I recently taught an embedded lesson for a social theory course. 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. As I sifted through searches for best practices to teach primary sources, I came across several links that I found extremely helpful. I used a page from the National Archives and another from the Library of Congress. (To see those links, see my references below.)
The National Archives link gave me a simple, basic idea for how to discuss primary sources. First, I had the students write a “one-min essay” telling me everything they knew about primary sources (Nilson, 2013). This was a great way to check the students’ prior knowledge. After they wrote, I had them quickly share their ideas aloud to me and their peers. Then I asked them this question, “Do you have any primary documents?” Because of their knowledge of primary documents, resources that are historical documents and used for research papers, they initially answered, “no.”
I then displayed a copy of my birth certificate (with many items blanked out), which led to an interesting discussion about primary documents. 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. One student even brought up the paper that was used and how this could determine the technology or process used during that time period.
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). The LOC has a format on their website to encourage students to engage with and inquire about the source and analyze their findings. So I decided to make the students a resource with the LOC’s questions and format for engaging, inquiring, and analyzing primary sources. (To see or use this resource, click here SOAN300PrimaryDocSheet.)
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’s lesson. 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.
References
History in the raw. (n.d). In National Archives. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://www.archives.gov/education/research/history-in-the-raw.html
Nilson, L. B. (2013). Creating self-regulated learners: Strategies to strengthen students” self-awareness and learning skills. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Using primary sources. (n.d.). In Library of Congress. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/