Exploring Primary Sources

Our sister company, First Choice Educational Publishing, now has two supplemental resources to help your students perform their very best on Florida’s EOC assessments in civics and United States history.

Exploring Primary Sources for Florida Social Studies: Middle School Grades

This new 306-page softcover book has 18 activities on those topics in civics and early American history that most challenge students and that most lend themselves to the study of primary sources. These include the influence of ancient civilizations on the “Founders” of the American constitutional republic, historic English documents like Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights, the writings of Locke and Montesquieu, the dispute over taxation that led to the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the principles of the U.S. Constitution, the system of federalism, the debate over ratification of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and later amendments, key decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, a comparison of the U.S. and Florida Constitutions, and U.S. intervention in international conflicts and participation in international organizations. 

Table of Contents

1. America’s Classical Heritage 
2. Four Historic Documents and Their Impact
3. Enlightenment Ideas: Locke and Montesquieu 
4. The Road to Revolution 
5. The Declaration of Independence 
6. The Articles of Confederation 
7. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution 
8. The U.S. Constitution and the Three Branches of Government 
9. Constitutional Principles 
10. The Ratification Debate 
11. The Bill of Rights 
12. Six Later Amendments 
13. Two Early Supreme Court Cases 
14. Five Later Supreme Court Cases 
15. Federalism 
16. Comparing Constitutions: The U.S. and Florida Constitutions 
17. United States’ Actions and Reactions in International Conflicts 
18. United States’ Participation in International Organizations

Each activity in Exploring Primary Sources for Florida Social Studies has an identical structure:

• Benchmarks: Each activity begins with a box identifying the relevant Benchmarks, Benchmark Clarifications and Content Focus Terms. (Unlike Gateway to American Civics and Government, not all of these Content Focus Terms will necessarily appear in the activity itself.)
• Background Information: This section provides students with the context in which the primary source was created.
• Before Reading: This is an instruction for thinking about particular ideas or discussing them with a partner or in a small group, usually relating to the student’s existing knowledge and experience. This prepares the ground for approaching the primary source.
• During Reading: This is a literacy activity of some kind for the student to complete while reading the excerpt, such as highlighting main ideas or coding text.
• Primary Source: This is an authentic excerpt from a primary source, accompanied by a “Word Helper.”
• Post-Reading Questions: The excerpt is followed by several focused comprehension questions, questions about context, questions about the author’s intent, and questions relating the document directly to the Benchmarks.
• Pulling It Together: At the end of each group of primary source excerpts, there is a student activity pulling information from all of the documents together and tying them back to the Benchmarks, such as a graphic organizer for students to complete or a “RAFT” writing exercise.

Exploring Primary Sources for Florida Social Studies: Middle School Grades is meant to supplement, not replace, Gateway to American Civics and Government.  It will especially help your students grapple with the type of primary source excerpts found on many of the questions on the Civics EOC. The two resources work especially well when used in tandem. 

Exploring Primary Sources for U.S. History: Florida High School Grades

This new 306-page softcover book has 14 chapters on those topics in United States history that most challenge students. These include Reconstruction, the problems of late nineteenth-century farmers, the role of inventors in America’s Second Industrial Revolution, the milestones of the early American labor movement, the Progressive movement, the Spanish-American War and American imperialism, the United States in World War I and World War II, the Cold War, and the organizations that shaped the Civil Rights Movement.

Table of Contents

1. The Civil War 
2. Reconstruction 
3. Farmers and Their Problems 
4. Inventors and the Second Industrial Revolution 
5. Industrial Workers and the Labor Movement 
6. Urbanization: The Growth of Cities 
7. The Progressive Movement 
8. American Imperialism 
9. The United States in World War I 
10. The Great Depression and the New Deal 
11. The United States in World War II 
12. The Cold War 
13. Key Organizations Shaping the Civil Rights Movement 
14. The Sixties

Each activity in Exploring Primary Sources for U.S. History has an identical structure:

• Benchmarks: Each activity begins with a box identifying the relevant Benchmarks and Content Focus Vocabulary. (Unlike Gateway to U.S. History, not all of the content focus terms in the EOC Test Item Specifications appear in the chapter.)
• Background Information: This section provides students with the context in which the primary source was created.
• Before Reading: This is an instruction for thinking about particular ideas or discussing them with a partner or in a small group, usually relating to the student’s existing knowledge and experience. This prepares the ground for approaching the primary source.
• During Reading: This is a literacy activity of some kind for the student to complete while reading the excerpt, such as highlighting main ideas or coding text.
• Primary Source: This is an authentic excerpt from a primary source, accompanied by a “Word Helper.”
• Post-Reading Questions: The excerpt is followed by several focused comprehension questions, questions about context, questions about the author’s intent, and questions relating the document directly to the Benchmarks.
• Pulling It Together: At the end of each group of primary source excerpts, there is a student activity pulling information from all of the documents together and tying them back to the Benchmarks, such as a graphic organizer for students to complete or a “RAFT” writing exercise.

Exploring Primary Sources for U.S. History: Florida High School Grades is meant to supplement, not replace, Gateway to U.S. History.  It will especially help your students grapple with the type of primary source excerpts found on many of the questions on the EOC Test in U.S. History. The two resources work especially well when used in tandem.