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The Importance of Primary Resources in Social Studies Classrooms

Melanie R Remp

University of Kansas
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The Importance of Primary Resources in Social Studies Classrooms

In the twenty-first century social studies classroom the emphasis on instruction is phasing

away from hammering dates and names into students heads. Instead the focus is on teaching

students to be active citizens that are prepared for life in a rapidly changing world. Along with

this change has come a push to put less of an emphasis on textbooks and more focus on primary

source documents. Teachers and administrators will often ask why students need to read primary

sources instead of the textbooks.

As a social studies teacher to me it is important that I am using the strategies and

materials that will best support the education of my students. Middle school students can be a

challenge to engage in class, especially when it comes to learning about any subject under the

umbrella of social studies. Many of my students come in with the notion of social studies being

boring and just learning about dead people and how they died. In order to prove to them that

social studies is so much more than studying dead people I want to make sure I am using the best

resources out their to get students to buy into what we cover in class. To me that means focusing

on using a variety of primary sources, which can be anything produced during a time period

being studied, and supplementing with the textbook.

Using Primary Sources

Issues With Textbooks

Textbooks have been a staple of classrooms for many years and for good reasons. A

typical textbook is large, but includes information on a variety of topics presented at a reading

level that is accessible for students at a variety of reading levels. Additionally, the questions and

activities that come with textbooks can be a valuable resource for teachers. The simplicity of

textbooks is also a major issue.

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Doug Buehl outlines many of these concerns in Developing Readers in the Academic

Disciplines. First off textbooks tend to emphasize the who and what of history, not why or how

events happened. If students are reading textbooks there is less of a chance to push students to

answer the how and why questions due to a lack of information and evidence in the reading.

Secondly, textbooks can make it challenging for students to differentiate between facts and

opinions. This is especially difficult for younger students or students with a disability. Reading

only one perspective of history limits the growth of students and their ability to form opinions on

major events and topics covered in a social studies classroom.

Benefits of Primary Sources

A popular argument made by educators is that students do not learn best by reading

history, but by doing history. This idea was defined in Monte-Sano (2012) as letting students

experience the interpretive nature of history by giving them an opportunities to read historical

sources. Primary (historical) sources facilitate doing history by presenting various points of

view that allow students to determine the answers to higher level thinking questions. Social

studies does not have many yes or no answers. In order for students to really learn and grow they

need to be able to corroborate evidence from multiple sources.

By learning to read opinions from multiple sources students can also improve their

argumentative writing (Monte-Sano 2012). In my class students are asked to do quick writes

every day where they answer a question and provide evidence. Being able to present a clear and

well-supported argument is an invaluable skill for students that will benefit them as they journey

to adulthood.

Bruce Lesh pushes the idea of students doing history and creating arguments in Why

Wont You Just Tell us the Answer? Using historical investigations as a teaching tool ensures that
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students are reading a variety of texts, asking historical questions, and writing to argue their

answers to the historical questions. Another benefit is allowing students to look past the short

summary of a textbook. Investigations can be centered on the why instead of the what. As

previously mentioned, getting students past the who and what of history is the key to growing

their level of thinking.

The creation of the Common Core standards only strengthened the argument for usage of

primary sources in social studies classrooms. Common Core requires that students at all grade

levels are able to think critically and read a variety of informational texts. Primary sources

encourage critical thinking. They also assist students in really understanding what life was like

during events being investigated (Morgan and Rasinski, 2012). Getting students to a point where

they can provide a thought out argument for a historical question can be challenging. Similarly

getting them to truly understand a time period can be a tough battle. Photographs and songs from

a given time period are great resources for getting students to understand life decades, or even

centuries, before they were born.

Variety of Primary Sources

Non-Traditional Texts

Whenever I say the magic words primary source they are usually met with a handful of

groans or but why do we have to? questions. Truthfully I cant say I blame students when they

have this reaction. Until recently my idea of primary sources was an old speech from Abraham

Lincoln or a diary entry of a soldier. Most students will not enjoy reading something like that.

When it comes to primary sources it is important to understand that they are not just text based.

Primary sources can be just about anything. Just because the word text is involved does not mean

their need to be words.

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Similar to studying a photograph, buildings can also be used as a primary source in a

social studies classroom. Studying buildings to answer a historical question doesnt require a

deep understanding of architecture. It is simply studying the purpose of a building and using that

purpose to describe life in the time period and/or location of the building (Baron and Dobbs

2015). Visuals of any sort tend to help students with learning disabilities or English Language

Learners (ELLs). No matter the language or reading level of a student it is easy to identify what a

school or movie theatre can tell about a town. Non-traditional primary sources like buildings

only encourage the growth and development of students ability to investigate a topic and answer

the historical questions with a strong argument.

Pop Culture and Primary Sources

Another non-traditional primary source that can be beneficial to getting students to buy in

to the idea of using primary sources is anything related to pop culture. Middle schools students

are notorious for loving comic books, music, sports, and video games. Not all of these things are

typically used as primary sources, but that does not mean they cant be beneficial in the social

studies classroom. Music can be used as a primary source to learn about the mood and lifestyle

of a time period. For example, when studying the Great Depression you can use songs that told

stories of the challenges faced by many. Music can also be a way to give students background

information on a topic before reading a primary source. Flocabulary is an example of a website

that provides songs about different subject areas that can be used to introduce students to a topic.

The other pop culture items mentioned might not make good primary sources, but like

music they serve a purpose with primary sources. Research has shown that students tend to use

pop culture to help with comprehension of a primary source and as evidence to support an

argument based on a primary source. That being said the use of pop culture texts can also lead
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students to make incorrect assumptions about a social studies text (Hall 2011/12). As a social

studies teacher it is important to be aware of students relationship with pop culture and how to

help them find messages from all resources they are consuming. Doing so will encourage

students to be critical about evidence they are using and create strong arguments.

Challenges with Primary Sources

From personal experience and from collaborating with fellow social studies teachers, one

of the biggest concerns with using primary sources is time. Using investigation as a teaching tool

requires time to find and modify primary sources, as well as large chunks of class time for

students to really understand what they are working with. One of the benefits that textbooks

provide is that they are easy. The content is simple and it doesnt take much lesson planning to

use. Many teachers get sucked into just using the textbook in a pinch because there is no time to

plan a historical investigation and prepare the primary sources students would need to think

critically about the question being asked.

One of the largest contributing factors to the time consuming nature of working with

primary sources is when it comes to choosing the best ones for the investigation. According to

Lesh (2011) sources need to be from a variety of mediums, provide multiple perspectives,

modified and read before students touch them, and kept to a reasonable length to lessen the

likelihood of students getting overwhelmed (p. 56-57). Lesh also encourages keeping it simple at

first to get students, and teachers, used to working with primary sources. This eliminates

concerns with time that many teachers have, as well as easing students into a new style of

learning.

Implications for the Classroom

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The debate between the use of primary sources and textbooks in social studies classrooms

has several implications for my middle school classroom. First off, knowing how to best help

students that receive special education services requires extra thought. Many students that have a

learning disability (LD) need assistance before, during, and after reading a primary source. Due

to the fact that there are not enough teachers for one on one, or even small group, modifications

class activities can be structured so that all students are working on skills to help them better

analyze the primary source. Comprehension activities not only help students with LDs, but they

benefit all students when it comes time to work with the primary source (Hughes and Parker-

Katz 2013).

One way I have tackled this in my classroom is by using graphic organizers for students

to record prior knowledge and what they pull from the document(s). The graphic organizers

serve two purposes. As previously stated it is a tool that will specifically help students with a LD

comprehend what they are learning, while also helping all students organize their thoughts to

help form their arguments to answer the historical question. Providing students that have a LD

with a list of vocabulary terms ahead of reading any primary source is also a way I have aided in

their comprehension of more difficult texts.

Another significant implication for my classroom is motivating students to do the hard

work associated with primary sources. Whether it comes from elementary school or a previous

social studies teacher, too often students just want to just read the textbook or watch the video to

get answers. Getting students out of that habit takes time. I have had most of my current students

for a year and a half. It has been a battle to get them to work with primary sources, but they are

getting better. Students will fight at first, until they start to get comfortable with the process of

working with primary sources.

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Just like students have to make an effort to adjust to new kinds of texts, teachers have to

put in effort as well. Like previously mentioned this is done by sacrificing time, and for many

older teachers the perception of what a social studies education is. Many peers of mine struggle

with the concept of students doing the investigation and taking control of a larger role in their

learning, as opposed to lectures and tests. If teachers expect students to put in the harder work it

is only fair that teachers put in just as much effort to helping ensure student success.

Further Questions

After doing the research about primary sources and considering the implications for

teaching I find myself growing more curious about several related topics. First, is there a way to

improve textbooks so that they can be more of a legitimate resource? I am aware that the

textbook industry is influenced by larger states and regional biases can be very apparent.

Additionally I know that textbooks are intended to provide a little bit of knowledge over a large

scope of time. In my teacher brain there has to be a way to make textbooks use aspects of

perspective taking in the discussion of topics.

Another question I find myself wondering is if there is a better way to go about social

studies education. Social studies is traditionally separated into separate disciplines (history,

geography, government, etc.) and then from there taught on a chronological scale. Is this the

most efficient way to encourage students to grow and prepare for what comes after school? Or

are students better served by focusing on skills and larger concepts that can be connected

between multiple social studies disciplines? If social studies education is getting away from

focusing on people, dates, and events, one could argue that the history can be taught in order of

themes not dates.

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None of these questions are anything that can be answered without more research, but as

I am working on growing my students as twenty-first century learners these are questions that

will always be in the back of my mind.

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References

Baron, C. & Dobbs, C. (2015). Expanding the notion of historical text through historic building

analysis. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 58 (6), 462 471.

Buehl, D. (2011). Developing Readers in the Academic Disciplines. International Reading

Association.

Hall, L. (2011/12). How popular culture texts inform and shape students discussion of social

studies texts. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 55(4), 296 305.

Hughes, M.T., & Parker-Katz, M. (2013). Integrating comprehension strategies into social

studies instruction. The Social Studies, 104, 93 104

Lesh, B. A. (2011). Why wont you just tell us the answers?; Teaching historical thinking in

grades 7-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.

Monte-Sano, C. (2012). Build skills by doing history. Kappan, 94(3), 62-65.

Morgan, D.N., & Rasinski, T.V. (2012). The power and potential of primary sources. The

Reading Teacher, 65(8), 584 594.