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Worksheet
Curated OER

Primary Source Analysis: 95 Theses Excerpts

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
By reviewing and analyzing these nine selected points from Martin Luther's 95 Theses, your young historians will discern the major tenets of the revolutionary challenge made against the Catholic Church in the seventeenth century. This is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading Primary Source Documents: Historical Content

For Teachers 1st - 12th
Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...
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Worksheet
1
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Smithsonian Institution

Engaging Students with Primary Source

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Young historians learn how to analyze various forms of primary source documents. The colorful packet is packed with all you need to engage kids in this essential skill.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading Primary Source Documents: Comparing Sources

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners analyze and compare various primary source documents. They formulate historical questions based on the documents.
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Organizer
Calisphere

The 6 C's of Primary Source Analysis

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Arm your class members with the six C's of primary source analysis—content, citation, context, connections, communication, and conclusions—and help them to establish a solid system for analyzing historical sources of information. 
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

“Read All About It”: Primary Source Reading in “Chronicling America”

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Can investigative journalism become too sensationalistic and accusatory, or is it vital for the survival of a democracy? Middle schoolers analyze primary source documents from early 20th-century newspapers as well as Theodore Roosevelt's...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Source Analysis Worksheet

For Teachers 8th - 12th
In this Colonial America primary source analysis worksheet, reviewers respond to 5 short answer questions. Although the primary source documents are not included, the questions could be adapted to the analysis of any primary source.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Primary Sources in the Classroom

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Scholars study a historical photograph to make predictions of what happened right after the picture was taken. They research a variety of different topics and use primary sources to answer questions about common food, fashion trends, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Primary Source Picture Book

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Primary Source Documents

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students examine copies of primary source documents and determine the document's value to a researcher. They analyze and evaluate the document for bias or contradiction. They know the difference between a primary and secondary source.
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Organizer
mdk12.org

Primary Source Quadrant Cards

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young historians can use this simple graphic organizer to define primary source and list both examples and non-examples of the term. A similar resource can also be constructed for secondary sources!
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Primary Source Activity: Jose Marti

For Students 8th
Analyze a primary source document "Our America" which depicts a Spanish-American point of view. The class answers 3 critical-thinking questions based on the reading and create a time line of Cuba's struggle for independence. 
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Analyzing Primary Sources

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Analyzing primary and secondary sources is a necessary skill for students to attain, and can be learned through interesting activities.
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Lesson Plan
Historic New Orleans Collection

Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New Orleans'...
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Lesson Plan
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Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: What Is Nonviolence? What Does It Cost?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Your young learners will delve into the language of primary source documents in order to identify the characteristics, benefits, and costs of nonviolence. The lesson includes a mix of activities, including an anticipatory activity,...
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Worksheet
3
3
Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Abraham Lincoln, Draft of the Gettysburg Address

For Students 8th - 11th Standards
Young historians closely examine the words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with this primary source analysis worksheet.
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Lesson Plan
The New York Times

Teaching the Vietnam War with Primary Sources from the New York Times

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Use the New York Times database of primary sources to teach a unit on the Vietnam War. The resource consists of a variety of primary sources as well as a lesson plan showcasing how to teach a lesson using them. Pupils analyze the sources...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Primary Sources and Personal Artifacts

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Connect historical text to primary sources. Researchers observe and discuss primary sources. Then, historians bring in their own personal artifacts and connect them back to their history.
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Identifying Primary Source Documents

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Who is Mary Maverick and why is she important? the focus of this, the second in a series of five lessons that are designed to introduce middle schoolers to how historians use primary source documents to understand the past, is on how to...
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Worksheet
3
3
Humanities Texas

Primary Source Worksheet: Letter Regarding the Whiskey Rebellion

For Students 8th - 11th Standards
Analyze the federal government's direct response to the Whiskey Rebellion through this fantastic primary source analysis activity worksheet.
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Analyzing Primary Source Documents to Understand U.S. Expansionism and 19th Century U.S.-Indian Relations

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Historical events can be viewed from multiple perspectives. This simple truth is brought home in a lesson plan that examines primary source documents related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digging Up Artifacts On Line

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Why is it important to preserve historical documents and artifacts? Examine the role of primary source documents and the availability of these documents on the Internet. Middle and high schoolers write a journal about the nature of...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Teaching With Documents: U.S. Constitution Workshop

For Teachers 4th - 12th
What does it mean to be American? Explore the constitution and what it really means to be a citizen here. First, learners of all ages will investigate different primary source documents. Then, they establish each document's...
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Organizer
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Brown University

Analyzing the News

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
With so many ways to follow the news today, it is imperative to think critically about the sources of information we are turning to. Here is a fantastic graphic organizer that will help your learners develop the skills to properly...