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Primary Sources Starter Pack for Teachers: Home

Because every Subject has a History

Welcome to History

Every subject has a history and every student of that subject needs to know and understand that history. 

Think out of the box and you have combos like:
marine biology and the moon landing.                                 women's rights and wartime gardens
automobiles and music.                                                         building the 1800s house / the 1500s house 
climate change protests 1970s / today.                                artists and housekeeping
Up your game with your students and share the wealth of fun, information, and stories that make up our history.

Happy exploring!

Find your topic..then dig in!

Guide List

Agriculture

Farming, environment
land use (use with Food, Medicine, Health guide)

Audio & Visual Sources

Television. Radio ads. Photography. Art. Museums specific to art. Architecture

Culture

Fashion. Music. Car culture. Poetry & Lit. Kids. 
Homelife, Magazines, and Newspapers.  and just plain FUN stuff

Geography

History happens in places. Look here for maps, and lessons using location. 

Food, Medicine, Health

Staying healthy, eating well. How did we eat throughout history?

 

Math, Economics & Data

Statistics of all kinds (check here for the data from your subject),
Census. Economics. Data.

National Museums & Archives
 National Archives, Library of Congress, Smithsonian, Presidential Libraries, University 
Collections

Finding Local primary sources

Science
Environment, Chemistry, Space,
Inventions, Earth

             CTE 
Career Technical Education

U.S. Government
About the government, by the government, primary sources abound.

U.S. History
Thematic check-ins.

 

Use this guide with the U.S. History Perspectives Guide - they go together!

U.S. History perspectives
History unfolds from many perspectives.

Use this guide with the U.S. History Guide - they go together!

Wars
U.S. Civil War, Revolution, Vietnam, World Wars, Korean War   / Genocide education

World History
Ancient, medieval, Asia & the Pacific

    

 

 

 

                             CONFERENCE PRESENTATION SLIDES:

CSLA 2025 presentation slides: Bringing History to Life; Sharing our Stories
2024 America Historical Association Conference Session 
Slides from the AHA session on "Create confident researchers by teaching them how to ask their own questions

Read more here!

This is not a definitive source - it's a starter pack... something to jumpstart your thinking about teaching with primary sources.  Contact me if you find missing links, or if you want a specific topic covered... chwms@mac.com.

Let's chat!

Gallery- Click on a picture to dig deeper

What ARE primary sources?

About primary sources : Welcome to the 'good stuff' of history. 

List of Historical Museums & Societies

Scroll through this fabulous list of museums, Historical Societies, Tribal Preservation Organizations. Search all 50 states.

NARA

Check out DocsTeach

From Ken Burns - movies loaded with primary sources; ripe for all subject areas.

NASA for Educators

Lessons, NASA missions - not just science...

Presidential Libraries

Best kept secret ever - share it!

Archived blog posts from other sources

5 WHYS: digging deeper into a conundrum.

CREATIVE CONSTRAINTS: how limits expand creativity.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - Route 66: stories maps can tell.

DATA AND THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CHALLENGE: who knew that cookies are actually...primary sources?

DELIBERATE THINKING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND OTHER CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS : how does 'deliberation' fit into our curriculum? 

TIME FOR A STORY - YOURS: help your students make their own primary documents. Some of these links may be outdated.