\/a><\/p>\n