Historical Thinking Skills

What is a primary source?

• Identify the author and the author’s purpose (before you read a document to determine if the source is trustworthy and believable).

• Evaluate language and evidence throughout a document to support the author’s claims

• a serious disagreement or argument dispute, quarrel, squabble, disagreement, dissension, clash

• descriptions or pictures of an event by someone who actually saw or lived through that event (diary or journal entry; photograph)

To explain how one historical event connects another historical event or time period

• Context

• Continuity & Change

• Evidence

What question best helps us think about Continuity and Change?

• What changed, and what caused the change?

• How do periods of history start and end?

• How did the event impact peoples' lives?

What questions best helps us think about Evidence?

• How do periods of history start and end?

• Where did the event take place, and what are characteristics of that place?

• How did the sources influence your view of history?

What question best helps us think about Causation

• How is the past different OR similar from he past?

• How did the event impact peoples' lives?

• How do periods of history start and end?

What question best helps us think about Comparison?

• How did the event impact peoples’ lives?

• How is the past different OR similar from the present?

• How do periods of history start and end?

Which of the following best describes the concept of 'historical empathy'?

• Understanding the emotions and perspectives of people from the past

• Analyzing historical events using modern values

• Judging historical figures based on current ethical standards

• Ignoring the context of historical events

What is the primary purpose of using a timeline in historical studies?

• To memorize dates

• To understand the sequence of events and their relationships

• To compare different historical figures

• To predict future events

Which skill involves analyzing the causes and effects of historical events?

• Chronological thinking

• Causation

• Historical empathy

• Sourcing

What does the term 'historical context' refer to?

• The geographical location of an event

• The time period in which an event occurred

• The social, political, and cultural environment of the time

• The personal background of a historical figure