Blog Posts About: sources

How to Explain Primary and Secondary Sources

This post is an issue of the Common Craft Newsletter. Subscribe here.

This title came from a suggestion by a Common Craft member who found that explaining it was more difficult than expected. It has since become one of the most used videos in our library.

➡️ Watch it in full. (2m 20s)

This video looks back at a significant event in history: The Great Storm (England, 1703). It asks the question: how do we know what we know about this storm? This question is answered by explaining primary and secondary sources. It teaches:

  • Why sources matter in establishing facts and information
  • What represents a primary source and how to use them
  • Why primary sources may present an incomplete picture
  • What represents a secondary source
  • How primary and secondary sources may contribute to the best understanding

Explanation Notes

This explanation has three basic parts. First, we establish the power of sources and how a combination of sources can yield the best information. Second, we explain the differences between primary and secondary sources. Third, we show why it makes sense that this combination works in practice. Further, a historical example gives the explanation a concrete starting point and offers a fun visual experience.

New Video - Academic Databases Explained

It's easy to think that, in research, more information is better. The reality is that research can feel overwhelming. That's why academic databases matter. They make it quick and easy to search, filter, and evaluate sources for your work.

This video, suggested by members and our 112th title, is now available in the Common Craft video library. You can watch it in full for a limited time.

What it Teaches:

Research can feel overwhelming when it’s difficult to know what sources are useful and trustworthy. Academic databases help solve this problem by making sources easy to search, filter, and evaluate. This video explains Academic Databases and teaches:

  • Why quality matters more than quantity in research
  • Where to find academic databases
  • What types of publications and subjects are available
  • How to search an academic database effectively
  • How to filter search results

Watch the Video

Note: Each Common Craft video comes with a lesson plan that makes teaching easier. Curious? Download the lesson plan for the video above (PDF).

Recent Common Craft Videos

We now have 112 explainer videos in our library. Each video is designed to explain a subject clearly in a few minutes. Common Craft videos can help save time in your classroom, course, training session or presentation. Here are the most recent additions:

Introducing: The Common Craft Forever License + Video Pack

For a short time, we are offering a pack of Common Craft videos with a “forever license”.

This means you can download and use these Common Craft videos without a membership or recurring fees. Simply purchase the pack of videos and the videos are yours forever.

We’re getting started with a pack of four videos designed to help students find, evaluate and think critically about information they see online. This is the Media Literacy pack.

Evaluate all the videos, in-full, before purchase.

The Media Literacy pack is available for immediate download after purchase and includes:

  • Standard MP4 version of these videos
  • Standard MP4 version of these videos with open captions for the hearing impaired
  • Lesson Plans for teaching the ideas covered in the videos

Licenses are available for both individual teachers and organizations.

If you have ideas for future packs of videos with the forever license, please let us know!

New Video: Primary and Secondary Sources (2.5 mins)

Our new video was the most requested by members and explains Primary and Secondary Sources in research (2.5 minutes).

 

About this video:

When researching, there are two main types of information sources: primary and secondary sources. Understanding the difference between them and how to use them can help make your projects more thorough and accurate.
 
What it Teaches:
 
This video looks back at a big event in history: The Great Storm (England, 1703). It asks the question - how do we know what we know about this storm? This question is answered by explaining primary and secondary sources. It teaches:
  • Why sources matter in establishing facts and information
  • What represents a primary source and how to use them
  • Why primary sources may present an incomplete picture
  • What represents a secondary source
  • How primary and secondary sources may contribute to the best understanding

The Cut-out Library Now Contains over 1500 Cut-outs!

Our library of "Common Craft Style" Cut-outs continues to grow and search is the best way to find what you need. Give it a try.
 
Add Cut-outs to presentations, documents, videos and more. They are designed to make your media more visually compelling.
 
Here's a hint - you can search by color to find characters that match. For example, here are all the "blue" Cut-outs.