Defined:
Library of Congress, Teachers Page
Why use primary sources?
- To engage students!
- To learn in fun and exciting ways!
- Historians, or students of history, use primary and secondary sources to answer research questions.
- Students use primary and secondary sources to make reasoned interpretations and construct knowledge.
- Students develop historical thinking skills through examining evidence to formulate and support their arguments.
Getting started with primary sources
- Tips from the Library of Congress's Teachers Page
- An introduction to teaching with with primary sources adapted by the UC Davis History Project from the National Archives