Candidate Name: Alex Dailey Host Teacher Name: Kristine Hole

School: Keet Gooshi Heen Grade Level: 4 # of Students: ~20

Date & Time of Lesson: 3/1/17 – 8:40am Length of Lesson: ~1hr
Topic of Lesson: Primary vs secondary sources and Content Area: History
perspective
Materials: Include all materials including technology: whiteboard, handout activity, role-play activity prompts

Alaska Content Standard:

A – A student should understand that history is a record of human experiences that links the past to the present and the
future.
4 – understand that history relies on the interpretation of evidence;
5 – understand that history is a narrative told in many voices and expresses various perspectives of historical
experience;
(Transfer) Goal(s) - Unpacked Standard:
Students will discern the difference between primary and secondary sources and will recognize that perspective plays a
role in how information is shared.

STAGE 1 – Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings

Enduring Understanding(s) What Essential Questions will be Considered? (Q)
Students will understand that….  How is history recorded?
 Information loses its accuracy and “background”  How should we approach recording historical
as it exchanges hands. information?
 Perspective influences the ways in which we
perceive events, therefore influencing the
information we share.
 The greater the number and variety of sources, the
more objective the information becomes.

STAGE 1 - Objectives
What students should know…. What students should be able to do….
 Typically, the further a source is distanced from  Distinguish between primary and secondary
the original event, the less reliable the sources.
information of that source becomes (e.g.,  Demonstrate an understanding that when learning
primary > secondary). about an event, more perspectives is better than
 We all perceive events differently and that fewer perspectives.
effects the way we tell stories.
 That objectiveness can be increased by
increasing the number and scope of the sources
we use.

STAGE TWO: Assessment (Identify Desired Results)

Formative
 After completing the Banana-Phone activity, students
will engage in discussion about how “distance” from
an event can lead to loss of accuracy. Listen to student
conversations and try to gauge understanding by
noting student contributions to class discussion.
 After discussing primary vs. secondary sources,
conduct a poll (involving a made-up scenario) where
students will choose whether they’d rather obtain
information from a person who was there or from a
person who heard about it through the grapevine.
Follow by having students clarify which source is
primary and which is secondary.
Summative
 Students will complete a handout asking
them to identify primary and secondary
sources as well as prompting them to
demonstrate an understanding that a variety
of perspectives leads to a more rounded
understanding of an event (in the perspective
section of the handout, students should select
both primary and secondary sources, as well
as not select more than 1 person from a
group).
  After the perspective activity and the discussion on
perspective,

STAGE THREE: Opportunities to Learn

Introduction/Hook
 Line students up and play a game of Banana-Phone.
 Lead a discussion about how information and meaning get lost as they’re passed along. Have students talk with
each other about why this is (make sure to mention loss of background knowledge and accuracy).
Processes and products Differentiation/Accommodations/Modifications
 Introduce and explore the concept of primary and
secondary sources. Poll for understanding.
 Explain to students that they’ll be doing a role
play activity to learn about how history is
recorded (this activity is designed to demonstrate
the importance of obtaining multiple
perspectives).  Role-play is student-centered and open-ended,
 Split the class into 5 groups and give each student making it naturally differentiated.
a prompt correlated to their group. Instruct  Students will operate in groups allowing those
students that for this activity to work, they must who are unsure about the lesson concepts to
follow all directions and cannot share information receive support from their peers.
with other groups unless directed to do so. (If  Students who might be reluctant to perform in
there is a smallest group, or a group with students front of their peers should not be placed in groups
who might be reluctant to role-play, have them 1 or 2.
take on group 3 as they have the smallest role.  Students who might have discipline or behavioral
Groups 4 and 5 will need to be disciplined. issues should not be placed in groups 4 or 5.
Groups 1 and 2 will need to have some members
who are comfortable performing in front of
others)
 Each group will have 1 recorder and 1 group
facilitator. Explain the expectations for these
students.
 Group 1 will take on the role of Athabascans
(though they will not know it). Their  Students with strong writing skills should be
perspective is that Group 2 is new to the area selected as group recorders.
and always treats them extremely poorly.  Students with strong leadership or organizational
Group 2 is violent and is not to be trusted. skill should be selected as group facilitators.
They want to be left alone, but are reluctant
to engage in conflicts or arguments. They’re
proud and are a people of few words, so they
never complain about the way they are
treated to other groups – only to each other.
(Should a conflict arise, they will be
instructed to put up mild resistance, but once
the conflict seems like it might escalate to
violence, they’ll back down)
 Group 2 will take on the role of early Alaska
settlers (though they won’t know it). Their
perspective is that people from Group 1 are
dangerous, treacherous, helpless, and stupid.
For the good of everyone, including Group 1
(because they can’t take care of themselves),
they need to move in and build homes,
schools, shops, and establish trade routes. If
group 1 continues to resist this help, they
 need to threaten to use force as a last resort.
Because group 1 is stupid, dangerous, and
untrustworthy, they should never trust them
with any deals.
 Group 3 will take on the role of observers
and will watch, but not participate in the
conflict. They’ll be given the same
perspective as group 2.
 Group 4 will take on the role of secondary
sources as the next generation of settlers.
During the conflict role-play, this group
should be waiting in the hall, where they
can’t see or hear what’s going on (make sure
hallway expectations are very clear). After
the conflict is finished, this group will come
into the class and conduct brief interviews
with members from group 3 to learn about
what happened. This should be done
somewhat discretely.
 In the meantime, groups 1 and 2 will record
what happened during the conflict in a couple
sentences (it is important that these are short
and easily read - especially group 2’s). They
should be instructed to not simply tell a step-
by-step process of the conflict, but that they
should infuse some feeling, background
information, and perspective.
 Group 5 will take on the role of historians
(they will know this) and should also be
waiting in the hallway where they can’t hear
or see inside the classroom. It’s their job to
write history. Once Group 4 has completed
their interviews and group 2 has completed
their records, group 5 will enter the room and
conduct interviews with members from group
4 and read the memoir of group 2. From here,
they should quickly decide on a very short
description of what happened and why it
happened.
 Group 5’s description will be read to the class as
the official historical account. Explain that this is
how history is made – people do research and use
that research to describe how they think events of
the past unfolded.
 Lead a discussion as to whether or not this is fair
(you should get some resistance from group 1
students). Have group 1 read their memoir to the
class and explain why this account of history isn’t
accurate.
 Reveal that group 1 is supposed to represent an
Athabascan tribe at the turn of the 20th century
and group 2 and 3 are representing white settlers.
Reveal perspectives created by prompt.
 Talk about what group 5 could have done to write
a more “fair” account of history. This should lead
to the idea of perspective and how even primary
 sources of information (group 2 memoir), if taken
alone, can produce a skewed view of history.
 Attempt to explain perspective by returning to
“background knowledge”. Talk about the
different ways we perceive events and how our
beliefs can affect that perception.
 Explain that this is simply the way things are,
there will always be skewed perspectives. The
solution, when trying to learn about an event, is  Provide additional support to students who are
to take in as many different perspectives as you unclear about perspective or who might benefit
can, so that you get a better-rounded picture of from an extra discussion partner
the event (emphasize that more is better).  For those who might benefit, allow students to
 Conduct a poll for understanding the concept of dictate their responses on the handout activity.
perspective and then have students turn-and-talk
with a partner about what perspective is and how
it effects the stories we tell.
 Pass out the handout activity on primary vs.
secondary sources and perspective.

Closure:
 Recap the essential understandings and emphasize the value of searching out a few primary sources when you
do research along with gathering multiple perspectives.
 Explain that students will be conducting a research project shortly and they will be expected to apply this
knowledge when finding sources.

Reflection

I made some adjustments from my last lesson and really dialed in the assessment pieces I used for this lesson.
Based on the formative and summative assessments, I would say that the vast majority of the students met the
objectives. Going through their work, all except 1 or 2 students showed a strong understanding of primary vs
secondary sources and the importance of gathering a variety of perspectives when doing research or learning
about an event.

The biggest obstacles I ran into had to do with the role play activity. I did a little planning and thought I had
picked out which kids would do best following certain prompts. One student, who I apparently misjudged, was
not very happy to be assigned the role she was. This, mixed with the fact that it was such an open activity
(something she doesn’t do well with) led her to a near shut-down. Honestly, there was so much going on at once
that I didn’t have the time to really sit down and make things right with her. Had I been more prepared I
probably could have helped alleviate some of the issues she was having with the activity. Because I wasn’t, I
did what I could to make the activity work for her. Mostly, I had to rely on quick talks and her group to help her
along. In the end, it worked out fine. If I were to do it again, I’d probably assign her a different role and explain
that role more clearly.

The other obstacle came when two of the role play groups didn’t follow through with their prompts fully. One
group was supposed to threaten the use of violence once it was clear that they weren’t able to get what they
wanted, instead, they just kept arguing. Because there were other groups waiting in the hallway, I had to quietly
remind this group of their prompt and what they were supposed to do. This worked and we were able to
continue with the activity. Maybe next time I’ll provide a little more structure to the prompts. Because I know
that this class has done role play activities before, I wanted this one to be mostly improvisational. I think that
setting up the activity like this gives it more power.

While conducting formative assessment, it was clear that most, if not all, of the students were getting the
concepts. When it came time for the summative assessment piece, most students excelled, though there were 1
or 2 students who did not demonstrate the kind of understanding I was hoping for. Student 1, who is usually on
the lower end when it comes to achievement did fairly well. While he did miss 1 primary source and identify a
secondary source as primary, for the most part, he showed a solid understanding of primary vs secondary
sources. On the portion of the assessment piece that was looking for understanding of the importance of
multiple perspectives, he showed clear understanding by selecting a variety of sources. Student 2, while
perfectly identifying the primary sources, showed little understanding of the accuracy of information in relation
to primary and secondary sources. However, knowing this student, I have a hunch that the misconceptions she
demonstrated on the assessment piece might have been a product of not being attentive to instructions mixed
with poor cooperation skills (she followed the work of her groupmates, but wrote it down in the wrong spot).
Unfortunately, I didn’t notice this while observing students work so I didn’t get a chance to clarify. Perhaps I’ll
bring in her work next week and ask her about it. If she does have misconceptions, I’ll try to clear them up.

I always try to make connections to what students know and are familiar with. As part of the formative
assessment pieces, I would pose scenarios to students using familiar/local events and prompt them to pick sides
(identify which is primary vs secondary). The role play itself, while unbeknownst to the students, had to do with
Alaskan settlers and their conflicts with Athabascan people – this was revealed after the role play activity. Also,
as part of the lesson’s closure, I connected the enduring understandings to upcoming research the students
would be doing on Athabascan culture.

While the lesson was great (one of the more successful lessons I’ve taught), there are several changes I would
make if I were to teach it again (which I think I will). First, I would do a little more planning regarding the
assignment of roles. I was limited this time around because this isn’t my classroom and I only have a handful of
hours working with these students. Were it my own classroom, I’d be able to foresee the kinds of problems that
I might have with certain students/roles. Second, I’d set up the lesson to so that it was more supportive of visual
learners. There was a lot of discussion and a lot of cooperation work, but I neglected to use as many visuals or
organize new ideas on the whiteboard as I should have. I think that between figuring out how to set up the role
play activity and assessing students on concepts as advanced as perspective, it just slipped my mind. Lastly, I
would probably provide more time for dissection of the role activity prompts. There was a lot going on in these
prompts and they involved a lot of high level vocabulary – I think that allowing students to really flush out the
purpose of the activity and ideas behind the prompts would have helped clear up some of the role play
difficulties.
 Group 1
You will be role-playing a group of people in history.
Read through this prompt thoroughly. It explains your group, what you’re supposed to
do, and how you’re supposed to act. It’s extremely important that you follow all
instructions in order for this activity to work!

You are members of group 1.

The year is 1905. Your group members are your closest friends. You’ve all lived here your
whole lives and your family has roots here that go back as far as anyone can remember. All you
want is to continue living here undisturbed.

Unfortunately, there’s another group that’s new to the area and they have different ideas - group
2. They’re violent, disrespectful, untrustworthy, and they’re always pushing you around. What’s
worse, there are a lot of them. You wouldn’t dare stand up to fight them, you care for your
family too much to risk them getting hurt.

It seems like group 2 is always trying to start a fight or tell you what to do. Just last week they
beat up someone in your neighborhood for no reason. You’re sick of it, but you wouldn’t waste
your breathe telling them that. That would only make you look weak and that’s the last thing
you need.

Rumor has it that group 2 wants to move into your neighborhood. This is not good news.
They’re always talking about how they want to do good by you and your friends if you’d only
be willing to listen, but they always break their promises. They can’t be trusted.

You know that if they move into your neighborhood they’d just treat you like dirt and you’d
have to move to keep your family safe. But you love your neighborhood. It’s where you grew
up. All your memories are here. You and the other members of your group have decided that if
they try to move-in you’ll tell them no. There’s no way you’re going to willingly let them in.

Unfortunately, these guys are violent. If it looks like they’re going to start a fight, it’d be best if
you just backed down and walk away. It’s better to lose your home than it is to lose your
family.
 Group 2
You will be role-playing a group of people in history.
Read through this prompt thoroughly. It explains your group, what you’re supposed to
do, and how you’re supposed to act. It’s extremely important that you follow all
instructions in order for this activity to work!

You are members of group 2.

The year is 1905. Your group members are your closest friends and co-workers. You’ve all
recently moved into a new area and it’s beautiful and full of opportunity – perfect for home.

There’s a problem though. There are some unsavory folk living nearby and they haven’t given
you the chance to show that you’re good people. In fact, they’ve been downright nasty. They
think that they own the whole area when they clearly don’t.

It’s tough to reason with them because they’re a bunch of dangerous, lying thieves, but you’re
willing to look past that because you care. Time and time again you’ve reached out and tried to
be a friend. You want to help them because, quite frankly, they don’t take care of themselves.
But every time you offer, they spit in your face.

Well, you’ve had enough. Just because they don’t want to take care of themselves doesn’t mean
that you shouldn’t be able to take care of yourself. You’ve mapped out the perfect spot to build
some nice clean homes for your friends and families. You’d like to build a school so you can
give your kids a good education. And you need build a road into town so that you can get the
supplies you need to survive.

The problem is that there are a couple of group 1 members living in the area you’d like to
develop. You’re willing to share all this with group 1, you’ll even do most of the work.
Honestly, you’d prefer it if they accepted your friendship and helped you build a better world
for both of you, but you’re not going to be turned away. If necessary, you’ll fight for this spot.

Your plan is to meet with them tomorrow and propose your plan. You’re going to try
everything you can to convince them that it’ll be a good thing, but if they’re going to be
stubborn, as a last resort, you’ll have to threaten the use of force.
 Group 3
You will be role-playing a group of people in history.
Read through this prompt thoroughly. It explains your group, what you’re supposed to
do, and how you’re supposed to act. It’s extremely important that you follow all
instructions in order for this activity to work!

You are members of group 3.

The year is 1905. Your group members are your closest friends and co-workers. You’ve all
recently moved into a new area and it’s beautiful and full of opportunity – perfect for home.

You travelled here with another group, group 2. They’re great people. Smart, hard-working, and
far more patient than you’d be to the terrible people of group 1.

Right from the beginning, group 1 has been causing trouble for both of you. They’re dangerous
liars who don’t even seem to care about their own families. They’re infested with disease, yet
they aren’t interested in building a hospital. They’re starving, yet they don’t want us to build
roads into the area so we can get supplies. It doesn’t make any sense.

Group 2 has reached out to them several times, offering to build clean homes, schools, roads –
all things that would make life better here. And every time, group 1 has turned their noses up.

You’re tired of it. If these people want to live in squalor that’s their choice, but they have no
right to keep good folk like you and group 2 from building a nice life for yourselves.

Together, you and group 2 have identified the perfect place to set up town. It’s the only area
that’s safe from river floods and it’s still close enough to make life manageable. The only
problem is that a couple of people from group 1 are squatting there right now.

Rumor has it that group 2 is going to try and talk some sense into them tomorrow. If they can’t,
they say they have no alternative but to use force. You don’t blame them. It’s about time that
group 1 stopped holding us back.
 Group 4
You will be role-playing a group of people in history.
Read through this prompt thoroughly. It explains your group, what you’re supposed to
do, and how you’re supposed to act. It’s extremely important that you follow all
instructions in order for this activity to work!

Your group will be waiting in the hallway for the first few minutes of this activity. When
it’s time for you to come in someone will come get you.

I’m putting a lot of trust in you to be responsible and respectful while you’re waiting.
There are other classes going on and it’s not fair to them if you’re talking or messing
around. Remember, your behavior reflects on your classroom

You are members of group 4.

The year is 1955. You’re the grandchildren of the members of group 3. You live in a wonderful
place and it’s all thanks to them and the people of their generation.

You’re curious about your grandparent’s earlier days. In particular, you want to know about
their settlement here. Apparently, there was a conflict between a couple of groups during that
period that and your grandparents were witnesses to.

Find out what you can about the event. Briefly interview your grandparents. Each of you should
interview one person from group 3. Don’t just look for the play-by-play of the conflict, you
want to know why it happened too. How did they feel about the 2 groups? What’s their opinion
on what happened? Was the conflict necessary?

(for the sake of the activity, try to conduct quiet interviews so that other people don’t overhear
what you’re saying)

Word is, there are historians coming to town who are interested in the historical conflict and
they are looking for a modern take on the event. You’re excited that your grandparents’
generation is finally going to get some recognition in a real textbook. Be ready to share what
you learned with a historian (group 5 member).
 Group 5
You will be role-playing a group of people in history.
Read through this prompt thoroughly. It explains your group, what you’re supposed to
do, and how you’re supposed to act. It’s extremely important that you follow all
instructions in order for this activity to work!

Your group will be waiting in the hallway for the first part of this activity. When it’s time
for you to come in someone will come get you.

I’m putting a lot of trust in you to be responsible and respectful while you’re waiting.
There are other classes going on and it’s not fair to them if you’re talking or messing
around. Remember, your behavior reflects on your classroom

You are members of group 5.

You are a historian. Your groupmates are your professional colleagues. Together, you’re
writing a new history textbook and you’ve been tasked with researching and writing about the
1905 conflict between groups 1 and 2.

All you know is that long ago, settlers moved into a new area and had a dispute with another
group. You’re desperate for information so you’ve decided to take a trip to the spot where it all
went down to look for information.

Luckily for you, some of the descendants of a group that witnessed the conflict are willing to
talk to you. There’s also a written record from one of the original conflicting groups!

Each person in your group should conduct a very brief interview with one of these descendants
(group 4). In addition to “what happened,” you should look for “why it happened” as well. See
if you can gain some insight into what people were like back then.

Each person should interview one descendant and together you should review the primary
source evidence left by group 2 in the form of a short memoir. After this, have the recorder
write down no more than 4 sentences about the history behind the content.