Skills Historians Need - Historical Thinking

A source that people who did NOT participate or experience a particular event or time period have created by gathering and interpreting information. Often these types of sources are created after the event or time period has passed, but not always. (For example: a magazine article, tv documentary, website, textbook, or model)

• primary source

• artifact

• secondary source

• fake news

A logical guess or conclusion about an artifact that you come up with by applying what you already know (your prior knowledge) with what you see or observe about the artifact. These can involve ideas about who created the artifact or what it was used for.

• observation

• analysis

• inference

• pattern

ANY manmade, physical object

• primary source

• secondary source

• artifact

• junk

Information or data from your sources that support your claim - can include observations about artifacts, maps, charts, or graphs as well as quotes and paraphrased information from written texts.

• primary sources

• secondary sources

• reasoning

• evidence

An original source like an object or document created during the time period that is being studied or by someone who participated in or experienced the event. (For example: an artifact like a tool or piece of pottery or a diary, autobiography, interview, or photograph)

• secondary source

• primary source

The process of directly noticing a characteristic or quality of an artifact or source using one of your senses (what you see, hear, etc.)

• inference

• observation

• claim

• pattern

To closely study or examine in detail in order to explain or interpret - This involves two steps: (1) making observations or closely reading a source and (2) making inferences based on the observations or close reading.

• analysis

• observation

• inference

• claim

The most important thing to check every day:

• the weather

• your social media

• how the Washington Football Team is doing

  (hint: badly, they are doing badly. but what do you expect? they can't even agree on a name)

• the Global Humanities Weekly Schedule