Phase 1: I have an idea in my head. You are going to need to be very good detectives, use different clues to see if you can figure out my idea. I will give you some clues off of this list. You may want to write a Y or N next to each example, or you may want to rewrite the examples in the "yes" area or the "no" area.	encyclopedia chevrolet personal correspondence history book standard poodle chapter in a book news analysis article editorial The Bible King James sewing machine an oral history literary review artifact crepe suzettes a script (play) Sracus, NY interview maps meeting transcript	manuscript play dead sea scrolls Constitution of the U.S. Bill of Rights a biography an autobiography The Koran hotel bill minutes to a meeting a computer a window The Communist Manifesto cave paintings census data Zinnia aerial photographs survey data cigerettes
If you would like to record yes/no (The instructor must choose the first yes. It must be a very clear example of the concept, Always start with a positive exemplar. In this example I will provide 3 yeses and 3 nos and see what students are thinking.)	Yes: 1. dead sea scrolls 3. The Koran 5. Hotel bill	No: 2. standard poodle, 4. Syracuse, NY, 6. cigarettes
Process their reactions:	What were those groans about? What were you considering? What changed your mind? Are there some characteristics or attributes that seem to be important? Record their ideas on the board. Cross the ones off that they do not think work any more. Always ask why they think that is a possiblity, or why they eliminated a possiblity.	Are there some categories that your are considering? If you have some ideas, why don't you choose something off of the list and tell me if you think it is a yes or a no and why you think that? (You may volunteer an example that will take their thinking in a different direction. For example, suppose they are guessing that these are all written things, at that time you tell them "oral history" is a yes example.)
Go through all of the examples	Which ones a yes? and why?	Which ones are no? and why?
Phase 2: What do we call these?	These are primary sources.	e
What attributes must they have to qualify as a primary source?	They are all made by humans and it is their original work. It may not be fact, but it is their point of view. No one else has summarized or interpreted what they said or wrote. Most primary sources are written however, oral histories may be considered a primary source, but there has to be a way to pass on the specific information (tape recorder, video).	Why was the play script a yes but the play itself a no? Why are meeting transcripts a yes but meeting minutes a no? Why is the Koran a yes, but The Bible a no? Under what circumastance might an editorial be a primary source?
Can you think of another example that might be a primary source that we have not discussed so far? If someone came into this room in 200 years, what would be some examples of primary sources in here?	Photographs, tickertape, diaries, bills. Teacher plan book, student work, projects, original stories, class schedules	e
Phase 3: How would you describe how your brain sorted all of this information out? Did you considered only attributes? One at a time? Or several simultaneously? Did you think of concepts or categories one at a time or simultaneously? Did you use the process of elimination? How? Is more efficient to think of one thing at a time or balance several ideas all at once?	Search Methods: Attributes: Conservative focusing (many), focus gambling (one at a time)	concepts: simultaneous scanning (many) or successive scanning (one at a time)