Writing with Primary Sources in Middle School

Each year around this time my eighth graders and I are finishing up their research papers. The assignment asks students to write a thesis-driven paper about a topic of their choice as seen through a particular lens. (Want to find out more about lens questions? Check out this post!) One of the requirements for student research is to find an appropriate primary source document to include in their bibliography and to analyze within their paper in order to make their arguments more convincing.

I speak to the students each year about the importance of primary sources in historical writing. They groan about the fact that using a primary source is a requirement; however, once they understand why it is necessary they are more willing to treat finding one like a great treasure hunt! Primary sources are our ticket to the past. The best way to find out about an event, person, etc. is to go directly to the people who were there or who knew the person we’re writing about. Our arguments can only get stronger when we call upon the people of the past to help us make our case!

Middle school students need direction in locating primary sources and using them, though. To best support them, I suggest the following:

  1. Make sure they know what a primary source actually is. Even after defining it for them, I still have students who confuse primary and secondary sources. (My favorite question is, “Is an interview with YOU a primary source?” “No, darling, I wasn’t born in 1775, but I’m flattered.”) Get some samples and SHOW them what primary sources are. I have a reproduction deck of cards from the 1700s and a reprint of the Virginia Gazette from May 1774. Holding primary sources in their hands is so powerful for students if you are able to do this for them.
Aesop’s Fable Cards from Colonial Williamsburg ($12.95)

2. Try to make a repository of commonly used primary sources in a binder in your classroom. Because our paper asks students to study the Colonial and Revolutionary eras, I have a binder with primary sources from that era that students can photocopy. I have Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, Sentiments of an American Woman, the Declaration of Independence, and a few reproductions of the Virginia Gazette, to name a few that students like to use. Over the years you’ll figure out what topics are most commonly chosen in your classes and that can help you guide what goes in your binder. Locating the KIND of source they need is hard enough for some middle schoolers. Providing them access to what they need makes their lives less stressful.

3. Know your primary source websites. The Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History and Digital History are two of my favorites, followed by the Library of Congress and the National Archives. These sites are easily searchable by students.

4. Use this worksheet (or modify if you wish!) to help students identify what the most useful primary source would look like. Every thesis is different, so every student might want a primary source that helps them prove a different point. In order for your students to use any of the tools listed in suggestion #1 or #2, they need to know what they want to find. Helping them organize their thinking so that they know what to search for is half the battle. I find that most of them feel much more comfortable with knowing they have to use a primary source once they recognize what they’re looking for.