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At a Glance:

Suggested Time Frame:

Introduction                          10 mins
Independent Reading
& Comprehension                 20 mins
Class Discussion                    20 mins

Total time:                        1-2 classes

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Assessment:
Rubric in PDF format >

Learning Objectives and Cognitive Skills:

Identify and Interpret:
Students will identify and discuss the role of a historian
Students will identify and categorize sources
Students will interpret historical documents

Synthesize and Apply:
Students will connect passages from writings
Students will evaluate the usefulness and information gained from source materials to build understanding

PA State Standards:

History:
8.1.9 B Synthesize and evaluate historical sources.
• Literal meaning of historical passages.
Different historical perspectives.
8.1.12 C Evaluate historical interpretation of events.
• Multiple points of view.

Reading:
1.1.12 G Understand and apply knowledge gained from text.
• Support assertions about texts.
• Compare and contrast texts.
• Make extensions to related ideas, topics or information
• Assess the validity of documents.
• Analyze the positions in documents.
• Evaluate the author’s strategies.
• Critique public documents.

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Lesson 7


Historians Interpret Sources:
Jump to: Procedure | Image Gallery | At a Glance

JFK - oath of office  

Chief Justice Earl Warren, right, shown administering the oath of office to John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. Courtesy the John F. Kennedy Library.

 

Handouts needed
for Step 4:

The following handout is
included in the Lesson PDF:

Historical Sources
and Historians

Procedure:

1. Introduce and discuss the role of the historian as an interpreter of source material.

The Historian:

  • Interprets the past to help us understand the present and shape our future.
  • Searches for clues, like a detective, through primary and secondary sources in order to explain and analyze events.
  • Tells a story to an audience about what happened, why people acted, and why events occurred in the ways that they did over a period of time.
  • Makes critical judgments about the past.

2. Students should read excerpts from the historian Conover Hunt writing about John F. Kennedy and from primary source documents using the handout: Historical Sources and Historians.

3. In class discussion students should be able to:

  • Identify the type of sources and whether they are primary or secondary in nature.
  • Evaluate the reliability of the sources.
  • Connect passages from the historian’s writing that directly relate to the inaugural speech and vice versa.
  • Explain whether having the source along with the historical text aids in their understanding of the information. If so, how?

 

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