Learning to Read Primary Documents

Kids might know how to walk like an Egyptian but in this lesson they will learn how to read primary source documents like a historian developing critical thinking and research skills.

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...

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...

Can we learn a thing or two about history by looking at pictures from the past? As young historians view 2-D and 3-D primary source photographs, they respond to a series of worksheets that guides them toward unveiling clues about the past. 

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!

Use primary sources to delve into seven different perspectives of the Boston Massacre. Here, historians read and examine images taken from the Boston Massacre's witnesses and participants. Then, they answer questions dissecting each...

Following brief instruction about the Iran Hostage Crisis during Jimmy Carter's presidency, small groups read three-page sections from the diary of hostage Robert C. Ode. They write editorials from the perspective of either U.S. citizens...

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...

Middle schoolers look at different types of primary sources. They work with partners to analyze three popular culture primary sources. They write a paragraph telling whether they think it belongs in a time capsule. They will also...

Students analyze and compare various primary source documents. They formulate historical questions based on the documents.