Primary Sources

[tmstranger]

In planning for next year, I'm trying to incorporate primary sources into our history study more.  This year, I've only added one source, but there is still time, so I'm looking to add a few at the end of this year.

 

My question is WHERE do you get your primary sources and HOW MANY do you use each year? 

 

I've looked at Jackdaw per TWTM, but they are so expensive.  I've looked at the fordam site, but since they aren't organized into "books" like Jackdaw, I don't know how many or which ones are most important. 

 

Next year, we'll be covering early modern, so I'm thinking about the colonization of America, Revolution, and Constitution...again, there are so many to choose from.   

 

How do you make these choices? 

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Michelle

 

[HomeAgain]

We used a variety of sources.  Jackdaws, yes, but also museum sites (like Jamestown's), Letters of Note, How To Be A Retronaut when it was still around, and Reading Like A Historian, which provides questions similar to Jackdaws.  Even Google has provided a wealth of information for American history, since you can look up hundreds of newspapers right back through the founding of colonies.

ETA: by middle school, we had switched our history around to reading historical fiction and looking up primary sources as we went along to see how they compared, and then looking at a textbook to see what they say.  Sometimes we found interesting stories completely glossed over, and often we found the authors distorted history to say what they wanted. We broke out highlighters to find what we called "opinion words", colorful adjectives that showed the author's bias in retellings of what happened.  A paper was required at the end of each main topic comparing, contrasting, and adding personal observations.  How many we used, I can't say, because it often varied, but since we only invested in Jackdaws for things we couldn't find easily free or cheap (unlike journals from Columbus or the Lewis & Clark expeditions), we didn't spend a whole lot to collect the information.  And the Jackdaws have been a wise investment I think, keeping everything in one place, and have been used quite a lot here as springboards.

Edited March 4, 2016 by HomeAgain

[tmstranger]

We used a variety of sources.  Jackdaws, yes, but also museum sites (like Jamestown's), Letters of Note, How To Be A Retronaut when it was still around, and Reading Like A Historian, which provides questions similar to Jackdaws.  Even Google has provided a wealth of information for American history, since you can look up hundreds of newspapers right back through the founding of colonies.

 

ETA: by middle school, we had switched our history around to reading historical fiction and looking up primary sources as we went along to see how they compared, and then looking at a textbook to see what they say.  Sometimes we found interesting stories completely glossed over, and often we found the authors distorted history to say what they wanted. We broke out highlighters to find what we called "opinion words", colorful adjectives that showed the author's bias in retellings of what happened.  A paper was required at the end of each main topic comparing, contrasting, and adding personal observations.  How many we used, I can't say, because it often varied, but since we only invested in Jackdaws for things we couldn't find easily free or cheap (unlike journals from Columbus or the Lewis & Clark expeditions), we didn't spend a whole lot to collect the information.  And the Jackdaws have been a wise investment I think, keeping everything in one place, and have been used quite a lot here as springboards.

 

Wow!  Thank you!  That Stanford link is fantastic!  This was very helpful.

[Saddlemomma]

• Eyewitness to History

• AP World History Primary Source Reader

Fordham University Internet History Sourcebook

The Avalon Project

The 35 Greatest Speeches in History

History Channel: Greatest Speeches

Famous Speeches That Changed the World

[SilverMoon]

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness ______________ that were recommended in older WTM editions are convenient collections. They're fat little paperbacks chock full of primary source documents.

 

I don't know how to answer the how many. We just randomly grab them as we see fit.

Edited March 5, 2016 by SilverMoon

[Holly]

We are using American Voices from Notgrass next year.  I found a copy used on Amazon for about $15 (shipping included).  It will get us through Early Modern & Modern American history.  Another resources, but one we didn't get to this year, is Greenleaf's Voices of the Renaissance & Reformation.  It's about $15 new. 

[tmstranger]

We are using American Voices from Notgrass next year.  I found a copy used on Amazon for about $15 (shipping included).  It will get us through Early Modern & Modern American history.  Another resources, but one we didn't get to this year, is Greenleaf's Voices of the Renaissance & Reformation.  It's about $15 new. 

 

Great idea!  It never occurred to me to only purchase the one book from Notgrass...I always looked at the "set." 

 

Greenleaf looks great, too...and cheaper than Jackdaw!

[SilverMoon]

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Edited October 30, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Serenade]

Great thread!

[tmstranger]

Great thread!

 

The ladies on this board have so much knowledge!!  I would have never found many of these sites on my own!

[yvonne]

We just started looking at the National Archives.  The site also a really neat set of "Document Analysis Worksheets," that walk you through how to analyze written documents, photographs, cartoons, posters, maps....!