Primary and Secondary Sources


ELAR-Grade-6 Inquiry & Research Primary and Secondary Sources
Students learn to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. Next they evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each type of source. Then they conduct a search to identify primary and secondary sources for a given topic. Finally they use the sources they found to write a short informative piece.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

1:1 Devices
Teacher Pack

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Here are the teacher pack items for Primary and Secondary Sources:

Preview - Scene 1
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Overview

In this experience, students learn to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. Next they evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each type of source. Then they conduct a search to identify primary and secondary sources for a given topic. Finally they use the sources they found to write a short informative piece.

Students will collaborate in small groups for scene 3 and scene 4.

Objective

  • Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

Duration

One class period


When historians do research, they look at many different sources to learn about an event or time period. Some of the sources come from that time period and others were written later about the time period. In this experience, you will learn about these different types of sources.

Objective

  • Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.


Students reading in a classroom

You were absent from school yesterday. You still did your homework, but you missed hearing what the teachers said in all your classes. Your Language Arts teacher agreed to email you the notes. You asked one friend, Eric, to take notes in Science and Math. Eric’s not in your Social Studies class, but he spoke to Robert, who is in the class, to find out what the teacher said. He took notes on what Robert told him.


Which class’s notes would you expect to be least useful?

A) Language Arts
B) Science
C) Math
D) Social Studies

Lead a discussion about the responses. Point out that the most useful notes would be the ones directly from the teacher. Next most useful would be notes taken in class by someone who was there. But secondhand information is by nature less dependable. Someone who is even one person removed from the information brings his own attitudes, beliefs, and perhaps even faulty processing of the information to bear.


When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.

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