ABSTRACT
Context: TE Elementary, TE Secondary, Multicultural Education, K-6, 7-12 NCSS Standards: II (Time, Continuity, and Change), IV (Individual Development and Identity) INTASC Standards: 1 (Subject Matter), 2, (Learning and Development), 4 (Instructional
Strategies) Topics: history, artifacts, historical understanding, identity, inquiry, critical thinking, diversity,
culture, mutliple perspectives, historical fi gures, graphic organizers
Many professional organizations, such as American Historical Association (AHA; 2002), Bradley Commission of History in Schools (1988), National Council of History Education (NCHE; 2002), National Standards for History (1996), and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS; 1994), recommend that primary sources should be used to facilitate inquiry within the social studies classroom, and they have adopted benchmarks and standards. Primary sources potentially expose students to multiple perspectives on great issues of the past and present. Primary sources can challenge students to develop the knowledge, skills, and analytical abilities by engaging them to ask questions, think critically, make intelligent inferences, and develop reasoned explanations and interpretations of events and issues in the past and present (Brophy & VanSledright, 1997).
