Lesson at a Glance | He Tirohanga Whakamua
Ngā Whāinga Ako | Learning Intentions
Students will know
- What constitutes a Primary Source: Material produced during the time period by eyewitnesses or participants (e.g. letters, petitions, official proclamations, newspaper articles, maps, photographs).
- How to search Aotearoa digital repositories: Papers Past (National Library), Archives New Zealand, and Alexander Turnbull Library.
- How to log full Provenance Data: Author, Date, Location, Medium, Target Audience, and Archival Reference.
Students will demonstrate
- By locating and logging at least 3 distinct primary sources relevant to their 3 focusing questions.
- By completing Section 3 of their Level 3 History Historical Research Portfolio.
Do Now | Tīmatanga Whakaaro (10 min)
Primary Source Verification Prompt:
"Is a modern 2020 history textbook describing Governor Grey's 1863 invasion proclamation a primary source? What about Grey's original written proclamation printed in the Daily Southern Cross on July 15, 1863?"
Unpack: The 2020 textbook is a Secondary Source interpreting events. Governor Grey's original 1863 proclamation is a Primary Source created at the exact moment of invasion, revealing the Crown's immediate justification!
Primary Source Repositories & Logging (15 min)
Search historical newspapers (e.g. Te Karere Maori, Daily Southern Cross, Taranaki Herald) for contemporary reports and petitions.
Access official Crown correspondence, Native Land Court maps, military despatches, and Parliamentary petitions.
Logging Provenance Data (15 min)
Provenance is where a source came from and who made it. Log it as you collect, not at the end. A quote with no provenance cannot be used to evaluate reliability, and Section 3 asks you to do exactly that.
Record six fields for every source:
- Author or creator: who made it, and what position did they hold?
- Date: when was it made? Ask how close that is to the events you are researching.
- Target audience: who was meant to read it? A despatch to London and a notice to settlers can describe the same day very differently.
- Medium: proclamation, petition, newspaper report, letter, map, photograph.
- Location: where was it produced or published?
- Archival reference: the repository and its item identifier, so a marker can find it again.
Author: Governor George Grey, the Crown's senior official in New Zealand. Date: 15 July 1863. Audience: addressed to Waikato Māori, but printed in an English-language settler newspaper. Medium: official proclamation reprinted as newspaper text. Location: Auckland. Archive: Daily Southern Cross via Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand.
The audience field does the most work here. A proclamation addressed to Māori but circulated through a settler paper raises a question worth arguing in your portfolio: who was it actually written to persuade?
Set up your provenance table now and log your first source before you leave. Collecting quotes without these fields creates work you have to redo.
📁 Historical Research Portfolio — Section 3: Primary Sources
Students open their Level 3 History Portfolio and complete Section 3:
Section 3 Requirements:
1. Primary Source Provenance Table: Log 3 primary sources listing Title, Creator, Date, Source Archive, and relevant Focusing Question (FQ1, FQ2, or FQ3).
2. Source Transcripts/Excerpt Bank: Paste direct quotes or excerpts (100–200 words) from each primary source.
3. Excellence Perspective Contrast Rationale: 1-paragraph explanation ensuring your primary sources include BOTH Crown/settler and tangata whenua voices.
Exit Verification | Ka Mutu Hoki (5 min)
Exit Check:
"My Section 3 logs 3 primary sources including Governor Grey's 1863 Proclamation from Papers Past with full provenance details."
Teacher Planning & NCEA Alignment
NCEA Level 3 History Alignment (5 Credits Internal):
- Source Selection: Locate and select a comprehensive range of primary sources relevant to the focusing questions.
Vocabulary: Primary source, provenance, Papers Past, Archives NZ, eyewitness account, petition, proclamation, despatch.