Evaluation will be based upon participation in class discussions, and any additional primary source materials students choose to bring in for extra credit.

Day 1

1. Using your own digital camera or borrowing from the media center, take a digital picture of your class.
2. Pass out individual 3x5 cards to each student. Have them write today’s date, their name, their birth date and place of birth, favorite sport, favorite food and hobby. (5-7 minutes maximum)
3. Collect cards. Write on the board “Primary Source” and ask children to explain what the term means. Question at least ½ the class without acknowledging right or wrong answers but jot down on the board the responses. (5 minutes)
4. Describe to the children what a primary source document is and tell them that they have just created one. Read several of their cards aloud. (5 mins.)
5. Ask the class if a primary source can be something other than a written document and if so what else and where might we find them? (pictures, artifacts, diaries, journals, maps, birth certificates, military records, report cards, family albums, etc.) (5 minutes)
6. Fasten to the board with magnets or hold up in front of the class a report card, a recent photograph from a newspaper or magazine, and an artifact such as a quill pen or tri-corn hat. Discuss what we know for certain about each and what we might guess. (5 mins.)
7. Pass back the 3x5 cards. Divide the students either by table grouping or however is easiest into groups of 4 to 6. Ask the students how time and place affect a primary source. Do they suppose “soccer” might have been popular to a child born in 1800? Will the food, clothing, activities they like today be just as meaningful if they lived in another part of the country or another point in time?
   
   Show the class several pictures of school children, preferably at least 10 years old but don’t reveal anything about the date, (several have been provided.) Ask children to comment on what they see in the picture and what they think about the picture. Can they make connections to their own lives from what they see and think? Provide an opportunity for the students to share their cards with each other and compare their life styles (homes, schools, recreational activities, etc.) with the other pictures. (15 mins.)
8. For homework, ask each student to bring in at least 3 different primary sources they have in their homes, reminding them about the different types of primary sources named in their brainstorming activity. (step 4)

Day 2

Have students share their primary sources.

Teacher:

• Digital camera
• 3x5 cards
• Report card, current picture from a magazine, newspaper, or class artifacts such as quill pen and tri-corn hat
• Photographs (provided or of your own choosing)

Students:

• Primary sources from home.

http://www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/pic unk1.html
Friends. Odanak School Children about 1900. What can we tell from the clothing, ages, teachers, etc.?

http://www.we.k12.ny.us/district/images/class.jpg
Class picture from 1940’s.

http://www.hcgs.net/hds9.html
Hillsboro District School #9 includes class lists, daily schedule, names, grades, ages, etc. of student population.

One of the many positives about using primary sources is that students with limited English, limited reading abilities, or mild to moderate physical/mental disabilities can all participate in this activity.

Photograph of the Odanak School Children about 1900???
http://www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/pic unk1.html

Photograph of school children from 1940’s
http://www.we.k12.ny.us/district/images/class.jpg

Class lists, schedules, and library books from Pee Dee Academy
http://www.hcgs.net/hds9.html

Hillsboro District School #9, 1893-95
http://www.hcgs.net/hds9.html