The following artifact analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to artifacts and primary sources of material culture, society and history.

The following artifact analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to artifacts and primary sources of material culture, society and history.

The cartoon analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. This worksheet will be useful when introducing students to cartoons as sources of historical, social and cultural information.

The cartoon analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. This worksheet will be useful when introducing students to cartoons as sources of historical, social and cultural information.

In this activity, students read two primary documents from the early 1800s: a journal entry from the Lewis and Clark expedition and a Lakota Indian "winter count" calendar. Using an analysis worksheet, students identify key ideas and details from the documents, while also examining the craft and structure of each document. They draw upon both the content and form of the documents to make inferences about the respective cultures of Euro-Americans and Native Americans in the early 1800s.

In this activity, students are introduced to a worksheet that can be used to analyze a written primary source. The resource includes a written document, and written document analysis worksheet and a tutorial video to help you walk through both the reading of a primary source, annotating the source, and completing the worksheet.

In this lesson students will explore some of the doubts and misgivings that arose as the Continental Congress debated whether or not to add a bill of rights to the Constitution. They will investigate a letter James Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson on October 17, 1788, in which Madison discusses the pros and cons of a bill of rights. It is part of a series of letters these men exchanged on the topic. Jefferson, who was in Paris at the time, strongly supported inserting a list of fundamental liberties into the Constitution, and he asked Madison to keep him abreast of the debate. In this letter Madison not only updates Jefferson on the bill’s progress but also explains his thoughts about a bill of rights and its role in the American Constitution.

We have excerpted three passages from Madison’s letter, each accompanied by a series of close reading analytical questions for students to answer. The first excerpt explains the context of the debate, including reasons why a bill of rights might not be necessary. The second explores Madison’s reasons for supporting a bill of rights, and the third discusses how he believed such a list of rights, if written, should be structured. We have provided a short summary at the beginning of each excerpt. Spellings are retained from the original document.

You will find two interactive exercises in this lesson. The first allows students to review vocabulary found throughout the text. The second, recommended for use after you have conducted the close reading, reviews the central points of the textual analysis. You may want to use its first slide to direct whole class discussion in which you ask students to support their answers with evidence from the text. The second slide provides the correct responses with textual support.

It is important to remember that here the term “majority” refers to large groups of powerful politicians and legislators, not to a mass of voters. Moreover, Madison did not conceive of “minorities” as we do today — groups like women, African-Americans, Latinos, or other social or ethnic groups. Rather, when he uses the word, and when we use it in this lesson, it simply refers to a political group whose numbers are less than the majority.

This lesson consists of two parts, both accessible below. The teacher’s guide includes a background note, the text analysis with responses to the close reading questions, access to the interactive exercises, and an optional follow-up assignment. The student’s version, an interactive worksheet that can be e-mailed, contains all of the above except the responses to the close reading questions and the follow-up assignment.

This part of the Student Observation Network allows you to make observations to answer the question, "Have auroras been seen within the last 24 hours due to a solar storm?"

The Student Observation Network provides guided inquiry. While participating in the Auroral Friends program your students may think of other questions that they wish to investigate. For instance, they may wish to know; "What causes the aurora?", "What affect does a solar storm have on aurora?", and "What conditions enhance auroras?". These open inquiries may reveal to them that coronal holes may energize auroras even when solar storms have not occurred.

The following map analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to maps as primary sources of historical, social and cultural information.

The following map analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to maps as primary sources of historical, social and cultural information.

The photo analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to photographs as primary sources of historical, cultural and social information.

The photo analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to photographs as primary sources of historical, cultural and social information.

The following poster analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to posters as sources of historical, social and cultural information.

The following poster analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to posters as sources of historical, social and cultural information.

Students will examine various primary source images and documents to develop research questions and make connections.  They will then research historical figures to learn about contributions and significance they had to the movement.  As they research, students will also learn about what individual slaves did before and after the Civil War and if emancipation changed their lives.  The students will then examine various primary source documents and record their findings on the Analyzing a Written Document worksheet.  They will then paraphrase what the document was about and explain why they believe it is important to history.

The following sound recording analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce sound recordings as primary sources of historical, social and cultural importance.

The following sound recording analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce sound recordings as primary sources of historical, social and cultural importance.

This is a self-service online workshop for teachers who use primary documents to help students see the impact and ongoing relevance of the Constitution. It requires little advance preparation and provides everything needed, including a vocabulary list, document analysis worksheets, and historical documents -- John Marshall's Supreme Court nomination (1801), proclamation to New Orleans (1803), Lincoln's telegram to Grant (1864), Johnson oath photo (1963), and more.

The following motion picture analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to motion pictures as primary sources of historical, cultural, social and scientific information.

The following motion picture analysis worksheet was designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration. You may find this worksheet useful as you introduce students to motion pictures as primary sources of historical, cultural, social and scientific information.