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Using Primary Sources in the Classroom

Primary sources - objects and documents from periods in the past, either in original or reproduction form - are the key resources to enable children to "behave like historians".

  • With careful prompting by the teacher, pupils can begin to ask and answer questions about the past and, most importantly, begin to make their own interpretations based on evidence.

  • Primary sources should always be used in context, however, with the teacher using explanation and story-telling to help pupils to make sense of source material.

  • Decisions about which sources to use will depend on the period being studied and the age and abilities of children, e.g. objects and visual images are the most obvious sources to use with EY foundation stage and key stage 1 children.

Main Activity

Teachers' questioning and the development of pupils' questioning skills are central to the productive use of primary sources - read advice on questioning from Nuffield Primary History before exploring the links from the images below.

Click on a source below to go to background information and ideas for classroom activities. Some links go to local documents and others to advice in the Nuffield Primary History resources on the Historical Association Website. Make notes on the use of each type of source.

Artefacts
Images
Written Documents
Census
Task
Task 2
Maps
Other Sources

Choose an image that you might use in teaching and learning history - please obtain it from a reputable source that gives background information about it. Some sources of images are identified on the Online Sources page.

Devise a set of questions (eight to ten, at most) that you might use to help children learn from the image. Your questions must include 

  • a few closed questions to encourage observation followed by 

  • What can we work out? What can we infer? What does the image suggest? - interpretive and evaluative questions to foster interpretation, e.g. What do you think the person in the picture is saying? What lesson is going on in this Victorian classroom? How would you feel if you were in this picture? How do you know this picture is old?

 

Share your image and accompanying questions in the Online Session Forum.

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