Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...

It's not enough to see or just read a primary source document; one has to analyze them fully to understand their historical implications. First learners are introduced to what primary and secondary sources are, then they read a bit of...

As part of the study of WWII and the Holocaust, class members read a series of diary entries written by children during the onslaught of Nazi occupation. Each entry is accompanied by biographical information and discussion questions. The...

Students find out about the minds and thoughts of presidents through reading their actual letters. They explore the personal lives of presidents. They answer questions about a primary source. They write essays.

Mickey Mouse, Elmo, and Tintin? Belgian cartoonist Georges (Herge) Remi’s famous comic character launches a study of primary and secondary source material and the impact these sources have on storytelling. Class members also examine the...

Students explore the Korean War through photography. In this Korean War instructional activity, students examine photographs taken by a soldier and respond to question about them.

The challenge of analyzing primary sources is addressed by a detailed plan from Inspiration Software. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is used to model how the primary source analysis template can aid in...

Engage your middle schoolers with Pastor Martin Niemoller's famous poem that begins, "First they came for the communists." Now that you have their attention, send learners to the various work stations you created to have them explore...

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.

What was French life like in the later years of World War I? With this as your guiding question, International Baccalaureate classes will study the 10 French posters and answer a variety of questions (in French). Although not all of the...

Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...

Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...

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...

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...

Class members use primary sources to craft an essay about early Champlain Valley History. I would use this as a homework assignment.

Class members participate in a series of hands on, online, and multimedia activities to identify the difference between primary and secondary sources. They watch a related video and visit a variety of sites to locate primary and...

Materials provided by The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located in New York City, offer researchers an opportunity to examine primary sources and use these sources to understand the past. Class groups analyze different documents to...

Explore primary and secondary sources in this historical analysis lesson. Young researchers define the terms primary source and secondary source. They read a primary source document provided by the teacher and answer questions about the...

Lyndon Johnson provides an excellent primary source in a text analysis resource. The class warms up by responding to a quote, and then reads a 1965 speech by Johnson called "Peace Without Conquest", which discusses aggression patterns in...

Young scholars create their own town's history. They place themselves on the map in a literal as well as figurative sense. Students produce portions of an updated version of an early twentieth century panoramic map. Young scholars gather...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

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.

Explore the differences between primary and secondary resources with this plan. First, learners will categorize a list of resources into two groups: primary or secondary. Then, the teacher reads different examples and has learners guess...