Assessment

Once students completed their secondary source projects they were required to give an oral presentation.  Students read their articles and discussed their drawings. They also answered questions regarding what they learned, what they found most interesting, and where they found the primary sources they referenced.
 
In my opinion, my students have gained a firm understanding of what primary and secondary sources are and how analyzing them can help us better understand events in history.  They also have a strong appreciation for how primary sources have helped to mold our opinion of certain events.  We may not know exactly what happened on March 5, 1770, but my students walk away with far more knowledge and understanding for both sides than they had prior to this project. This is a project I will continue to refer to throughout the year in social studies and will incorporate each year.

Creating Secondary Sources



Secondary Source



     Students have been working together to observe pirmary sources.  Many have begun to form opinions based on information they have read and seen.  Many students feel that the British soldiers took excessive force.  Others feel as though the colonists planned an attack and were amazed when they read information regarding fire alarms sounding to alert distant colonists to gather.  A few of my students poured over the information and came to the conclusion that both sides were to blame for the incident on King Street.

Students display their work

     Students have now begun to create their own secondary source(a newspaper article), which depicts what they believe happened on that day.  Students write an article and draw a picture.  They must give examples for their opinions based on primary sources they have analyzed. 



Student drawing of the Boston Massacre



Picking Sides

Students broke into groups and discussed their observations.  They now needed to begin observing other primary sources to determine if they thought that the British troops had in fact attacked the innocent and defenseless colonists or had the colonists planned to stir up some trouble.

Students began to compare different sources depicting this event and would need to independently determine an opinion.  Students read source samples from The National Park Service, as well as, online at www.masshist.org .







Student leaders take notes  and write all important information for the groups.

Group Observations

Once we learned what Primary and Secondary Sources were we began to focus on observing Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre.  In groups, students began to note key information and observations.  We discussed Revere's purpose for the engraving and why it was considered a piece of propaganda.  Students did a great job writing about many intricate details of the picture and their potential meaning.  Once groups had completed this task we put the engraving on the projector from www.masshist.org  and began to review the information together.

Analyzing Primary and Secondary Sources

My fifth grade class begins our lesson by learning what Primary and Secondary Sources are.  I began by showing paper copy examples such as; the Bill of Rights, a map, a broadside, speeches, and Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre.  My students were engaged and very eager to begin this project.