Lesson Plan Primary Sources Basic Essay

Students will be expected to submit a paragraph detailing their research methods on the date of the presentation.

Standards:

This lesson is intended for students who are capable of conducting independent research and synthesizing the collected information in a meaningful and succinct manner. Also the students will be assessed on their abilities to develop an attractive and informative presentation as well as their ability to speak publicly and respond to questions from their teacher as well as their peers.

Assessments:

At the outset of the lesson students will be presented with a packet including the assignments, lecture, useful guidelines in research, as well as the rubric in which they will be assessed on each of the interactive modules. The instructions packet will be clear and will be intended as an additional guide for students to ensure that they have every possible opportunity to succeed. Module two will be assessed through the successful completion of the work sheet and the clarity and accuracy of the student's supporting arguments. Module three will be assessed by the caliber of suggested topic, and the ability of the students to identify primary source materials. The task also requires that the students identify potential problems locating materials. This is intended as a means of addressing student's ability to plan projects according not only to their desired topic but also the real constraints of acquiring appropriate source material in a timely fashion. Module four will be assessed on the students ability to identify and retrieve a primary source related specifically to their chosen topic. The final module will be assessed on five factors; the essay, the oral presentation, the display, the ability to answer questions, and the successful integration of a minimum of two primary sources into their research. Having made the rubrics for grading available to students at the beginning I will also include abbreviated checklists for each step. Students will be expected to physically check off tasks as they are completed and will be able to ask me at any stage of the lesson should they require assistance.

Learning Resources:

The purposes of this lesson are the identification of and successful use of primary sources. Learning resources would be examples of primary sources which should be brought with me on the morning of the lecture. It is important to underscore the variety of potential primary sources. As such it would be beneficial to begin the introduction to the concept of primary sources through the use of childrens fiction literature. A book or short story appropriate to the age level of the students would make an excellent segue which makes the concept of archival research more palatable to students. Presenting anecdotes of historical explorers perhaps would also add a sense of excitement to the prospect of not immediately turning to the internet for immediate if unverifiable answers.

Students would be given access to the school library as well as online scholarly resources and search engines. It is important that students be able to identify locate and navigate a variety of hard copy and…