Lesson 1 — Primary and Secondary Sources: Two Ways to See the Past

Summary

Learners meet the historian’s first tool: the difference between a primary source (made at the time, by someone who was there) and a secondary source (made later, by someone who studied the primary sources). A worked example uses the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, and learners sort sources and record two sources of their own.

Objectives

• Explain the difference between a primary source and a secondary source. (D08.S1.06.01)

Connection

Think of a photo you took yesterday of something that really happened — a meal, a storm, a game. That is like a primary source: it comes from the moment. Now think of a book or video someone made about your town or country, years later. That is like a secondary source: it was made later, by someone who studied the first-hand evidence. Historians use both, the way you might use your own photo and a book about your home — one shows the moment, the other steps back to explain it.

Materials

• Source-kind poster
• Source sort cards (eight items)
• My two sources page

Preparation

• Print or draw the source-kind poster.
• Copy the eight source sort cards and a “my two sources” page for each learner.
• Arrange a circle for the worked example and a flat space for sorting.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The skill to build is recognizing primary and secondary sources — not memorizing the 1883 eruption. Model the worked example fully (explicit instruction, guided practice) before learners sort on their own; source-kind thinking is a new skill for most Grade 6 learners. Use the simple test: was it made at the time of the event, by someone who was there (or very close)? That is primary. Made later, by someone who studied the evidence? That is secondary. Note honestly that the line can blur — a source can be “more primary” or “more secondary” — but the two poles are what learners need first. This lesson sets up the next, where learners use both kinds to describe one past event. See docs/facilitation.md.

Procedure

1. Gather (5 min). Last year you put events on timelines. This year you begin working like a historian — asking where does the story come from? That question has two answers: a primary source and a secondary source.
2. Meet the two kinds (10 min). Look at the poster. On the left is a primary source: a ship captain’s log written in August 1883, when the volcano Krakatoa (in Southeast Asia, between Java and Sumatra) erupted. The captain wrote it at the time, because he was there. On the right is a secondary source: a book called Volcanoes: A History, written in 2018. Its author was not there in 1883; she studied the captain’s log and other evidence, then wrote about it later.
3. Worked example: sort a few together (10 min). A primary source is made at the time, by someone who was there. A secondary source is made later, by someone who studied the primary sources. Sort these two together: a telegraph message sent the day of the eruption (primary — at the time) and a museum panel about Krakatoa written last year (secondary — later). You decide which is which and why.
4. Sort your own (15 min). Take the eight cards and sort them into two columns: made at the time and made later. Check with a partner: did you agree on all eight? If not, explain your reasons.
5. Record two of your own (5 min). On your page, write one event from your own life — a birthday, a trip, a storm. Then list one primary source about it (a photo, a memory, a note you wrote that day) and one secondary source about it (a story someone told later, an article, a documentary).
6. Close (5 min). A historian’s first question is where does this come from? You now know the two answers — and why a good history uses both.

Differentiation

• Support: Use the two-pole test on real objects (a leaf from the ground vs. a drawing of it); sort fewer cards, and scribe the learner’s own two sources.
• Extension: Write one sentence about why a historian would want both kinds of source — what each one adds that the other cannot.

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner correctly sort sources as primary or secondary and give the reason (“made at the time” vs. “made later”)?
• Self-check: The learner asks, “Could I tell a primary source from a secondary one, and explain why each one counts the way it does?”

Home connection

Ask someone at home to show you one thing from your family’s past that was made “at the time” (a photo, a letter, an object) and one thing made “later” (a story, a book, a show) — and sort them together.

Resources

• The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, is documented by the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program (https://volcano.si.edu/). The distinction between primary and secondary sources is a standard tool of historical method; see, for example, the guidance of the U.S. National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/) and the British Library (https://www.bl.uk/). Dates are approximations that scholars revise as new evidence appears; the source-kind idea, not the exact day, is what matters here.