The Importance of Using Primary Sources in Social Studies, K-8

Guidelines for Teachers to Utilize in Instruction

This two-part book provides teachers in kindergarten through grade eight with a valuable resource as how to include primary sources in a social studies curriculum along with a required social studies textbook. The first section of this book contains descriptions with relevant examples of primary documents and authentic artifacts that are appropriate for incorporation into social studies classrooms. In the second part of this book, the application of primary sources for specific social studies instruction is presented. This book specifically presents ways to use primary sources as means to explore the community where the students reside, to make connections to past and present events, and to research a specific change agent in a particular place.

Each chapter contains:

• questions and pedagogical strategies for criticallly reading, viewing, and responding to varied authentic artifacts;
• techniques for interacting with primary materials;
• modifications to meet the needs of diverse learners;
• assessment techniques; information tied to technology and the “new literacies”; and
• connections to the National Curriculum Standards for the Social Studies (2010) and the Common Core State Standards (2010).