PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

Primary & Secondary Sources - Whats The Difference? by Jacqueline Sergent

I.

Lesson Plan Overview and Description

1. Expected duration: 45 minutes
2. Social Sciences: History and Culture
3. Concepts (Big Ideas): The purpose of this lesson is to a) explore what primary and
secondary sources are, b) discover what primary and secondary can show or tell about
a specific time period, and c) evaluate how much trust we can place in primary and
secondary sources.
4. Vocabulary
Primary source Information recorded by a person who was there.
Examples: news article, diary, photograph, etc.
Secondary source Information recorded by a person who was not there.
Examples: scholarly articles, textbook, etc.
5. Skills: Reading, critical thinking, and analyzing picture clues.
6. Broad Goals of Lesson: Identify the differences between primary and secondary
sources.

II.

Content Outline
A. Primary sources
i. Define what a primary source is
information recorded by a person who was there
ii. Identify types of primary sources
reports, maps, letters, photographs, census data, drawings, memoirs,
etc.
iii. Explore primary sources for U.S. immigrants
Ellis Island immigration documents, photographs, etc.
iv. Identify why primary source documents are useful
B. Secondary sources
i. Define what a secondary source is
information recorded by a person who was not there
ii. Identify types of secondary sources
journal and magazine articles, textbooks, etc.
iii. Explore secondary sources for U.S. immigrants
textbook, books, etc.
iv. Identify why secondary source documents are useful
provide analysis or historical perspective since original event
C. Primary and secondary sources
i. When to use primary and secondary sources
ii. How to determine the difference between primary and secondary sources
iii. Where to find primary and secondary sources

III.

Standards
PDE SAS Standards PA Civics, History, Geography;
NCSS Thematic Strands and Performance Indicators

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

1. Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System

Subject Area 8: History
Standard Area 8.1: Historical Analysis and Skills Development
Grade Level 8.1.3: GRADE 3
Standard 8.1.3.B: Identify fact, opinion, multiple points of view, and
primary sources as related to historical events.
Standard Area 8.3: United States History
Grade Level 8.3.3: GRADE 3
Standard 8.3.3.B: Identify and describe historical documents, artifacts,
and places critical to United States history.
2. PDE Common Core
N/A
3. National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: Thematic Strands and Performance
Indicators
I.
Culture
d. Compare ways in which people from different cultures think about and
deal with their physical environment and social conditions.
II.
Time, Continuity, & Change
a. Demonstrate an understanding that different people may describe the
same event or situation in diverse ways, citing reasons for the
differences in views.
b. Demonstrate an ability to use correctly vocabulary associated with
time such as past, present, future, and long ago; read and construct
simple timelines; identify examples of change; and recognize
examples of cause and effect relationships.
c. Compare and contrast different stories oo r accounts about past events,
people, places, or situations, identifying how they contribute to our
understanding of the past.
d. Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as
documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.
e. Demonstrate an understanding that people in different times and places
view the world differently.
IV.

Lesson Objectives
A. After lesson, students will be able to identify and validate their reasoning when
analyzing the difference between primary and secondary sources.
B. After lesson, students will be able to compare and analyze primary and secondary
sources when using a graphic organizer.

V.

Teaching Procedures
1. Introduction/Anticipatory Set
i. Ask students if they have ever taken a photograph or written a diary.
ii. Talk about famous primary source documents Anne Franks diary, ocean liner
passenger lists, photographs.

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

2.

3.

4.

5.

iii. Explain that many sources we use are actually secondary sources, and they do not
come directly from a specific time period, but are created or written after the event
has occurred.
Lesson Input (Teacher talk is italicized)
i. Open your textbooks to page 175. Based on what we just mentioned, can you find a
primary source in your textbook? [Students answer: photographs.] Thats correct! The
photographs are considered a primary source because they show what immigrants
and that time period looked like and the photos were actually taken back then. Would
you consider the text in your textbook to be a primary source? [Allow students to
answers and debate/defend their answer.] Even though the text is talking about what
happened a long time ago, it is considered a secondary source because it wasnt
written by the people who lived during that time period. It is important to learn the
difference between primary and secondary sources, and also important to use them
when doing research.
ii. Can anyone think of examples of primary sources and reasons why primary
sources are useful? [Allow students to answer. Write their answers on whiteboard
under a heading titled primary sources.]
iii. Now can you think of examples of secondary sources and reasons why secondary
sources are useful? [Allow students to answer. Write their answers on whiteboard
under a heading titled secondary sources.]
Guided Practice
i. During this unit we have been studying people from many places. We are now going
to practice looking up primary and secondary sources about the immigrants who
traveled to the East and West coasts of the United States.
ii. Can anyone identify a secondary source we already are using? [Students answer:
textbooks.] Thats right! How do we know it is a secondary source? [Students answer:
it wasnt written back then.] In our textbooks we have photographs of the people back
then, are the photographs a primary or secondary source? [Students answer: primary
source.] Why? [Students answer: it is from that time period.]
iii. I am going to search online for some sources are we are going to talk about
whether they are primary or secondary sources and why. [Project web search on
SmartBoard from laptop. Search photographs, writings, and immigration logs from
Ellis Island. {See materials list for links.} Find 2-3 examples of primary and
secondary sources to talk about.] Now that we have practiced as a class identifying
primary and secondary sources, you will have a chance to analyze sources and
describe what type of source you think it is and why.
Independent Practice
i. Students will be given a graphic organizer and printouts of different types of
sources to study and analyze. They will sort the sources and provide a rationale for
their choice. If they do not complete the graphic organizer at school, they can finish
the work as homework.
Differentiation
Lesson will be differentiated based on the specific learning and behavioral needs of
students in classroom, such as ELL, gifted (above level), and remediation (below
level).

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

i. Above Level: Students will be allowed to search appropriate websites and use
resources on classroom computers to find other sources and identify the type.
ii. Below Level: Students can work with a partner to be able to talk about their
rationale for sorting.
iii. ELL: Students can orally provide their rationale to the teacher.
6. Closure
i. After the lesson, we will look at a couple of the sources from their independent
practice and take a classroom vote to see what the students think.
VI.

Teacher and Student Resources and Evaluation of Resources

A. Student Reading Resources:
Independent practice websites print out examples (one per student)
Primary Sources
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/documentedrights/exhibit/section3/detail/ellis-island-immigrants.html
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1904PhotographsOfEllisIslandImmigrants.html#axzz3TfToV2fq
http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/peopling-of-america-center
Secondary Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island
http://www.history.com/topics/ellis-island
B. Teacher Resources for Lesson Design
Guided practice websites
Primary sources
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1900-AtEllisIslandAPoemForALovedOne.html#axzz3TfToV2fq
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1906-12HelpingIrishGirlsAtEliisIsland.html#axzz3TfToV2fq
http://stephendanko.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/MPAChmielewska-Stefania.jpg
Secondary sources
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/shop/issues/ellis-island-for-kids/
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2009/summer/angel.html
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-America-Immigration-BetsyMaestro/dp/0590441515/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425708023&sr=81&keywords=coming+to+america+book (Use actual copy of book)
C. Evaluation of Teacher Resources
Resource
Influence
3+ Characteristics
Accessibility Overall Rating
Title or
Significant
suggesting that the
Access for
and
Website
Influence (SI) or
source is a quality
teachers or
Suggestions for
Address
Minor Influence
resource, reliable
others
current, future
(MI) in informing material
use of resource
your thinking,
decisions about
the lesson plan
http://www.g Significant
1) From an archival
Teacher is
This is a great

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

jenvick.com/
Immigration/
EllisIsland/1
900AtEllisIsland
APoemForA
LovedOne.ht
ml#axzz3TfT
oV2fq
http://www.g
jenvick.com/
Immigration/
EllisIsland/1
906-12HelpingIrish
GirlsAtEliisI
sland.html#a
xzz3TfToV2f
q
http://stephe
ndanko.com/
blog/wpcontent/uplo
ads/2006/08/
MPAChmielewsk
aStefania.jpg

http://www.k
idsdiscover.c
om/shop/issu
es/ellisisland-forkids/

http://www.a

Influence used to
guide students
knowledge about
the different
between primary
and secondary
sources.

website.
2) Spelling and
vocabulary are oldfashioned.
3) Cites who wrote the
poem and where it is
from, including the
date.

main access
guide, but
students and
parents can
look at
website as
well.

find, and would

be beneficial
when looking at
cross-curricular
ideas for poetry
in Language
Arts.

Significant
Influence used to
guide students
knowledge about
the different
between primary
and secondary
sources.

1) From an archival
website.
2) Article from
magazine from time
period.
3) Cites specific
magazine issue and
date.

Teacher is
main access
guide, but
students and
parents can
look at
website as
well.

Once again, this

website could
be beneficial
from crosscurricular
applications in
the Language
Arts field.

1) Though the
document is from a
blog, blogger has
personal interest in
authenticity of
document.
2) Handwriting
consistent with other
similar documents.
3) Demonstrates
rigorous record
keeping.
Significant
1) Website links to
Influence used to purchase of kidguide students
friendly issue.
knowledge about
2) Similar to their
the different
textbook.
between primary
3) Provides lots of
and secondary
information.
sources.

Teacher is
main access
guide, but
students and
parents can
look at
website as
well.

Would only use

this for lesson
dealing with
primary
sources.

Teacher is
main access
guide, but
students and
parents can
look at
website as
well.

Significant

Teacher is

This issue has a

lot of use in and
out of the
Social Studies
curriculum.
Could even put
issue in the
Independent
Reading area of
the classroom.
Once again, I

Significant
Influence used to
guide students
knowledge about
the different
between primary
and secondary
sources.

1) Website is a .gov

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

rchives.gov/p
ublications/p
rologue/2009
/summer/ang
el.html

Influence used to
guide students
knowledge about
the different
between primary
and secondary
sources.

address.
2) Pictures are primary
sources (have dates).
3) Text is secondary.

main access
guide, but
students and
parents can
look at
website as
well.

6
dont think I
would use this
outside of the
Social Studies
lesson.

VII.

Formative/Summative Assessment(s)
A. Formative Assessment
i. The teacher will observe and monitor the students discussion and debates
during the lesson input, guided practice, and independent practice and provide the
necessary changes to the lesson as needed.
B. Summative Assessment
i. The teacher will collect the graphic organizers once they are completed.

VIII.

Technology/Materials/Equipment
Computer or laptop with internet and audio capabilities
Projection capabilities to a SmartBoard (or whiteboard) for the
computer/laptop
Classroom computers (for above level students)
Classroom textbook (one per student)
Whiteboard and dry erase markers
Graphic organizer (one per student) *see below
Guided practice websites
o Primary sources
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1900-AtEllisIslandAPoemForALovedOne.html#axzz3TfToV2fq
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1906-12HelpingIrishGirlsAtEliisIsland.html#axzz3TfToV2fq
http://stephendanko.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/MPAChmielewska-Stefania.jpg
Secondary sources
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/shop/issues/ellis-island-for-kids/
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2009/summer/angel.html
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-America-Immigration-BetsyMaestro/dp/0590441515/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425708023&sr=81&keywords=coming+to+america+book (Use actual copy of book)
Independent practice websites print out examples (one per student)
o Primary sources
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/documentedrights/exhibit/section3/detail/ellis-island-immigrants.html
http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1904PhotographsOfEllisIslandImmigrants.html#axzz3TfToV2fq
http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/peopling-of-america-center

PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

o Secondary sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island
http://www.history.com/topics/ellis-island
IX.

Reflection on Planning
While the concept was easy to come up with, it was actually difficult to search for
primary and secondary sources. Also, I found how to go about teaching the subject
matter a bit tricky. I did not want to lecture students, but rather wanted to provide
opportunities for them to discuss and debate the differences to reach a better
understanding. If I directed the conversation, I could be a resource for the students,
but they will remember the content more if they come up with the conclusions on
their own.