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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 8

Sources & Evidence

Primary and secondary sources, context and conclusions

What your child practices

Children practice choosing and judging sources, reading artifacts and art, comparing accounts and drawing conclusions from evidence.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 6.3.13.2; 6.4.20.1 · using sources and evidence to support a claim

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A primary source comes from the time; a secondary source, like a textbook, is written later.
  2. Accounts reflect point of view; a war's winner tells it their way. Compare accounts and ask why they differ.
  3. A claim is supported when evidence backs it. Historical fiction is a made-up story in a real time.

Example: Two diaries describe the same battle differently. What should a good historian do? Each writer saw it from a different place. Compare them and ask why they differ. Answer: compare them and ask why they differ

Sources & Evidence in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 1 of 8 in 6th grade Social Studies, before Minnesota's Land & Water.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    An account written by a winner of a war may be…

    • perfectly neutral
    • the only account
    • told from the winner's point of view
    • always true

  2. Question 2

    Two accounts of the same battle disagree. A good historian would…

    • make up a third
    • pick one at random
    • compare them and ask why they differ
    • ignore both

  3. Question 3

    What can an old tool tell historians?

    • how people lived and what they could make
    • today's weather
    • the future
    • nothing at all

  4. Question 4

    New information shows one of your assumptions was wrong. You should…

    • hide the evidence
    • argue louder
    • change your idea and say why
    • ignore the information

  5. Question 5

    Which question helps you judge a source?

    • Is it heavy?
    • Who made it, when, and why?
    • What color is the cover?
    • How long is it?

  6. Question 6

    A history book from 1920 may differ from one written in 2020 because…

    • books never change
    • history is made up
    • people changed the past
    • perspectives and evidence change over time

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