It’s Been Digitized!Meeting the Challenge of the College and Career Ready Standards Using Primary Sources From the Library of Congress

Wendy Stephens

ASLA June 10, 2013

Wendy StephensCullman High Schoolwstephens at cullmancats dot net

A Member of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Advisory Board,2010 to date

How do you study the past, a time that no longer exists?

By referring to objects, records, and even people that have survived into the present.

Artifacts that existed close in time, place, and experience to the topic being researched are called primary sources.

Records that interpret primary sources are called secondary sources.

For the CCSS…

English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 6-8Key Ideas and DetailsCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

For the CCSS…

English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 6-8Integration of Knowledge and IdeasCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.9 Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

For the CCSS…

English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 9-10Key Ideas and DetailsCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

For the CCSS…

English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 9-10Integration of Knowledge and IdeasCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

For the CCSS…

English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 11-12Key Ideas and DetailsCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3 Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.

For the CCSS…

English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 11-12Integration of Knowledge and IdeasCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Text complexity

Consider the following.

Are they primary or secondary sources?

You’re researching Alexander Graham Bell, credited as inventor of the telephone. By chance, you find a book about Bell's life in your attic. The book was published in 1936, and the author does not seem to have known Bell in person. Can you consider the book a primary source in your research on Alexander Graham Bell's life?

Instead of researching Alexander Graham Bell, you've decided you want to research telephone use before World War II. The book you found in the attic has many asides about what the author thinks of telephones and what she's learned about them while researching Bell. Can you cite the book as a primary source in your research about telephone use?

You're taking a break from reading, and decide to watch a documentary about the telephone instead. Onscreen, two actors perform a scene portraying a man making a phone call in the 1920s and an operator taking the call. The caller expresses frustration at how long it takes for the operator to connect the call. Can you consider the actor's words a primary source on phone use before World War II?

After finishing the documentary, you decide you want to know more about what using a phone was like before World War II. You write to a great-aunt who was a little girl in the 1930s. She responds with a letter reminiscing about how much technology has changed and telling you a story about a friend's family business that had a phone. Can you cite her words as a primary source on phones before World War II?

http://tinyurl.com/ASLA-TPS

My advice: Don’t approach searching the LC databases like you would the Internet with keyword strategies

Instead,browseuse subject directoriesuse hyperlinkslook for featured

resources

Reverse-engineer it…

It’s Been Digitized!Meeting the Challenge of the College and Career Ready Standards Using Primary Sources From the Library of Congress

Wendy Stephens

ASLA June 10, 2013