Primary Source Minute – Is it a Primary Source or Secondary Source?

Learn how AnnMaria De Mars of 7 Generation Games distinguishes primary and secondary sources through the Lewis and Clark journals, statues, and other primary sources from the Library of Congress.

7 Generation Games was awarded a grant from the TPS Western Region at MSU Denver to conduct workshops in North and South Dakota focusing on creating inquiry-based games that tell the story of indigenous and rural communities.

Explore and play more of the educational games created by 7 Generation Games website.

Transcript:

We asked elementary and middle school students which version of educational games they preferred – primary sources like this or the animation version like this.

And we were a little surprised how strong the consensus was that they wanted both.

So the game here on the Lewis and Clark trail includes both primary sources and animated art.

We had 2 goals:

First, to teach 4th graders at an age-appropriate level what is a primary source, and;
Second, to use primary sources to teach about Sacagawea.

The challenge of historical sources

Our challenge was: How do you use primary sources to teach about a person of whom there are no photos, and who never wrote anything herself?

We started with Lewis and Clark journals because those are the only primary sources that were written at the time Sacagawea was alive about her with 3 excerpts we use specifically to show contributions.

For example, Sacagawea saving supplies and journals when the boat she was in capsized, as Clark said, “instruments, books, medicine, a great proportion of our merchandise, and, in short, almost every article indispensably necessary to further the views or ensure the success of the enterprise was saved by Sacagawea.”

Statues as primary sources

The second group of primary sources we used were statues.

Because we’re big proponents of cross-curricular lessons, the Lewis and Clark journals were used to teach about Sacagawea’s knowledge, municipal plants, and nutrition.

“Our sick men are much better today. Sacagawea gathered a quantity of the roots of a species of fennel, and they dispel the wind which the roots called cows and cromash are apt to create.”

It turns out that 4th graders are highly amused by the fact that Sacagawea came up with medicinal herbs to help the men with their farting. You need to know your audience.

And her knowledge of edible plants helped the expedition have a healthier diet.

“When we halted for dinner, Sacagawea busied herself in searching for the wild artichokes which the mice collect and deposit in larger hordes. This operation she performed by penetrating the earth with a sharp stick about some small collections of driftwood. Her labor soon proved successful, and she procured a good quantity of those roots.”

Three key points to a primary source

These resources are also used in a social studies lesson teaching about historical research and primary sources using Sacagawea as an example.

The three key points we wanted to make were that a primary source is made by someone who is present at the event at the time it happened. It didn’t have to be written by the person who was being studied, which was a common misconception the students had. The third point was that something could be a primary source or not depending on its use.

This statue from 1910 would not be a primary source for what Sacagawea looked like. However, it is a primary source for documenting that she was still considered an important part of history in Oregon in 1910 – 100 years after the expedition, which is why they put up a statue of her.

Given the age group of students who are focused, having concrete examples and being able to relate to their daily experience, are both important features of a lesson. Most of the teachers in our cohort teach in North and South Dakota. The students have been to the Missouri River. They’ve been to the State Capitol, seen the Sacagawea statue there, so they’re excited to learn that they’ve actually literally touched a primary source that relates to a topic that interests them.

References

The Primary Source Minute highlights the educational work of the Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium, a grant program through the Library of Congress. This is not an official publication of the Library of Congress and does not represent official Library of Congress communications.