I like to read "Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving" by Laurie Halse Anderson to my 4th grade students, then show them the letter written by Sarah Hale to Abraham Lincoln requesting Thanksgiving be named a national holiday. It's powerful to read this story, then look at the primary sources that helped shape the story. There are proclamations and paintings in the LC set, but a handwritten letter addressed to the President of the United States makes an impression on students. We then discuss the power of the pen, and talk about writing letters.
Another Thanksgiving favorite is "Milly and the Macy's Parade" by Shana Corey, illustrated by Brett Helquist. A fictional version of how the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade started, it is a good introduction to differentiating fact from fiction, and looking at primary sources to help us determine what is true. The students look at photos and watch a video from the Macy's website, showing the history of the parade in film, from 1924 to the present. We can compare what we know from the book to what we learn from the Macy's video and photos.
In 5th grade, I focus on Seattle history to re-introduce primary sources, since this was a topic in 3rd and 4th grade social studies, particularly when studying Washington State. The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) is an incredible local resource for Seattle history, including many educational resources. They have a set of primary sources and lesson plans about the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which many students are unfamiliar with. I downloaded the PowerPoint about the fire, which included objects from the fire as well as maps and photographs, and then added more images to extend the presentation to show the current Underground Seattle.
The main question I asked students to consider as we looked at the presentation and the primary sources was: What factors can you identify from these primary sources that taken together, made a disastrous fire inevitable?
Among these factors identified by students from the primary sources included: quick growth of Seattle (from less than 4,000 to more than 40,000) from 1880 to 1890, lack of city resources to support this growth (small, mostly volunteer fire department, and a privately owned water system), use of wood as building materials for most of downtown area (found nearby and cheaper than other materials), communication systems such as telegraphs which could not bring immediate help. Students enjoyed this activity, seeing it as a kind of mystery to be solved by using the clues offered by the primary sources. We looked at what Underground Seattle looks like now, what is still there and what is gone, and discussed how disasters like this were common around the turn of the century and why. It was a great conversation with the students.
I look forward to working with other grade levels and introducing primary sources to younger students this month.
