Historical Thinking Skills

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech makes more sense when you know it was delivered during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change

If you read a politician’s campaign ad, you must ask: “Who wrote this? What do they want me to believe?” before trusting it.

• Using Evidence

• Sourcing

• Periodization

• Continuity & Change

Breaking history into meaningful chunks of time based on big changes or turning points

• Using Evidence

• Sourcing

• Periodization

• Continuity & Change

Asking questions about who created a source, when, why, and for what audience, to judge reliability.

• Using Evidence

• Sourcing

• Periodization

• Continuity & Change

Understanding an event by looking at what else was happening at the same time and place.

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change

The invention of the car led to suburbs and traffic accidents

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change

Recognizing what has stayed the same and what has changed across different eras.

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change

Examining why events happened, identifying short-term and long-term causes, and their effects.

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change

Looking the U.S. government to the government of ancient Athens—both are democracies, but Athens had direct democracy while the U.S. has representative democracy.

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change

Communication has changed from handwritten letters to emails and texts, but people still use written words to share information.

• Comparison

• Causation

• Context

• Continuity & Change