Full Units taught using primary Sources
2/21/23
Coming back from Christmas break, the concerted application of putting more primary sources into lessons has been realized. The past two units have been implemented and I can rightfully state that having seen this firsthand has been astonishing.
The first unit we dove into was that of American Imperialism and “The Great War” (aka: WWI) and level of authenticity was such that students understood the concepts I want to impart, namely the connections of Yellow Journalism as well as the Zimmerman Telegram. What was done during class was a comparison of today’s newspaper and that of the late 19th century journalistic approaches. The ability to show a “bias” in history and contemporary styles of journalism was the Ah Ha moment that all teachers, as well as parents, should relish in.
The Zimmerman telegraph was empowering and seeing the comparison and contrast to war was definitely present when Socratic discussions were taking place throughout the day. Seeing an on-level class come to life by referencing the document from a factual standpoint was teacher inspiration. As I pushed further with other classes I got to see more connections beyond superficial references.
The second unit focused on The Roaring Twenties. This particular unit is known to be the unit where students start to see the world they currently reside in and how it came to be. This whole unit was completely taught with primary source documents and the kids ate it up. A side note needs to be given- I really sell this to the kids and every unit I have a chart that they fill out along with a multitude perspectives of the time period, known as the P.E.R.S.I.A. Chart. The aspect of looking at the Political, Economic, Religious, Intellectual (technology), and Arts is what this is meant to do. Some of the highlights that come to pass during this unit comes in the form of modern American life with concepts of the automobile making a substantial mark on the landscape as well as the advent of sports becoming a mainstay within the media. The primary documents that the students dove into was the actual newspapers covering Babe Ruth and his rise to fame and most notably - who he was.
Overall the impact that the inclusion of Primary sources has had on the class has been significant. The students don’t accept the textbook as the end of the material- they actually want to know what made the book possible and they have asked in class for me to show them what the book is referencing- which is great.
The Great Depression and the Second World War are next in line and I hope to see more depth in conversations to come.