Drawn from MHS collections, our primary source sets promote learning in U.S. history and civics and are supported by teaching activities and guiding questions.

primary source sets
 

CHARTS: ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES & WRITING HISTORICAL QUESTIONS

On this page, you will find resources to support you in using the History Source primary source sets. Each set is framed by one or more inquiry questions. These charts and worksheets are designed to help students and teachers frame their own historical inquiry questions, and then analyze primary sources for evidence students can use to answer those questions.

Crafting Historical Questions

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

colorful chart labeled "Crafting Historical Questions"

New to inquiry, or writing your own historical questions? Use this chart as a guide for crafting historical questions that engage young learners in thinking critically about the past!

 

SECONDARY TEACHERS

colorful chart titled "crafting historical questions"

New to inquiry, or writing your own historical questions? Use this chart as a guide for crafting historical questions that engage middle and high school students in thinking critically about the past!

STUDENTS

 Students embarking on a research project can use this worksheet to help them to formulate the historical inquiry question they will go on to investigate and answer. Sentence frames show them what effective, focused historical questions look like.

 

Mining the Source: Primary Source Analysis Tools

 

Google Slides

 

graphic with blue border titled "Mining the Source"

 

Use this Google slidedeck to model for students how to find evidence to answer inquiry questions, and to analyze primary sources together as a class. As students grow comfortable with the format, they will be ready to use the Mining the Source worksheets independently and in pairs or small groups.

 

Analyzing a Single Source

worksheet titled "Mining the Source" featuring an empty box for an inquiry question and a table with row headers titled "source," context," and "purpose"

This worksheet helps students to analyze any primary source for evidence that will help them to answer an inquiry question for a source set on the History Source or any assigned source set, lesson, unit, or research project.


 

Analyzing Multiple Sources

a worksheet titled "Mining the Source" with a box for an inquiry question and a table with column headers titled "Source, "Context," and "Purpose"

With space for multiple primary sources, this worksheet helps students to analyze up to 3 primary sources for evidence that help them to answer an inquiry question for a source set on the History Source or any assigned source set, lesson, unit, or research project.

 

Tutorials

 

The materials on this page were created by MHS staff and Katharine Cortes, PhD, University of California, Davis