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Teaching with Primary Sources

Using Primary Sources in K-12 Classrooms

Graphic Organizers

Analyze a Cartoon
From the National Archives
Analyze a Written Document
National Archives
Consider the Source NY
Graphic organizers by type of primary source
Graphic Organizer
Edsitement
Graphic Organizer: Writing From Documents
Graphic organizer from the Library of Congress and Middle Tennessee State University.
Primary Source Analysis
New York Times primary source analysis.
Primary Source Analysis Worksheet
High level analysis worksheet from the Amherst College Library.
Reading Graphic Organizers
Several graphic reading organizers from the Iowa Reading Research Center.

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans
Edsitement has lesson plans that can be used with primary sources.
SC Digital Academy
Primary documents and K-12 lessons
Teaching Primary and Secondary Sources
Lesson guide from the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Primary Source Sets

Colorado Dept. of Education
Elementary primary source sets broken down by grade.
Multimedia Primary Source Discussion Sets
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
PBS World Inquiry Kits
Sixty research starter kits.
Primary Source Kits
Library of Congress primary source kit by subject.
Primary Source Kits
PBS using primary sources.
Primary Sources at Yale
Identifying types and formats of primary sources.
Primary Source Sets
Digital Public Library of America
Primary Source Sets
A variety of primary source kits including math, literature, and science.
U.S. History Inquiry Kits
U.S. History primary source ktis from early American to present day.

Additional Resources