Primary Sources for Elementary
Course
Analyzing Texts [10:31]
There are special considerations that are important for elementary students that revolve around using text-based primary sources.
You may also modify the use of a more text-rich primary source. For example, you may read only a headline or a caption in an accompanying image in a newspaper. Focus students' attention on a paragraph in a typed letter or full newspaper article or highlight text you want students to include in their analysis of a map. All of these adaptations allow students to interact with the primary source at a level where they can be successful in constructing meaning and generating questions from the primary source.
Another issue with text that I hear from more and more educators as less emphasis is put on handwriting in cursive, is the use of manuscripts in primary sources. Of course, you will find cursive handwriting in diaries and letters but it is not unusual to find shorter notes written in margins of typed pages, in the borders around photographs, and while teaching students to read script may be beyond the scope of your responsibilities, you can put support pieces in place for students as they interact with these types of primary sources. With shorter pieces of handwriting, simply reading the words to the students may make sense. With longer pieces, creating a transcript of the handwriting can allow students to access the text.
Like analyzing a primary source image, students making observations, reflections, and questions, as found in the Library of Congress's Primary Source Analysis Tool, can be a foundation of analyzing a primary source with text. The important thing to remember is that when it appears that students will struggle with an aspect of the primary source, there's often scaffolding that can be put into place to support their use of the item. Don't shy away from a primary source that students may struggle accessing because of text if you think that source is also compelling. Instead, think about adaptations and how that will impact how compelling the primary source will be to your students.
There are three extending strategies that my students use with text-based primary sources instead of the primary source analysis tool I spoke about earlier. These suggestions come from the Stanford History Education Group and while they have more of a middle and high school focus with their materials online, these strategies also work well with elementary students with adaptations. Students in upper elementary grades can do this independently or in pairs. Younger students in my second and third grade classes may do these collaboratively or as a whole class as I record their ideas.
First, my students source the item. They spend just a minute, no more than two, scanning the primary source, looking for basic information such as the author, purpose for writing, and any elements that give insight into point of view or credibility. I typically ask my students a few guiding questions to help them source the item. I may ask "who's the author, when was the item written, and why was it written?" These questions help them identify basic information, framing the primary source itself before they actually start to examine it.
In the text-based primary source here, also connected to the topic of building of the statue of liberty, students may quickly identify that it is a newspaper article from June, 1883. While they won't find an author listed, they may recognize that it was published in the Salt Lake City Herald. Answering the last question, why were the primary sources written, is often difficult for students. I intentionally do not give them time to read, in this case, the newspaper article. I want them to skim and begin to draw some conclusions. My hope is that they will determine that because this is a newspaper article, the purpose may be to share information with people of the town about the Statue of Liberty. As students struggle with aspects of sourcing, I will model my thinking. They may have never considered why someone writes a newspaper article. They may have very few personal experiences with newspapers at all. My goal here is not to assess but to encourage a way of thinking that will continue beyond elementary school.
After sourcing, I ask students to contextualize the piece. Again, I frame the activity with questions, asking them what do they know about the event and the time period? What people may be involved in the event they will be reading about? Obviously, contextualizing a primary source only works well when students have some background knowledge of the event. This strategy is most successful when a primary source is contextualized after a secondary source or another initial primary source is introduced into a lesson or learning. Essentially, what I'm asking students to do is to recall that background information, that background knowledge, and to prepare to use it to make meaning of the primary source. If some students struggle to recall background knowledge or if there is a piece of background knowledge that you think is essential to analyzing the primary source, you may ask additional questions related to other sources you have studied. I also may ask students to contextualize in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class. This collaborative effort, like the primary source analysis, may lead to students collectively recalling more than they could individually. Depending on the arrangement of students, they may work on this strategy for three to five minutes.
Revisiting our newspaper article, if students had read secondary source material, I would expect that many would mention that this was written around the time the Statue of Liberty was being built. If they saw the word pedestal in the article, they may have read elsewhere that the pedestal was built in the United States, while the Statue of Liberty was built in France. They may also mention that the statue was built in France, deconstructed, and shipped to the United States, and that Bartholdi was its designer. Notice that through these first two strategies, students haven't actually read the primary source. They've only skimmed it for some basic information and then worked to access their own prior knowledge. Again, these are strategies I want them to be using well beyond their elementary years but they can start to do it successfully here.
The last strategy I'm going to ask my students to do is close reading. Your students may have done this with another piece of text. When close reading a primary source, I'm usually wanting students to look for words and phrases that uncover the purpose and point of view of the text. Again, I pose questions to help them in their close reading. I'll ask, what words or phrases stand out? What is the writer saying in the piece? What perspective does the author have? As students begin to interact with the text more deeply during close reading, I'm sure to have a copy of the text for each of them. I encourage them to annotate the text, underlining the words and phrases, writing initial ideas around the article in the margins. I remind them to look for patterns in the text, searching for repeated words or similar words that may reveal more about the perspective and message. I also remind them to look for words or phrases that contradict each other or do not seem to fit together.
Finally, students look for unexpected words or phrases that they didn't expect to find in the piece. With younger elementary students, second and third grade, or older students with limited experience with close reading, I often stop at this point, and we share these words and phrases and annotations as a class, and discuss what they could mean, working towards ideas of purpose and perspective. With older elementary students who have had more experience with close reading, I encourage them to do more annotations individually or in pairs, working toward those ideas on their own of purpose and perspective before sharing with the rest of the class. These older students' annotations should reference purpose and perspective but can also include missing perspectives. This idea of looking for what's missing within the text helps to reveal the author's perspective and can also suggest other areas and resources we should explore.
Our final piece of close reading is to ask questions based off the patterns in the text and the students' annotations of the text. This can be done by any aged student doing a close read of a primary source text. Sharing these questions can lead students to more learning and help me to have a picture of their understanding of the text. In our example, I would think students would wonder why Americans didn't want to contribute money to build the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty; how long it took them to raise funds; or how much it cost to build the pedestal.
You may think about your second or third grade student sourcing, contextualizing, and close reading with the primary source and wonder how a young reader can accomplish this. I encourage you to think about differentiation and text selection. What can students do individually? What do you think needs to be done in small groups, pairs or as a whole class? I mentioned earlier, collaborative learning can be a powerful way to tackle the analysis of primary sources. What scaffolding may need to take place?
I'm sure to do this after students have had some exposure to draw from to contextualize the source. There are moments when I have individual or whole group check-ins or think-alouds to model the students what a part of a process can look like. Sometimes, I focus only on part of the text, something I determine as manageable for my students. In the case of the newspaper, I would always isolate the article so that students are not distracted or confused by other text on the page. As with image analysis, it is a progression where students grow in utilizing the skill over time, but with support can use the skill at a young age to impact their learning.
From close reading and questioning to building text-based evidence to support an argument, text-based primary sources offer opportunities for students to build reading skills and subject-area knowledge. In Lesson 5, Tom Bober offers three strategies for analyzing primary source texts with elementary students (citing the Stanford History Education Group): (1) sourcing the item for basic information about the author, where the piece came from, and any identifiable point of view or purpose for writing; (2) contextualizing the piece within the time period and in relation to relevant events (and students' background knowledge); and (3) close reading of the primary source.
As a school librarian, you may have the opportunity to guide your elementary students in these reading strategies for primary sources, or this technique might be one to share with a teaching colleague.
Consider a classroom teacher who might be interested in integrating reading instruction and analysis of primary texts. Invite your colleague to view this lesson segment with you, or share it for their viewing. With this teacher's curriculum in mind, select a few primary source texts as inspiration for a collaborative lesson.
MLA Citation
Morris, Rebecca J. "Primary Sources for Elementary: Collaborations Using Text-Based Primary Sources." School Library Connection, October 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2045338?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247905.
Entry ID: 2122742
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Bober, Tom. "Primary Sources for Elementary. Analyzing Texts [10:31]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2016, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2045338?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247905.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2045338?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247905
Entry ID: 2045338