Teaching with Documents

Find a document

Teaching with documents is located under Educator Tools.

1. Click on the Research & Resources menu and select Educator Tools.
   
2. Select Teaching with Documents from the menu on the left side of the page, then select a topic.
   
3. Choose a document.
   

Using the document

Each document comes with four sections:

1. The primary source document
2. Document analysis
3. Discussion questions and activities
4. Related information

1. The Primary Source Document: an image of the primary source document is shown on the left side of the page. Students can click on it to make it larger and begin analyzing the document or this can be projected for whole-class review.
   
2. Document Analysis: the lesson plan begins with an analysis of the primary source document, including a brief review for background knowledge.
   
3. Discussion Questions and Activities: Educators can use or adapt the activities suggested here to further a student's experience with the primary source document. Often, activities are broken up by discipline. Suggested answers to discussion questions are also included.
   
4. Related Information: the related information tab lists additional encyclopedia articles related to the document shown. Some also have related primary source documents.