This module is for

– TPS analysis tool image observe reflect question
Each challenge includes three thinking questions to guide students as they analyze sources for evidence.

Primary Source Analysis - Question

Following the reflection mode, the door opens to the next phase, Question. This is when students explore something about the source that they wonder about or take note of aspects that are unfamiliar. We sometimes think of this as learning to “think like a detective,” with a critical eye towards the source. Working like a detective, and a historian, students learn to source a historical document by asking more questions, and exploring new answers to the 5W questions - Who? What? Where? When? Why? - such as:

  • What do I wonder about who made this source, and who was the audience?
  • What do I wonder about what the source is?
  • What do I wonder about where, when, and why it was created?

Let’s listen as Lee Ann Potter from the Library of Congress explains the value of further investigation.


Case Maker Connection


blue lightbulb iconAs students work on a Case Maker challenge scenario, they will see a blue Ideas tab along the right-hand side of the screen. Here, they are presented with important thinking questions to help them consider the civics topic and challenge scenario assigned by the teacher.