Thing 27 - Primary Sources
Twenty years ago, our social studies department had WWII veterans come to our school to speak to our students. We had about 150 8th graders in our Multi Instructional Room, moving from station to station to hear the stories of the veterans. I'll never forget, one of the veterans was one of the liberators of Auschwitz. He told his story and you could hear a pin drop. The bell rang, signaling that the students could leave and not one of them moved. It was history alive, it was real. Learning took place with out a text book or worksheet.
I wasn't sure what I was going to come across today when looking at primary sources. I thought, how many documents can I look at and is it really any different than reading from a textbook? Wow was I surprised! Today I explored documents, photos, videos, street views and works of arts from all over the world. I was in space, I celebrated the day of the dead and looked at photos from the civil war without leaving the comfort of home. I was intrigued and amazed at what I was able to experience.
Google Arts & Culture is amazing. It includes photos, maps, street views, & videos. The information can be shared to Google Classroom where students can then interact with it.
I shared two collections with our LOTE department;
Google Art and Culture can be used across all curricular areas. I am looking forward to continuing my exploration of the site.
Eagle Eye Citizens Apps have created challenges where students need to interact with historical documents and photos to complete a puzzle. These activities could be used as warm ups or formative assessment checks.
Teach Doc allows educators to use documents to create activities with templates that are provided. There are also pre made activities for students.
Both Eagle Eye Citizens and Teach Doc are really geared toward Social Studies.
Currently, I am working with one of our Instructional Technology Teacher, and we are creating a digital break out experience for the staff. I am thinking we can use some of the primary sources through Google Art and Culture as one of our clues. This way, staff is exposed to the site and they will see how we can use a break out experience across curricular areas.
Below is a link to a video of an interview with a veteran that was part of D-Day. It was filmed by one of our district parents and it is a great primary resource. Have tissues ready...
Engaging students with primary resources is a great guide that explains what primary sources are the strength and weaknesses of each one.
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