Digitized Primary Sources…why do we want em and what are our choices

1. Digitized Primary Sources…why do we want em and what are our choices Cinthia Salinas, Ken Tothero, and Ryan Crowley The University of Texas at Austin

2. Brainstorm • What would be big question…the essential question…the perspectives that you want to include and counter or nuance • We will create a magazine cover using BigHugeLabs to demonstrate our essential question and some of the items we want to consider in our final project • Go to http://bighugelabs.com • When you are finished creating the magazine, email the image to Ryan: rcrowley5@gmail.com

3. Considering demand and supply…what do we want and what is available to us as teachers • Sometimes we need entire ‘packet’ of sources with DBQ and activity– PTL as example • Sometimes we need entire ‘performance task’ with primary documents and DBQs • http://studentsashistorians.weebly.com/ • http://zapatistasthenandnow.weebly.com/ • Sometimes we need a cache of primary sources organized around a single topic– NARA as example • Need a single primary source that will seal the deal- other examples • Searching for particular “modalities” • 1st order vs 2nd order

4. 3rd Goal of PTL institute • Performance task…a collection of multiple primary source documents and DBQs that address a historical question/tension and includes a historical reasoning assignment on a published web site that can be shared with other teachers

5. Student Performance Task Project Guidelines • Home page should be include a short opening narrative that sets the context for the historical event/tension your site will engage. This narrative may address the mainstream understanding of this historical event while noting how your task will uncover alternative/hidden narratives. • At the close of your opening narrative, pose 1 or 2 guiding questions that the student(s) will answer by engaging in the performance task • Additional pages should include about 5-7 primary source documents that include a range of modalities (and that are short if they are text sources!). Each primary source should also have scaffolding DBQs to help the students to interrogate the source (think Sexias and VanSledright) • You will have a culminating assignment for the student(s) to complete that responds to your guiding question(s) based upon the primary sources provided

6. Some notes on choosing primary sources • Remember your intended audience and consider length!!! • Your sources should reveal the tension behind the guiding question you laid out AND don’t forget to cite your primary sources AND some sources may need context/background info help to set up the source • The use of multiple types of documents to appeal to diverse learning skills (modalities--text, visual, auditory) • The use of document based questions to scaffold. How many DBQs? Think about Sexias and VanSledright and your Voicethread activity… • Do the documents address a persistent historical issues (Saye)?

7. Notes on final assessment– What is the task? • What is your final request of the reader/learner? • This request should allow her or him to respond to the guiding question laid out at the beginning of the task • We encourage you to use some of the tech we have played with • Essay using Prezi? • Fake Facebook wall? • Voicethread or iMovie to make digital essay? • Magazine cover or motivational poster on bighugelabs?

8. Preparation for Web site building • First...selecting topic and question…centering in on tensions in history that make primary sources that much more valuable • Finding primary sources (1st and 2nd order thinking here) • Writing DBQs • Settling in on historical reasoning final evaluation • Final touches…considering formatting—what goes on what page to make it look nicer

9. How many primary sources? • 5-7 primary sources • These can be photos, editorial cartoons, youtube video, documents, etc… • Also, multiple DBQs for each primary source