By Themes Primary Sources Resource Books Primary Sources Community resources naturally provide a setting for primary source investigation. It is essential to enable students to utilize the vast wealth of resources within Essex County. Whether it is a museum exhibit, original documents, historical newspapers from the library or an actual outdoor landscape where a historical event took place students gain a richer understanding of history by having an encounter with real objects.
Students become their own historians, interpreting the facts based on their own observations.
Students must be taught the skills of how to gather information and use the resources in their communities. Contact your local community resources to find out what primary sources are available. There are many online sites which have primary source documents and accompanying lesson plans that can be used in your classroom program. For your convenience, we have selected some links that we think will be most useful. Please let us know if you know of a primary source on-line site that we should add to this list.