Using Primary Sources to Teach Social Studies

Kirsten 1:06

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know if you southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things, social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Hi, there and welcome to another episode of the social studies teacher podcast. I was a little worried for a minute because I was hearing the lawn mowing company for a neighbor's yard outside and I was wondering if it was going to pick up the microphone, but it sounds like they just finished so perfect timing. Today we're going to be talking about primary sources, and how we can use them to teach social studies. So we're going to talk about what primary sources are, why they are important, where you can find primary sources, how primary sources can be incorporated into lesson plans. And also just in general, the benefits if you're not already convinced the benefits of using them in the classroom.

Let's start with what primary sources are. Primary sources are things from the past or items from the past that let you see what happened there like old letters, diaries, pictures, speeches, think of those type of sources. These help you understand history a little better. And when you look at the sources, you're learning about history in a real like you're there, you're hearing a firsthand account. That's why they call it primary sources. You can also think about them and understand the different points of view based on who is the source of information and what the topic is on. using primary sources can make social studies more fun and interesting as well.

Primary sources are super important because they help you connect with the past. It's like a time machine that takes you back in time. And they're also very important because they're made by people who actually lived that experience during that certain time or event. When you see or read about these primary sources. You can see what those people thought and felt. You can also learn about the time that they lived in. Looking at primary sources, students can become better thinkers, they can see different points of view. And just really understand history in general, Social Studies definitely becomes way more interesting when they're actually seeing real photographs or journal entries or pages from a book that people wrote in that specific time in history.

the last thing we're going to talk about are the benefits. Hopefully, you see the benefits already. But I just wanted to point out how using primary sources in class is not great just for students, but also for teachers. It's a way for you to communicate history with your students and connect with history in a very real and tangible way. When they are reading and thinking about primary sources, they will become better thinkers, and they can also do a better job at filtering what's real from what's not real. It also helps students understand how people from the past viewed things and their perspectives. using primary sources can make students more curious and interested in history. I know it did for me for sure. And it would help them with, you know, maybe generating more questions, and may want to learn more about a specific topic.

So to conclude, everything in this episode of using primary sources in social studies can make history come to life and help them see why it's important. So this week, we've talked a lot about primary sources. Tune in for next week, because I'm going to share with you information about secondary sources, because there is a slight difference. But nevertheless, it's still a great way to teach social studies. All right. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and I'll talk to you again next week. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.