Primary Sources: When and How to Use Them

Many teachers build history lessons on primary sources like letters and legal documents. But without context and historical thinking skills, students can’t make much meaning from them, say guests Jon Bassett and Gary Shiffman, co-founders of the Four Question Method for history instruction.

“Primary sources, for us, are ways to practice doing what historians do. 8th graders aren't historians, 12th graders aren't historians. So it’s the silly mistake that says, we need to do exactly what the experts do so that we become experts. We actually need to do what the experts did before they were experts so that they became experts, which means learn a lot of stories,” Shiffman says.

“One of our slogans is ‘Story First’. And everything flows from that,” Bassett tells host Barbara Davidson.

In the Four Question Method, history is taught as a series of narratives and events are explored in a coherent, chronological way. Question One is simply, “What happened?” In other words, what’s the story? Question Two is “What were they thinking?” and helps students understand and interpret the perspectives of people involved in the story.

Question Three is “Why then and there?” which targets explanation as a skill. For example, students studying the American Revolution can contrast the Canadian colonies, which stayed with Great Britain, with the 13 colonies that went to war. 

“That asks kids to think in a more sophisticated way about the specific story and say, ‘Wow, stories like this, they happen sometimes and not others. Why then? Why there?’” Shiffman says.

Question Four is “What do we think about that?” and develops judgment, which Shiffman defines as “the capacity to generalize from your specific reaction to a case and to say, ‘Hold on. What are the general features of this case? And how can I make a rule to guide my own behavior in the world so that I know when to support the revolution and when not to?’ ” 

Bassett and Shiffman describe visiting a Tennessee classroom using a 4QM elementary history unit where students were learning about the decision of a Lakota Sioux leader to surrender the U.S. Army.

“The kids in the room, they knew a lot. They knew the story, they knew about this guy, and they got to deliberate toward judgment about whether Chief Joseph made the right choice or not. They can do that in fourth and fifth grade, absolutely,” Shiffman says.

This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork, on behalf of the History Matters Campaign. Follow the History Matters Campaign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Search #historymatters to join the conversation.

Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.