1. +
Synthesizing Multiple
Perspectives: Global Texts and
the Common Core
A Primary Source Workshop for the PGL
Conference
Ann Marie Gleeson, Ph.D.
Program Director

2. +
Primary Source
 Courses and Workshops
 International study tours
 Classroom-ready resources
We are a non-profit, global education organization
that educates K-12 teachers about world histories,
cultures, and global issues.

3. +
Today’s Resources
https://www.livebinders.com/

4. +
Agenda
Overview of Multiple Sources and the
Common Core
Using Multiple Sources
Reading Strategies
Writing Strategies
Resources

5. +
Warm-Up: Understanding Multiple
Perspectives
 Draw what you see.

6. +
Engaging Students with
Multiple Perspectives and
Sources from Other Cultures for
the Common Core

7. +
Session Essential Question:
 How can we effectively engage
students with multiple sources so they
can recognize and articulate diverse
global perspectives through reading
and writing in a way that aligns with
the Common Core?

8. +
Why use multiple sources and
perspectives in social studies?
 Think/Pair/Share

9. +
Why use multiple sources and
perspectives in social studies?
To show how people can experience the same
event in different ways across time and place
Central to disciplinary process of thinking like
a social scientist/historian

10. +
“Through extensive reading of stories, dramas, poems,
and myths from diverse cultures and different time
periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge
as well as familiarity with various text structures and
elements.”
--”English Language Arts Standards, Anchor Standards, College and Career Readiness Anchor
Standards for Reading”
from the Common Core State Standards Initiative Website
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R
Aligns with Common Core!!!

11. +
“Students appreciate that the twenty-first-century
classroom and workplace are settings in which people
from often widely divergent cultures and who represent
diverse experiences and perspectives must learn and
work together. Students actively seek to understand
other perspectives and cultures through reading and
listening, and they are able to communicate effectively
with people of varied backgrounds.”
--”English Language Arts Standards, Introduction, Students Who are College and Career Reading
in Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Language” from the Common Core State Standards
Initiative Website
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/introduction/students-who-are-college-and-career-read

12. +Integrating multiple forms of text
Reading Standards for Literacy in
History/Social Studies 6-12
Craft and Structure
6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an
author’s point of view or purpose (e.g.,
loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of
particular facts).
[Grades 6-8]

13. +Integrating multiple forms of text
Reading Standards for Literacy in
History/Social Studies 6-12
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts,
graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with
other information in print and digital texts.
[Grades 6-8]

14. +Integrating multiple forms of text
Reading Standards for Literacy in
History/Social Studies 6-12
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
9. Analyze the relationship between a
primary and secondary source on the same
topic.
[Grades 6-8]

15. +Integrating multiple forms of text
Writing Standards for Literacy in
History/Social Studies 6-12
7. Conduct short research projects to answer
a question (including a self-generated
question), drawing on several sources and
generating additional related, focused
questions that allow for multiple avenues of
exploration.
[Grades 6-8]

16. +
Challenges for Using Multiple
Texts
What are the challenges to having
students work with multiple texts?

17. +
Source Packet
 The Mongol Invasion of
Baghdad
 https://www.livebinders.com/
play/play?id=924207

18. +
What are the key elements that
students need to consider when
examining multiple perspectives?

19. +
What are the key elements that
students need to consider when
examining multiple perspectives?
 Source
 Creator, position/role in society, motivations, actions
 Context
 What was happening at the time the source was created?
 Corroboration
 How does the source compare to other sources?
 How does the source compare to the author’s other works?

20. +
What should you think about when
selecting multiple sources?

21. +
What should you think about when
selecting multiple sources?
 Sources meet a purpose
 Represent a range of significant perspectives
 Address significant aspect of the issue; Address or suggest
essential question
 Documents in tension with one another
 Small, focused excerpts that get a key points
 Developmental considerations (Initially, use documents with
stark contrasts, moved to more nuanced interpretations)

23. +
Adapting Sources for Accessibility
 Focusing
 Ellipses
 200 – 300 words
 Simplification
 Conventional syntax, spelling, punctuation
 Presentation
 16 pt font
 White space
Wineburg, S., & Martin, D. (2009). “Tampering with history: Adapting Primary Sources for Struggling Readers.” Social Education, 73(5), 212 – 216.

24. +
Reading Strategy
Read/Think A-Loud

25. Source 1: Benjamin of Tudela, c. 1159 – 1171
Benjamin of Tudela was a Jewish traveler from northern Spain.
Benjamin of Tudela. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. Edited by Michael A. Signer. New York: NightinGale Resources, 2005.
Thence it is two days to Bagdad, the great city and the royal
residence of the Caliph Emir al Muminin al Abbasi of the family of
Mohammed. He is at the head of the Mohammedan religion, and all the
kings of Islam obey him; he occupies a similar position to that held by
the Pope over the Christians. He has a palace in Bagdad three miles in
extent, wherein is a great park with all varieties of trees, fruit-bearing
and otherwise, and all manner of animals. The whole is surrounded by
a wall, and in the park there is a lake whose waters are fed by the river
Hiddekel. Whenever the king desires to indulge in recreation and to
rejoice and feast, his servants catch all manner of' birds, game and fish,
and he goes to his palace with his counsellors and princes. There the
great king, Al Abbasi the Caliph (Hafiz) holds his court, and he is kind
unto Israel, and many belonging to the people of Israel are his
attendants; he knows all languages, and is well versed in the law of
Israel. He reads and writes the holy language (Hebrew). He will not
partake of anything unless he has earned it by the work of his own
hands…. He is truthful and trusty, speaking peace to all men. …
Within the domains of the palace of the Caliph there are great
buildings of marble and columns of silver and gold, and carvings upon
rare stones are fixed in the walls. In the Caliph's palace are great riches
and towers filled with gold, silken garments and all precious stones….

26. Source 1: Benjamin of Tudela, c. 1159 – 1171
Benjamin of Tudela was a Jewish traveler from northern Spain.
Benjamin of Tudela. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. Edited by Michael A. Signer. New York: NightinGale Resources, 2005.
Thence it is two days to Bagdad, the great city and the royal
residence of the Caliph Emir al Muminin al Abbasi of the family of
Mohammed. He is at the head of the Mohammedan religion, and all the
kings of Islam obey him; he occupies a similar position to that held by
the Pope over the Christians. He has a palace in Bagdad three miles in
extent, wherein is a great park with all varieties of trees, fruit-bearing
and otherwise, and all manner of animals. The whole is surrounded by
a wall, and in the park there is a lake whose waters are fed by the river
Hiddekel. Whenever the king desires to indulge in recreation and to
rejoice and feast, his servants catch all manner of' birds, game and fish,
and he goes to his palace with his counsellors and princes. There the
great king, Al Abbasi the Caliph (Hafiz) holds his court, and he is kind
unto Israel, and many belonging to the people of Israel are his
attendants; he knows all languages, and is well versed in the law of
Israel. He reads and writes the holy language (Hebrew). He will not
partake of anything unless he has earned it by the work of his own
hands…. He is truthful and trusty, speaking peace to all men. …
Within the domains of the palace of the Caliph there are great
buildings of marble and columns of silver and gold, and carvings upon
rare stones are fixed in the walls. In the Caliph's palace are great riches
and towers filled with gold, silken garments and all precious stones….
The first thing I look at
is the source. Who
wrote the text? I’ve
never heard of
Benjamin of Tudela
but it says he was a
Jewish traveler from
Spain. He wrote this
between 1159 – 1171.
Going back to the
packet introduction, I
know this was before
the Mongol invasion of
1258 from our
textbook.

27. Source 1: Benjamin of Tudela, c. 1159 – 1171
Benjamin of Tudela was a Jewish traveler from northern Spain.
Benjamin of Tudela. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. Edited by Michael A. Signer. New York: NightinGale Resources, 2005.
Thence it is two days to Bagdad, the great city and the royal
residence of the Caliph Emir al Muminin al Abbasi of the family of
Mohammed. He is at the head of the Mohammedan religion, and all the
kings of Islam obey him; he occupies a similar position to that held by
the Pope over the Christians. He has a palace in Bagdad three miles in
extent, wherein is a great park with all varieties of trees, fruit-bearing
and otherwise, and all manner of animals. The whole is surrounded by
a wall, and in the park there is a lake whose waters are fed by the river
Hiddekel. Whenever the king desires to indulge in recreation and to
rejoice and feast, his servants catch all manner of' birds, game and fish,
and he goes to his palace with his counsellors and princes. There the
great king, Al Abbasi the Caliph (Hafiz) holds his court, and he is kind
unto Israel, and many belonging to the people of Israel are his
attendants; he knows all languages, and is well versed in the law of
Israel. He reads and writes the holy language (Hebrew). He will not
partake of anything unless he has earned it by the work of his own
hands…. He is truthful and trusty, speaking peace to all men. …
Within the domains of the palace of the Caliph there are great
buildings of marble and columns of silver and gold, and carvings upon
rare stones are fixed in the walls. In the Caliph's palace are great riches
and towers filled with gold, silken garments and all precious stones….
Here he describes
Baghdad as a “great
city” where the Caliph
has a palace three
miles wide, which
seems very big. This
makes me think that
Baghdad was an
important city in the
1100s.

28. Source 1: Benjamin of Tudela, c. 1159 – 1171
Benjamin of Tudela was a Jewish traveler from northern Spain.
Benjamin of Tudela. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. Edited by Michael A. Signer. New York: NightinGale Resources, 2005.
Thence it is two days to Bagdad, the great city and the royal
residence of the Caliph Emir al Muminin al Abbasi of the family of
Mohammed. He is at the head of the Mohammedan religion, and all the
kings of Islam obey him; he occupies a similar position to that held by
the Pope over the Christians. He has a palace in Bagdad three miles in
extent, wherein is a great park with all varieties of trees, fruit-bearing
and otherwise, and all manner of animals. The whole is surrounded by
a wall, and in the park there is a lake whose waters are fed by the river
Hiddekel. Whenever the king desires to indulge in recreation and to
rejoice and feast, his servants catch all manner of' birds, game and fish,
and he goes to his palace with his counsellors and princes. There the
great king, Al Abbasi the Caliph (Hafiz) holds his court, and he is kind
unto Israel, and many belonging to the people of Israel are his
attendants; he knows all languages, and is well versed in the law of
Israel. He reads and writes the holy language (Hebrew). He will not
partake of anything unless he has earned it by the work of his own
hands…. He is truthful and trusty, speaking peace to all men. …
Within the domains of the palace of the Caliph there are great
buildings of marble and columns of silver and gold, and carvings upon
rare stones are fixed in the walls. In the Caliph's palace are great riches
and towers filled with gold, silken garments and all precious stones….
Benjamin describes
how the Caliph treats
“the people of Israel.”
It makes sense that he
would be concerned
about this if Benjamin
of Tudela is Jewish
like it says in the
source description.
He says the Caliph is
kind to the Jewish
people and truthful,
trusty, and “speaking
peace to all men.”
This makes me think
that different religions
are respected in
Baghdad.

30. +
Group Read Aloud
 Read the next paragraphs.Write down ONE comment while
you read.
 (Use the sentence starters if you need a prompt.)
 What did you learn from the comments?

31. +
Comparing Perspectives
1. Select 4 sources from the packet.
2. Fill out the graphic organizer.
1. Identify the source and point of view.
2. Provide evidence from the text to support point of view.
3. Write 20 word summary of each source.
4. Write ONE final 20 word summary of all FOUR sources.

32. +
Source:
What key evidence from the source illustrates
the author’s point of view?
Summarize the source (20 words or less)
Source:
What key evidence from the source illustrates
the author’s point of view?
Summarize the source (20 words or less)
Essential Question:
Write a single summary of all of the sources in 20 words or less.
Summarizing Multiple Perspectives

33. +
What other strategies do you use
for multiple perspectives?

34. +
Writing
What types of writing
activities/lessons have you done
around multiple perspectives?

35. +
Writing
 Research shows that when students write about
multiple texts, they demonstrate deeper
historical understanding about the content.
 Significant writing assignments come in all
sizes
 Create prompts that require students to cite
more than one source
Voss, James F., and Jennifer Wiley. “A Case Study of Developing Historical Understanding via Instruction.” In Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History:
National and International Perspectives edited by Peter N. Stearns, Peter Seixas, and Sam Wineburg, 375–389. New York: New York University Press, 2000.

36. +
Common Core Writing Examples
Writing Types Represented in the Common Core
 Informative/Explanatory
 Compare/contrast, chronological, definitions, cause/effect,
summary
 Argumentative
 Compare/contrast arguments, opinion, synthesizing sources to
construct an argument
 Narrative*
 Synthesizing different sources

37. +
Describe the process through
which African people were
rendered into slavery in the
Americas, highlighting the roles
of both Africans and Europeans.

38. +
Informative/Explanatory
Describe the process through
which African people were
rendered into slavery in the
Americas, highlighting the roles
of both Africans and Europeans.

39. +
Describe the experience of
the Middle Passage from the
point-of-view of a participant,
European or African.

40. +
Describe the experience of
the Middle Passage from the
point-of-view of a participant,
European or African.
Narrative

41. +
Agree or disagree with the
assertion that, during the
Middle Passage, African
people engaged in active
resistance to their captivity.

42. +
Agree or disagree with the
assertion that, during the
Middle Passage, African
people engaged in active
resistance to their captivity.
Argumentative

43. +
Writing
1. Get into groups of 3.
2. Assign each person ONE writing type:
1. Argumentative
2. Informative/Explanatory
3. Narrative
3. Create a writing prompt that addresses multiple perspectives
for the writing type you’ve been assigned.
4. Share (and critique) your prompts with you group.
1. Will the prompt engage students in that type of writing?

44. +
Writing

45. +
Multiple Perspectives:Your Turn
Think about a topic that you teach.
 What perspectives are important to use to fully
understand the topic?
 What do you want students to know about these
perspectives?
 What evidence or texts are available to represent
these perspectives?
 What instructional activities might you use?

46. +
Multiple Perspectives:Your Turn

47. +
Resources: General Global
Primary Sources
 Primary Source Resource Guides:
http://www.primarysource.org/resourceguides
 Reading Like a Historian: http://sheg.stanford.edu/world
 Library of Congress Primary Source Sets:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/prima
rysourcesets/
 Old Maps Online: http://www.oldmapsonline.org
 World Digital Library: http://www.wdl.org/en/

48. +
Resources: Newspapers
 Chronicling America (Library of Congress):
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
 Today’s Front Pages (The Newseum):
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/
 Newsmap: http://newsmap.jp/
 Online Newspapers:
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/

49. +
Wrap-Up
 Classroom Connections
Contact Us
 annmarie@primarysource.org
Keep in Touch
 http://www.primarysource.org/newsletter/re-
source-newsletter
Online Courses
 http://www.primarysource.org/onlinecourses