Elementary Educator's Guide to Primary Sources: Strategies for Teaching by Tom Bober

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Primary Sources

1. Which of the AASL standards does your library already do a good job of supporting? Are there standards you're weaker on?
2. What is your definition of a primary source? Do you think anyone in your school community is relying on another definition? Is it worth trying to standardize this at your school?
3. Can you add to Bober's list of favorite places to find primary sources and share the list somewhere that all teachers can access it?

Chapter 2: Analyzing Primary Sources in the Elementary Grades

1. Does the idea of handing your students primary documents to analyze make you feel like you have less control than you are comfortable with? What strategies have you developed that might help in these circumstances?
2. Think about the Statue of Liberty photo example. If you're teaching a new learning strategy, do you generally prefer to introduce materials your students are already familiar with or try for something completely different? Why?
3. Have you used the See, Think, Wonder strategy? In what circumstances do you think it would be an effective strategy for introducing primary source materials to the students in your school?
4. On page 26, Bober talks about roles that teachers should avoid. Do you find yourself taking on those roles? What strategies could you use to return to guiding, framing, and documenting?
5. Many of us learned Close Reading in college. Have you thought about using it with primary students? What primary sources do you already use that would benefit from this strategy?
6. Does the advice "Don't steal their struggle" appeal to you? How can it help frame close reading of primary sources as valuable, even if the students find it challenging?
7. Do you see value in offering primary source material to the youngest students, who may not be readers yet? If you do, can you think of some sources or types of sources that would engage them?
8. In the See, Wonder, Think strategy, students are encouraged to wonder, which might be daunting for some who are used to supplying answers to teachers' questions. Do you have students that you think this strategy might benefit? Why?
9. With which of your students would you like to try the "analyzing like a historian" strategy? Which lessons are you already teaching that use historical materials? Social studies? Science? Reading? Would you like to add them to some lessons that previously didn't use historical documents?
10. Which is your favorite "visible thinking" exit slip (or slips)? Share with the group why you think your students would respond (or have responded) well to these types of questions.
11. Bober shows how to differentiate each of the learning strategies for the youngest students. How do you feel about teaching your lower elementary students using primary documents?
12. If you already use primary sources in some of your lessons, have you learned any new strategies or tools from Chapter 2 that you can apply to the work your students are doing?

Chapter 3: Selecting Primary Sources

1. In his first paragraphs of Chapter 3, Bober writes about how his students learned very differently from different types of primary sources. Have you noticed this phenomenon in your own classroom? How has the selection of a source (and not the analysis strategy) impacted your students' learning? What kinds of changes have you made in selecting examples for your lessons?
2. Think about the list on page 81 of what might make a source compelling to students. Which of these do your students typically respond enthusiastically to? Do you feel inspired to look for sources that use other reasons to compel students?
3. If you already use primary sources with your students, have you used all of the formats listed in Table 3.1 (page 85)? Which new types could you try? How would you find those sources?
4. In the "Jump In" strategy, students describe what they see, hear, and feel as they "jump into" the primary source. Bober mentions using a green screen, camera, and software to make this an even more immersive experience. What other ideas do you have for connecting the Jump In strategy to your curriculum? Writing? Math? Social-emotional learning?
5. The "Pose" strategy seems to lend itself to online learning applications like Zoom where students can see one another online. Can you think of types of primary sources that would work well for a virtual conversation using the Pose strategy?
6. On page 96, Bober mentions using primary sources to teach new vocabulary. Have you thought of using primary sources in this way? Can you think of any other less-common ways to use them?
7. Many primary school students haven't had an opportunity to become familiar with news headlines, but writing headlines might still be a fun way for them to show they understand the primary sources they're analyzing. Do you think your students would pick up on headline conventions quickly? Why or why not?
8. On the other hand, many students have seen and heard a lot of audio and video media. Do you think your students can translate their skill at watching/listening to modern media into understanding historical primary sources?
9. Does your school have the technological capabilities for students to analyze audiovisuals? Given your resources, what are some considerations you may need to work through to incorporate audiovisual primary sources into student learning? Will some of Bober's workarounds work for your students?

Chapter 4: Connecting Primary Sources to Content Curriculum

1. A question that Bober asks on page 118 feels very timely; "Whose voice is not heard in the reporting of this event through the sources"? Can you think of other questions that are currently in the national/international spotlight that would help students look at historical materials?
2. Do your lesson plans tie in geography? Do you think your students would benefit from bringing maps and other geographical primary sources into your lessons?
3. What are the challenges to bringing primary sources into the curriculum your school/grade level is required to follow? If you have the flexibility to choose reading assignments, can you think of some assignments that would benefit from adding primary sources?
4. Starting on page 121, Bober walks us through an example of using a picture book, Around America to Win the Vote, in his language arts class. Do his methods give you any ideas for your own language arts classes? Can you think of a topic or time period that would particularly interest your students?
5. Have you ever used primary sources in your math and science classes? Do the possibilities for real-world connections excite you?

Chapter 5: Assuring Success with Primary Source Analysis: Teacher Tips

1. Do you already feel comfortable including lots of collaborative learning in your classes? Do you think adding collaborative primary document study would work well for your students? If you tend not to use much collaboration, is this an area in which you could expand collaborative work?
2. How do you feel about using primary sources as a bell-ringer or beginning-of-class lesson? Why?
3. Have you considered assessing your students' ability to analyze primary sources? Do you think this would be a valuable way to learn about their thought processes? What challenges do you see?
4. How do you usually address misconceptions that occur in your lessons? Will any of these suggestions be helpful to you, especially the idea of using collaboration to address them?
5. Can you think of places in your curriculum where you usually pair information from different sources to give students a well-rounded introduction to a subject? Can you use primary sources in the same way?

Overall

1. Can you think of three lessons in which you're not already using primary sources that would be enhanced by adding them?