Thinking Like a Historian

Thinking Like A Historian

“…But while everyone is
entitled to an opinion, not
every opinion deserves to
be believed. In history, a
persuasive opinion is one
backed up by evidence.”

Sam Wineburg

Why think like a historian?

● To better be able to determine

what information is credible or
believable.

● To support conclusions and

statements with reliable or
dependable information
(evidence).

● To better understand an event or

person in history!

Multiple Select

Why think like a historian? Check all that apply.

• To better be able to determine what information is credible or believable.

• To support conclusions and statements with reliable or dependable information  (evidence).

• To better understand an event or person in history!

Goals

● Question the source

● Evaluate the evidence.

● Read and consider the source more

carefully than any historical account
read before.

Primary Source Examples

Written Documents
Photographs

Primary Source Examples

Political Cartoons

Posters

Primary Source Examples

Maps
Artifacts

Primary Source Examples

Motion Picture

Sound Recording

Types of secondary sources

● textbook

● documentary

● movie

● biography

● dictionaries

● journal articles

Categorize

Options (10)

written documents (newspaper, diary, etc.)

photographs

political cartoons

posters

motion picture/sound recording

textbook

documentary

movie

biography

journal article

Categorize the type of source as either a primary or secondary source.

Primary Source

Secondary Source

Before examining a piece of
evidence, ask yourself basic

questions.

● Consider the document’s type:

- What kind of document are we looking at?

- For example, for textual documents, is it a
newspaper, letter, report?

Sourcing: Think about a document's

author and its creation.

● Who created this document?

● When?

● For what purpose?

● Is it reliable?

● Why?

Contextualizing: Situate the document

and its events in time and place (setting).

● When and where was the document created?
● What was different then? What was the same?
● How might the circumstances in which the document

was created affect its content?

Close reading: Carefully consider

what the document says and the

language used to say it.

● “I've never heard that expression before”,

consider contextual clues about time,
place or people.

● “Hmm, that may be a reference to…” or

question facts, opinions and perspectives
“I wonder if that’s what really happened?”.

Using Background Knowledge:
Use historical information and knowledge to

read and understand the document.

● Practice this strategy by pausing to ask

while reading:
- What else do I know about this topic?
- What other knowledge do I possess that
might apply?

Corroborating: Ask questions about
important details across multiple sources to

determine points of agreement and

disagreement.

- What do other pieces of evidence say?
- Am I finding the same information everywhere?
- Am I finding different versions of the story? (If so,
why?)
- Where else could I look to find out about this?
- Which pieces of evidence are or would be most
believable?

Reading the Silences: Identify what
has been left out or is missing from the

document by asking questions of its

account.

● After reading the document, ask yourself:

- What is the document's author not
mentioning?
- Whose voices are we not hearing in a
particular document or historical account?
- Which perspectives are missing?

Match

Match the following historical thinking skill with the correct description.

• Think about a document's author and its creation.

• Situate the document and its events in time and place (setting).

• Carefully consider what the document says and the language used to say it.

• Use historical information and knowledge to read and understand the document.

• Ask questions about important details across multiple sources to determine points of agreement and disagreement.

Sourcing

Contextualizing

Close Reading

Using Background Knowledge

Corroborate

• Sourcing

• Contextualizing

• Close Reading

• Using Background Knowledge

• Corroborate