Primary Sources

Virtual Libraries Digital Literacy Web Evaluation Blogs and Wikis Research Reading Searching Home

Valuable Pages on the American Memory Website -- too good to miss!

Media Analysis Tools
Worksheets that help students develop analyses of various media in American Memory.

Using Primary Sources in the Classroom
Ideas and techniques with easy-to-find objects, sounds, images, and texts.

Lesson Framework
Tips on selecting and incorporating primary sources into phases of a lesson.

Pathfinders
Browse five kinds of pathfinders to identify some of the major subjects represented in American Memory. Select a pathfinder to identify pertinent collections.

Historian's Sources
Introduces students to the analysis of everyday artifacts

Make Your Own Primary Sources

toolkit

Think about creating your own primary sources to share with students. Use parchment paper with a color printer to reproduce documents and glossy photographic paper with a black and white printer. Kids wear white gloves and use magnifying glasses to examine the documents and photographs. Be sure to look at the American Memory Project tool kit for more details.

Also, consider having kids create their own primary sources. One easy way is to take a photograph. Be as creative as you want—choose a theme or simply take a random shot. Check out Tips for Taking Pictures before getting started.

Tools:

NARA Document Analysis Worksheets - worksheets to analyze primary sources

MEDIA ANALYSIS TOOLS from the American Memory Learning Page - worksheets to analyze primary sources

More Primary Sources

American Memory Project
The Learning Page, special section for educators

National Archives and Records Administration
The Digital Classroom, special section for educators

Africans in America

Avalon Project (Yale Law School)

CARRIE: An Electronic Library: Documents

Chronology of US Historical Documents ( University of Oklahoma)

Costume History

Cold War: Digital Library