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The following image was displayed on our smart Board:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2002717352/
Kindergarten students were asked to report what they saw in the image. All hands went up and all students waited anxiously to reveal their findings. One of our students, an ELL student, could not control himself and called out, using his limited English, to feverishly explain what he saw. This student is only comfortable speaking in front of the class, with these primary source analysis lessons.
Students saw: houses, trees, grass, green, a road, a little pot of gold, and hills.
Two other images were on a sheet of paper attached to a clipboard.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2002717375/
https://www.loc.gov/item/2002717377/
Students took their clipboard, found a comfortable spot in the room, and quietly looked for details that they wanted to discuss. After quiet work, students walked around the room asking fellow classmates what they saw in the images. Every student participated and was engaged.
Next, students gathered together and I asked, “Where do you think the images come from? “Do they come from NJ?” Students had to support their answer with details from the picture.
All students were listening, all students had their ideas and all students were given the opportunity to state their ideas.
I passed out the following map to each student:
They were also given a new map of Ireland.
Students were asked to explain which map was older and support their answer with details from the maps. The ELL student I previously mentioned could not contain himself. He was jumping up and down raising his hand. I called on him and he pointed to the compass on the new map and then walked to the back of the room to show the compass on the map of the Unites States that is hanging in the classroom. That led to a short discussion about why a map has a compass.
I did point out the word, Cork, on the images and the boys and girls looked on the maps for Cork. The excitement once they found Cork, on the two maps, was contagious.
And so, there was no student that doubted the images were from Ireland! I read facts about Ireland to the students. I made sure the facts were relevant, age appropriate, and motivated discussion.
We compared our NJ town to Ireland and Cork. The students had present images of our town and images from the past. Once again, their excitement at being able to recognize places in our town filled the classroom.
Then, one girl called out, “I wish I lived in Ireland!” Some others agreed.
But when I announced that our history lesson was ending and began to explain the homework writing assignment, which was to use the images and write anything they learned today in our lesson, students called out:
“It’s over …noooo!”
“I want more.”
“This was fun.”
This lesson lasted 50 minutes! Kindergarten students engaged for 50 minutes!
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This is lovely. Our Kindergarten students in Georgia have to learn about simple maps and globes and this would be terrific!
Thanks for sharing.
Terrific example of using primary sources not only to motivate students, but to engage them in learning specific geographic content knowledge and visual analysis skills. I think this is an important distinction, along with the fact that motivation is not a mutually exclusive purpose for using primary sources in the classroom.
We talk a lot about how engaging primary sources are and how excited and motivated students are by using these real-life sources--images, in particular. And that motivation and engagement can be a game-changer for some students and in some classrooms.
But once we "have them," primary sources offer so much more in terms of individual development of deeper content and skill development! These students were assessing, evaluating, and making meaning from these sources. They were gathering information from visual texts, recognizing commonalities between texts, making connections among different types of sources. And, ultimately, deciding (based on the evidence provided) that the texts all represented the same place. These are complex skills! Kindergartners! That. is. powerful!
Pre K - 2 Social Studies/History Bilingual Education/ESL English/Language Arts powerfulteaching YoungLearnersCan!
There's no doubt that when you have a great primary source and activity attached to it that students' engagement goes through the roof!
I'm always fascinated by stories about the many ways in which the TPS Teachers Network reaches into classrooms, and today I have a story of my own. Bear with me, because this is a bit convoluted!
Over the past weekend, I spent some glorious time in a natural hot springs pool in the Rockies near Mt. Princeton during my annual stay with old friends (our 11th year!) in a rustic 1910 cabin. One friend had flown in from Olympia, Washington. She told us her husband had been volunteering as a writing teacher with his granddaughter's second grade class, and eventually our conversation turned to 
Teresa St.Angelo
's tales from the kindergarten classroom.
I then pulled out my phone and read Teresa's entire account of her primary source lesson on Ireland. My friends were enthralled and delighted! Today I am sending the story to my friend's husband so that he can get an idea of how to use primary sources with beginning writers. He was never a trained teacher, but rather a Princeton-educated businessman without any experience in pacing and managing a classroom of eight-year-old children! I'm very much looking forward to hearing his response to Teresa's lesson. Who knows? Maybe next time, classmates of his second-grade granddaughter will change their question from "When is your grandpa coming back to teach us writing?" to "When is your grandpa going to bring us some more primary sources?"!
All I can say is, WOW! Thanks for the feedback!
Teresa St.Angelo
Mary Johnson
Both these stories are wonderful. What a tapestry is being created by all the sharing. I love all the strategies,
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