Primary sources are valuable for understanding the context of historical events, but the diction and dialect in these documents can be difficult to understand. Middle and high schoolers participation in a transcription process in which they translate primary sources from the Civil War to reflect a modern version.

Concepts

the united states civil war, primary sources, primary source analysis, transcription

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Feature the oral presentations during a grade-wide focus on the Civil War
• Create a cross-curricular lesson between social studies and language arts
• Encourage individuals or groups to use multimedia in their modernized presentation 

Classroom Considerations

• The transcription process might be difficult for younger learners, 

Pros

• Encourages a connection to primary sources and documents from the past
• Comes with modification ideas for different audiences

Cons

• None