Primary Sources Center

I have been working through an online course lately that focuses on the use of Primary Sources in the classroom. After looking at a variety of primary sources for this class myself, I was inspired to open that up to my students as well. I know how valuable a primary source can be to children. They loved to look at, feel, and study "old" things. They want to know where it came from, who it belonged to, what it was used for, and how I got it. My class this year has been especially curious about the primary sources we have studied so far. They have even asked for copies of them to take home so they can look it it more closely. Some of the items I have used so far are a list of colonists aboard the Susan Constant, a map of Virginia drawn by John Smith, and directions given to the first colonists in Jamestown. In order to fit this into my already CRAZY packed-full schedule. 

The result.... a center for studying the objects. I keep my centers or stations in lime green tubs that were purchased form the Dollar Tree. Inside, I have the primary source (this week is a quill pen, wax, and seal.)

Some other primary source choices are picture cards:

Documents from history (I purchased mine at places like Mount Vernon, Williamsburg, Deer Field.)

Books from history (purchased from the same places).

Money from the past (also purchased from Williamsburg.)

 

Here is my printable center I created with the analysis sheet and "I Can" list for the center.

 

 

 I have the complete center available in printable form on Teachers pay Teachers. 

Some other primary source ideas are:

Games

Paintings

Newspapers from a past date

Pictures

 

I also have a primary versus secondary sources cheat sheet freebie for you and your students!

Genre Foldable

Hello everyone! I have been looking for a quick way to review genres. We have talked about them and described them, but I needed something quick that we could refer back to in our reading journals. I couldn't find exactly what I was wanting, so I just made one! It is a simple foldable for their reading journals that has 12 genres on it. Please check it out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! 

Here is how it looks in journals. (So sorry for the bad pictures, my cell phone camera has decided to malfunction this week!)

Start by cutting around the foldable.

 Then glue only the sides that say "genre" on them.

Cut along the dotted line up the middle, then between the genres.

It should have enough space on the back and underneath to write a description and a couple of example books.

Hope you like it! Please click here to get it!

George Washington Lapbook

I spent a week at Mount Vernon this summer for their Teacher Institute! It was a fabulous week back in time. I wrote more about it here. I then needed to write a lesson plan at the end of it all. I decided to create a Lap Book about all things Mr. Washington. I love how it turned out! It is now available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Cover of the Lap Book: It is just a file folder with the openings folded into the middle. I then glued a piece of paper to the front and cut it up the middle along the opening.

 

This is the inside, before being filled in.

 

Here is the left side, filled in. 

 

Here is the right side, filled in.

 

 And.... the finished product! I have included Washington's jobs, major battles, timeline of his life, where we see him today, important figures in his life, facts, and roles that he had in history. You could change up some of them to suit your needs/wants.

I just love lap books and my students do too! They really get into making them and we especially love to use them as a review tool as we are approaching testing. I hope that you will go check it out!

Teachers Pay Teachers

Hello!

I am finally on Teachers Pay Teachers! I only have a few items up, but intend to add a couple more each week! Please go check out my page here: A Crafty Teacher

I have a FREE spelling menu that you can use as a center, station, or homework. I send it home each Thursday night as homework before their test on Friday.

I also have a FREE figurative language foldable that can be glued into a journal or notebook. It is great for taking notes and then referring back to (especially as testing quickly approaches!)

Last, I have a figurative language and poetry lapbook. It reviews all different forms of figurative lanuage, poetic language, and poems. Please visit my store to see them!

Thanks for reading! I hope that there is something in my store that you can use! Please follow my store so that you can always know when something new is added!