Dedicated to Excellence in Teaching with Primary Sources
I’m putting the Primary Source Librarian on temporary hold while I figure out a bunch of stuff about upgrading, updating, adding plug-ins, changing graphics, etc. Todd from Teaching with Primary Sources-Colorado has been kind enough to volunteer his expert help, but he’s a pretty busy guy. Meanwhile, I’ll try to post primary source links, news, and discoveries on Twitter (@johnsonmaryj).
In his always thought-provoking, shake-up-the-status-quo way, Bud Hunt wrote a post last week suggesting that perhaps primary sources could replace print materials as a requirement in all research assignments. I agree with Bud that “print” sources have largely been replaced by online books, newspapers, magazines, etc., certainly in my own life if not in the classroom. However, I do not believe that a primary source “requirement” will necessarily solve the problem of lack of depth for those student researchers who pick the first hit in a Google search.
When would I absolutely expect primary sources to be included in research? Almost always. Why? Nearly every line of inquiry–scientific, historical, social, political–needs to establish the kind of historical context evidenced by primary sources. Here are two possible examples:
Immigration. How have attitudes changed or remained the same throughout American history? Rather than simply researching the current political debate regarding immigration, students build deeper understanding by viewing and analyzing Ellis Island films, anti-Chinese lyrics in sheet music, and even application materials for U. S. citizenship.
Water Rights. Who deserves to have access to water when the supply is limited? In researching this topic, students can study the Tennessee Valley Authority, legal decisions to divert the Colorado River to California fields, photographs of the Dust Bowl, and other historical decisions that affect today’s water supplies.
I’m a great believer in incorporating primary sources into nearly every research assignment, but only when it will add depth to the learning. As an end in itself, a primary source requirement seems a mere exercise in filling in the blanks without any connection to real learning. I’m delighted to see more and more emphasis on primary sources in revised content standards, but my fear is that primary sources will become one more item in a long checklist designed to prove that standards have been met.
Primary source learning becomes significant when students learn how to analyze sources and to pose further questions about their significance. Their questions should drive their research. Sometimes their questions will lead them to still more primary sources. The number does not matter. The way primary sources contribute to understanding does matter.
Work with primary sources also requires training and practice. As students build confidence in their analytical skills and in their ability to generate meaningful, researchable questions, they will start to incorporate more and more primary sources into their learning. Early questions can be remarkably simple, as in this early Library of Congress “Thinking about Primary Sources” guide or its revised version, the “Primary Source Analysis Tool,” along with this helpful explanation.
A side benefit of working with primary sources online is that often subject experts have given them a context by adding explanatory text, links, timelines, and other value-added, secondary source material. For example, compare this primary source with this primary source and its supporting material.The supplemental material leads young researchers to ask more questions and to seek more primary and secondary sources to fill in their knowledge gaps.
One of Bud’s blog comments asked how to locate primary sources online. In my next post, I’ll provide links to my favorite primary source collections as a starting point. There are also links to excellent primary source collections on the right side of this blog.
I do love Bud’s suggestion that primary sources might solve the problem of print vs. online, even with certain caveats. I’m ready to help educators take the next step by leading them to excellent collections, as well as analysis ideas to make primary sources useful and meaningful in every curricular area.
The Americanese Wall, 1916 Cartoon
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division
I just realized that over the past couple of years, I’ve made a handful of veiled references to a book that I was writing, but I’ve never actually posted a photo of the cover or a description of the contents. Guess I’m not a tooter of my own horn. Then there’s the fact that when you finally reach the end of the grueling process of book writing, it’s hard to drum up enough enthusiasm for the marketing piece. Life moves on.
But I DID write a book! It’s called Primary Source Teaching the Web 2.0 Way, K-12.
At first, I planned to write a book that featured primary sources by category–text, historic newspapers, photos and other images, maps, sound and movie files, and artifacts and ephemera. While working with that idea, the world of Web 2.0 began to take over my writing and my life. Soon, the book had morphed into a presentation of ideas for teaching with primary sources using the latest online tools.
I soon discovered that Web 2.0 tools and online primary sources made an excellent match. Primary sources are all about critical thinking, and Web 2.0 tools support the kind of interactivity and feedback that pushes critical thinking far beyond mere presentation of primary source analysis.
In choosing my audience, I recognized that many fine educators would like to incorporate Web 2.0 ideas into their practice, but they need support and encouragement. In other words, not everyone is an “early adopter” of new technologies. Given the speed of changes in the field, these educators often feel completely overwhelmed. I wanted my book to give them the courage to try Web 2.0 ideas and the content to feed their students’ learning.
Apparently my book is meeting a need. In the two conferences I’ve attended this fall (Encyclo-Media in Oklahoma City and the national conference of the American Association of School Librarians in Charlotte), the book has sold out each day. I’m sure it’s really difficult for publishers to gauge the necessary number of copies to keep the shelves stocked, but I’m sad that some educators never had a chance to consider buying a copy…especially when they could have gotten a discount for conference attendance.
So just in case you’d still like a copy, I’ll put all the important information below along with a link to the publisher. More than anything, I welcome your feedback, reactions, complaints, criticism, praise, and whatever else you’d like to say about Primary Source Teaching the Web 2.0 Way, K12.
Here’s the cover, followed by contact info and the blurb from the back of the book:
To Order:
ABC-CLIO
130 Cremona Drive
Santa Barbara, CA93117
Call 1-800-368-6868
Online: Linworth Publishing, Inc.
Orders by email: mailto:orders@abc-clio.com
Customer Service Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST
Primary Source Teaching the Web 2.0 Way K-12 helps teachers, librarians, and technologists apply 21st century strategies at every level and in every content area!
A comprehensive listing of popular Web 2.0 tools.
An extensive state-by-state bibliography of primary source collections online.
A sample permission letter to parents to introduce a 21st century primary source unit.
In-depth chapters on six different primary source categories.
Primary source analysis tools for each category.
Six “Web 2.0 Focus” sections offering how-to-get-started advice and primary source teaching ideas: Blogs, Citizen Journalism, Flickr, Podcasting, VoiceThread, and Digital Storytelling.
Technology alone does not guarantee a quality learning experience, but now is a perfect time to challenge existing 20th century structures and exploit the transformative potential of tags, comments, interactivity, collaboration, and other powerful features of Web 2.0 in the primary source classroom. This book shows you how!
The Primary Source Librarian wishes to apologize for her long absence. She has been rather busy, and she also needed a blogging break. Here’s a quick rundown of her excuses, written by her in a guilty-as-charged, first-person confession:
I have lots of half-written posts filled with great primary source teaching ideas that I’m eager to share with you…soon. Don’t give up on me!
The Missing Primary Source Librarian
Creative Commons License, Flickr Photo by juanluisgx
As a new user of Twitter, I have been working hard to build a Personal Learning Network (PLN) that will make Twitter worth my time. Early on, I decided to follow some primary source organizations on Twitter, including the Library of Congress and the National Archives. I’ve not been disappointed.
Today’s Document from the National Archives was a note written by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the wee hours of September 1, 1939–the day that Germany invaded Poland and set off a war that would ravage the European continent.
According to the National Archives:
This item is a pencilled notation written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt while in bed on September 1, 1939 at 3:05 a.m., and records how he received news that Germany had invaded Poland and was bombing Polish cities, thus beginning World War II.
The note documents that Roosevelt received word of the invasion from Ambassador Anthony Biddle, through Ambassador William Bullitt. The note also documents the President’s order that all Navy ships and Army commands be notified by radio of the German invasion.
My Google Reader today led me to the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, which also commemorated the September 1st invasion of Poland by excerpting a poem by W. H. Auden in its “Face-to-Face” blog. Face-to-Face always features portraits, and it also often adds enriching information tied to both historical and current events.
The tools of today are helping me discover history at a painless, gentle pace. Many educators approach the latest technology tools with some trepidation–sort of an “I-can-never-know-enough” mentality. I certainly do. Still, I am beginning to understand that when I can control the onslaught one day at a time, it can be a pleasurable experience.
And now it is time for me to check today’s Tweet from John Quincy Adams as he crosses the Atlantic Ocean on his way to Russia. I will find out what the weather was like on September 1st, 1809, and I will be impressed by which classical literature the future president was reading. Slowly, slowly, I will make my way across the Atlantic with him. At each point along the route, I can click on the map to read his latest diary entry. Technology is helping me to enjoy a quieter, more thoughtful time. Would you like to come along?
John Quincy Adams, from the Massachusetts Historical Society
About the Diary Entries from the 1809 Trip to Russia
Last Sunday’s (August 23) New York Times had a fun article by Bill Marsh called “Faked Photographs: Look, and Then Look Again.” The article made me wonder just how much editing makes a primary source photograph no longer a true primary source.
Most of the photographs in the online slide show that accompanied the article are indeed famous, but also controversial because of their editing:
Of course, such editing is far simpler today given digital technologies. I would not hesitate to remove a pole coming out of someone’s head, as did Life Magazine in the Kent State photograph. That’s what photo editing software is made for, right?
When students analyze primary source photographs, they must be made aware that every photograph results from the interplay of the time period, the technology, the photographer’s purpose, and often the photographer’s or the subject’s own biases. Like all primary sources, photographs are made for a reason. The discovery of that reason becomes the foundation of critical thinking activities.
To introduce a critical thinking activity tied to photographic analysis, teachers often use this American Memory lesson: Does the Camera Ever Lie? The activity comes from the Selected Civil War Photographs collection of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Union or Confederate Soldier? Well, that depends.
Gettysburg, July, 1863.
Photographed by Timothy H. O’Sullivan, July 1863.
Today’s New York Times published an article by Rachel L. Swarns entitled “Madison and the White House, Through the Memoir of a Slave.” As a 10-year-old slave, Paul Jennings first set foot in the White House of President James Madison.
“…over the course of his long life, Mr. Jennings witnessed, and perhaps participated in, the rescue of George Washington’s portrait from the White House during the War of 1812 and stood by the former president’s side at his deathbed. He bought his freedom, helped to organize a daring (and unsuccessful) slave escape and became the first person to put his White House recollections into a memoir.” -Rachel L. Swarns
Beth Taylor, a research associate at James Madison’s plantation of Montpelier, has been digging into the Jennings story. Yes, a good researcher can still make amazing discoveries in archives! For instance, she found a rare edition of Mr. Jennings’s recollections. Here’s a link to a reprint of the memoir–”A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison“–from the White House Historical Association. (If you get sidetracked at the Historical Association website, be sure to check out the classroom links.)
Two things particularly fascinated me in the article. One is that next week, dozens of Jennings descendants will gather for a reunion in the White House. I’ll be keeping an eye out for reports of that event. Imagine being the great-great-great grandchild of a slave in the White House! The most recent discoveries will certainly fill in some gaps in the family history.
Photograph of Paul Jennings, Montpelier Foundation
The second part of the story to grab my attention was the description of Paul Jennings’s prickly relationship with Dolley Madison. I am also intrigued by descriptions of Dolley Madison’s “heroine” image in light of Jennings’ reminiscences. History is almost always more complicated than tradition would have us believe. Even the White House Historical Association lesson called “Saving History - Dolley Madison, the White House, and the War of 1812” completely accepts Dolley Madison’s claim that she alone saved the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington from the British flames.
Every primary source comes with a viewpoint. The tension of two viewpoints around a single event makes for rich historical research. That’s why we need to keep training young historians in the analysis of primary sources!
Jim Duncan, Director of the Networking & Resource Sharing Unit of the Colorado State Library, has written a great article about the progress and plans of Colorado’s Historic Newspaper Collection.
Like digitization projects everywhere, Colorado’s Historic Newspaper Collection (CHNC) is moving and changing with the times. Every such project has to look at the sustainability of its financial model, and CHNC has found its support in the small communities that want “their” newspaper archives made available online. Jim also told me that when it comes to getting local newspaper digitization off the ground, you really must find a small town mover and shaker who will personally commit to leading the project’s fundraising. Makes sense.
Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection Advertisement from Jim Duncan article.
I love using historic newspapers in teaching! They give such an irreplaceable feel for the events and the times…so much more than a textbook can offer. For example, yesterday I found an article about the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1895 in the Boulder Daily Camera. Oddly, the article seems to report a second and smaller land rush of only 10,000 people in November of 1895. Next I tried looking in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which has digitized its newspapers from 1841 to 1902. This one vividly pictured the madness of the land rush preparations for the more famous event of April, 1889. If you keep digging, you can even find articles announcing the decision of Congress to open the Indian Territory to white settlers.
Colorado and Brooklyn newspapers reporting events in Oklahoma in 1895? 1889? Amazing! While waiting for your own state or community to digitize its historic newspapers, don’t miss out on the richness of newspaper archives far from the stories themselves. My short foray into the Oklahoma Land Rush illustrates just the kind of mystery that can hook students and turn them into amateur historians. If your students do a Google search on “Oklahoma Land Rush,” they will find 1889, 1893, and 1895 in the various hits. Hmmm. A mystery in search of a primary source solution.
Oklahoma Land Rush, McClenney Family Picture Album, 1889 (!)
Wikimedia Commons–License in Public Domain
One of the best ways to acquaint yourself with some of our nation’s most overwhelming primary source websites is to take a quick tour of special exhibits. These exhibits often include the most important national treasures. Subject area experts select and organize the treasures by theme, and they add useful explanatory material for teachers who are serious lifelong learners.
One such collection of special exhibits comes from the National Archives and Records Administration. With nearly forty exhibits, you can pick your favorites or take an extended tour. You can begin with the current “Featured Exhibits” such as Documented Rights:
Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, our rights as citizens of the United States have been debated, contested, amended, and documented. The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, established our basic civil rights. Later amendments and court decisions have continued the process of defining our human and civil rights.
Documents in the National Archives give voice to our national struggle for personal rights and freedoms. From the Emancipation Proclamation to the five cases that comprised Brown v. Board of Education, this exhibit features a sampling of documents from all regions of the National Archives.
In an exhibit called The Deadly Virus: The Influenza Epidemic of 1918, you and your students will gain knowledge that lets them compare the epidemic of 1918 with the current H1N1 (Swine Flu) global pandemic. If recent back-to-school warnings come to pass, the exhibit can help prepare you for a teachable moment.
As you explore the wide ranging topics in the exhibits, you can tuck them away in your mind for future reference. Here are a few subjects covered:
If you find a favorite exhibit or something to share with your colleagues, let me know!
Policemen in Seattle wearing masks made by the Red Cross, December 1918
National Archives and Records Administration
In my last post, I suggested that summer vacation is a great time to explore primary source collections for fun and personal learning. You deserve a break from the pressure to write perfect lesson plans complete with assessments that meet content standards, AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, ISTE NETS standards, and so on!
Chronicling America–the rapidly expanding nationwide collection of historic newspaper content–will keep you entertained for hours. In a Matt Raymond Library of Congress blog post, you can read about recent progress as well as the one-millionth-page milestone just reached.
Here are my suggestions for getting started:
Don’t expect to become an immediate expert, but every search skill you can add to your bag of tricks will pay off when you want to advise students in the future.
“Virtual Nebraska” Newspaper
Creative Commons License