Working with Primary Documents: Technology Enhanced
Literary and Learning
Reading the five primary documents listed below is a challenge for our ninth graders, given the archaic language and the density of the material. To make the reading a bit more interesting and purposeful, the civics teachers worked with the LMS to develop a literacy-based activity that was also enhanced by the use of technology.
Students were broken into five groups. Each group was responsible for reading and interpreting a portion of one of the five primary documents. Their first job was to write a paraphrase of the portion of their primary document that was assigned to them. Their paraphrases (and explanations) include hyperlinked text. The hyperlinked text serves as a way for the students to share where they searched on the Internet to find supporting information that assisted them with their interpretation. Additionally, other students outside of their group, serving as readers of this specific text, would be able to use the hyperlinks to find additional information about this document as a means of furthering their own understanding of the meaning of the text.
Once students had a firm understanding of their assigned excerpt of this historical document, they then created a PhotoStory that offered pictures that interpreted the contemporary implications of the document in today’s society. The PhotoStory includes a voice-over that explains how these photos offer a contemporary interpretation and application of the historical document.
Click on the buttons below for each of the five different primary documents that the students read and then explore the webpage that appears via the link. On the webpage, you will find links to various groups who worked on that document, their paraphrased and hyperlinked text, along with a PhotoStory of interpretation.
The culmination of reading these challenging primary documents was for the students to be able to detect the influence of the five historical documents on the development of the US Constitution.
Click the links below to see examples of student work.