Thinking Like a Historian

Unit 15th Grade US History

Friday, August 21st

• No homework tonight.

• Warm-up: • Sit next to your 3:00 partner.• Turn in your “Historical Moments” homework

assignment if you haven’t done so already.• Share with your 3:00 partner about your

parents’ significant historical memory. (If you need to look at your paper, you can grab it out of the turn-it-in tray.)

Lunchroom Fight!!!

Discuss with your 3:00 partner.

• How can there be different stories if no one is lying?

• Who are the different people who might have seen the fight?

• What might make one person’s story more believable?

The Sources

• Max

• Justin

• Cafeteria Worker

• Megan (Max’s girlfriend)

• Eric (Max’s good friend)

• Anthony (bystander)

• Jamie (student in English class with Max and Justin the period right before lunch)

• Max’s mother

• Justin’s father

• English teacher

Write these definitions in your notes!

• Plausibility—the likelihood that something could happen 

• Physical Evidence—objects left behind (such as burned rubber, tree rings, bruises) that can be used to make a case/an argument  

• Time—How long ago an event took place

• Memory—What a witness remembers; can be influenced by time

• Bias—favoring one thing, person, or group compared to another (prejudice)

How is the principal in this scenario like a historian?

Monday, August 24, 2015

• Homework: Study the definitions for the following words: plausibility, bias, physical evidence, time, history, historian, memory, primary source, secondary source, point-of-view

• Warm-up: (Write on a piece of notebook paper inside your folder). How is the principal in the lunchroom fight story like a historian?

Write down these definitions in your notes:

• Historian—one who investigates the past

• History—an account of the past

What do historians do?

• On a blank sheet of notebook paper, list as many actions as you can to answer this question. You may work with your 9:00 partner, but you both need to write down your answers.

• To get your brain juices flowing, go back and think about the principal from the lunchroom fight story. What did he do to find out the most accurate account of what happened?

What do historians do?

1.) Historians ask questions.

What kinds of questions might a historian ask about the past?

1.) Historians ask questions.

• Who? What? Where? When? Why?

• What were the causes of past events? What were the effects?

• What has changed? What has remained the same?

• How does the past help us make sense of today?

• How did people in the past view their world?

• How did past decisions or actions affect future choices?

2.) Historians research the context of a historical event.

• What happened before or after?

• Secondary Sources: a historical account written by someone who did not witness a historical event; usually written many years later

• Examples: textbook, lecture, encyclopedia, website, biographies, non-fiction history books

3.) Historians search for clues.

• Primary Source: information that was created at the same time of a historical event by a person who was directly involved in the event; The REAL Deal!

• Examples: photographs, letters, newspapers, speeches, treaties, diaries, etc.

• Physical Evidence: objects left behind

• Examples: geological evidence, trash, clay pottery, tree rings, bones, etc.

4.) Historians look at multiple points of view.

• Point of View: the way someone looks at an issue, event, or person

• Ex: The American Revolution:• The Patriots• The Loyalists• The British Soldiers• King George• British taxpayers

5.) Historians question the reliability of the source.

• Is it plausible?

• Is it biased?

• How much time has passed when the account was recorded?

• Is the memory of the witness reliable?

Discuss with your 9:00 partner.

• Is history perfect?

• Can there be multiple, conflicting versions of a historical account?

• What kinds of mistakes can historians make?

Tuesday, August 25th

• Sit with your 12:00 partners somewhere in the room.

• Pick up 2 handouts at the front desk.

• Homework: Complete Primary/Secondary Sources HW. Due Friday. (Write this in your planner!)

• Warm-up: Is history perfect? Can there be multiple, conflicting versions of a historical account? What kinds of mistakes can historians make? Respond in your notes section of your folder!)

What was like like during the dust bowl?

“Migrant Mother” 1936California Photographer: Dorothea Lange

“Jobless on the Edge of a Pea Field” 1937California Photographer: Dorothea Lange

Political cartoon created by Ben FranklinPennsylvania Gazette, 1754

With your 12:00 partner, analyze & answer questions on the handout.

Wednesday, August 26th

Homework: Complete Primary/Secondary Sources HW---Due Friday!

1.Pick up a copy of the test study guide at the front desk.

2.Sit where you sat yesterday. 3.Clear everything from your desk. 4.Take out a writing utensil and your

privacy folder (located inside the desk).

Agenda:

1. Pop Quiz2. What questions do you have

about your homework?3. Test Study Guide 4. History/Mystery Group

Assignment

Bibliography

"Reading Like A Historian | Stanford History Education Group." <i>Reading Like A Historian | Stanford History Education Group</i>. Standford University, 2015. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.

"The Dust Bowl." <i>- Primary Source Set</i>. Library of Congress, 2015. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.

Thursday, August 27th

Homework: Complete Primary/Secondary Sources HW---Due Friday!

1. Sit with your group from yesterday!

2. Begin working on your “History as Mystery” assignment.

Friday, August 28th

Homework: none

1. Sit with your group from yesterday.2. Take out last night’s homework and a

red grading pen. 3. Use the answer key at your desk to

grade your homework. I will come around and check for completion. If you have any questions, I will answer them after everyone finishes grading their homework.

History as Mystery Project

Evaluating Sources

Historical Question: Who was present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence?  Source 1: Hollywood movie about the American Revolution made 2001. Source 2: Book written by a famous historian who is an expert on the American Revolution, published in 1999.  Which do you trust more? Why?

Evaluating SourcesHistorical Question: What was slavery like in South Carolina? Source 1: Interview with former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a black man collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers’ Project.

Source 2: Interview with former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a white woman collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers’ Project.  Which do you trust more? Why?

Evaluating Sources

Historical Question: What happened at the Battle of Little Bighorn?

Source 1: High school history textbook from 1985.

Source 2: Newspaper account from the day after the battle in June 1876.

Which do you trust more? Why?

Evaluating Sources

Historical Question: Why were Japanese Americans put in internment camps during WWII?

Source 1: Government film explaining internment from 1942.

Source 2: Government report on Japanese Internment from 1983 based on declassified government documents.

Which do you trust more? Why?

Monday, August 31

Homework: Complete “Library Databases HW Handout” and study for your test on Wednesday.

Warm-up:1. Pick up the homework at the front desk. 2. Sit in your regular, assigned seat. 3. Grab a laptop computer from the cart. Log into

the student portal.

Library Databases Notes

Library Database: a searchable website that contains published articles for research  (Unlike websites, databases require payment access the articles. They also require a username and password.) Most databases available at Kinkaid Kayem Library use the following username and password to access them.  Username: kinkaidPassword: falcon However, Brainpop is different. Username: kinkaid201 Password: falcon Library Catalog: a searchable tool you can use to find books and media in the library 

Library Databases Notes

Culture Grams, Kid Info Bits, and Pebble Go Next are all databases meant for younger grades.  Lib Guide: a website with selected materials for a specific research project (created by Mrs. Bell) Lib Guides are located at the bottom the Kayem Library database page.  Citation: Information about an article’s author, title, and publisher, etc.  Whenever we use a published article, website, book, or source, we should always cite it. Most databases have citations already included at the bottom of the article. Sometimes, it can be found when you click on a small button that says, “Citation.”  Use www.easybib.com to create citations of your own. EasyBib is not perfect and sometimes requires you to find source information in the website.

Tuesday, September 1st

Homework: Study for your test tomorrow.

Warm-up:1. Sit in your assigned seat. 2. Use the answer key to check last night’s

homework. 3. I will walk around to give you a completion

grade. Please welcome Mrs. Bell, our school librarian!!!

Wednesday, Sept. 2nd

Homework: none

Warm-up:1. Sit in your assigned seat. 2. Put everything away except for a pen or pencil

and your office.3. We will begin the test shortly. 4. After you finish your test, you may QUIETLY

clean out your folder into your binder and then read.