More and more, teachers are introducing students to primary sources and then giving them space to truly engage with the material. The key to this is an inquiry-based style of learning and instruction, in which students are encouraged to ask questions, analyze historical sources, and explore answers in open-ended investigations.

Case Maker supports the inquiry process and is modeled after the ‘observe, reflect, question’ framework developed by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program.

Case Maker guides middle school students to:

• Consider a challenge question.

• Analyze primary source documents, photographs, audio recordings, and videos.

• Ask questions about the primary sources and gather evidence to build an evidence-based response.

• Create a web-based presentation to prove their case.