Digitized Primary Sources…why do we want em and what are our choices

Cinthia Salinas, Ken Tothero, and Ryan Crowley

The University of Texas at Austin

Brainstorm

What would be big question…the essential question…the perspectives that you want to include and counter or nuance

We will create a magazine cover using BigHugeLabs to demonstrate our essential question and some of the items we want to consider in our final project

Go to http://bighugelabs.com

When you are finished creating the magazine, email the image to Ryan: rcrowley5@gmail.com

Considering demand and supply…what do we want and what is available to us

as teachersSometimes we need entire ‘packet’ of sources with DBQ and activity– PTL as example

Sometimes we need entire ‘performance task’ with primary documents and DBQs

http://studentsashistorians.weebly.com/

http://zapatistasthenandnow.weebly.com/

Sometimes we need a cache of primary sources organized around a single topic– NARA as example

Need a single primary source that will seal the deal- other examples

Searching for particular “modalities”

1st order vs 2nd order

3rd Goal of PTL institute

Performance task…a collection of multiple primary source documents and DBQs that address a historical question/tension and includes a historical reasoning assignment on a published web site that can be shared with other teachers

Student Performance Task Project Guidelines

Home page should be include a short opening narrative that sets the context for the historical event/tension your site will engage. This narrative may address the mainstream understanding of this historical event while noting how your task will uncover alternative/hidden narratives.

At the close of your opening narrative, pose 1 or 2 guiding questions that the student(s) will answer by engaging in the performance task

Additional pages should include about 5-7 primary source documents that include a range of modalities (and that are short if they are text sources!). Each primary source should also have scaffolding DBQs to help the students to interrogate the source (think Sexias and VanSledright)

You will have a culminating assignment for the student(s) to complete that responds to your guiding question(s) based upon the primary sources provided

Some notes on choosing primary

sourcesRemember your intended audience and consider length!!!

Your sources should reveal the tension behind the guiding question you laid out AND don’t forget to cite your primary sources AND some sources may need context/background info help to set up the source

The use of multiple types of documents to appeal to diverse learning skills (modalities--text, visual, auditory)

The use of document based questions to scaffold. How many DBQs? Think about Sexias and VanSledright and your Voicethread activity…

Do the documents address a persistent historical issues (Saye)?

Notes on final assessment– What is

the task?What is your final request of the reader/learner?

This request should allow her or him to respond to the guiding question laid out at the beginning of the task

We encourage you to use some of the tech we have played with

Essay using Prezi?

Fake Facebook wall?

Voicethread or iMovie to make digital essay?

Magazine cover or motivational poster on bighugelabs?

Preparation for Web site building

First...selecting topic and question…centering in on tensions in history that make primary sources that much more valuable

Finding primary sources (1st and 2nd order thinking here)

Writing DBQs

Settling in on historical reasoning final evaluation

Final touches…considering formatting—what goes on what page to make it look nicer

How many primary sources?

5-7 primary sources

These can be photos, editorial cartoons, youtube video, documents, etc…

Also, multiple DBQs for each primary source