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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 13

History Detective

Sources, timelines and evidence

What your child practices

Primary and secondary sources, timelines and centuries, fact and opinion, claims and evidence, and judging a source by its maker, date and purpose, using early American history.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.23(A); 5.23(B) · using primary and secondary sources and asking whether they are credible

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A compelling question is a big question worth investigating.
  2. Strong evidence comes from reliable sources and supports the claim.
  3. List your sources to give credit and let others check. A century is 100 years.

Example: Why should you list your sources? Other people used their work to help you. Readers may want to check your facts. Answer: To give credit and let others check your information.

History Detective in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 7 of 13 in 5th grade Social Studies, after States & Capitals and before A Growing Nation.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    Which is a primary source about the American Revolution?

    • A letter written by a soldier in 1777
    • A website written in 2020
    • A history textbook
    • A cartoon made last year

  2. Question 2

    What does a timeline show?

    • Where places are
    • How much things cost
    • Events in the order they happened
    • Who was right

  3. Question 3

    What makes evidence strong?

    • It comes from reliable sources and supports the claim
    • It has lots of opinions
    • It is very long
    • It is from one person's guess

  4. Question 4

    On a timeline, which comes first: 1607, 1620 or 1776?

    • 1620
    • They are the same
    • 1776
    • 1607

  5. Question 5

    What is a fact?

    • A belief that can't be checked
    • A feeling
    • A guess
    • A statement that can be proved true

  6. Question 6

    A cause is…

    • Where it happened
    • Why something happened
    • What happened after
    • Who wrote about it

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