Time: 30 min.
Materials:
Postcard Copies
Procedure: Whole Group Activity
Ask students to write down a definition of history. Ask a few students to share their definitions. Most should have something to do with things that happened in the past.
Next, ask students how we know what happened in the past, if we weren't there when it happened. Answers will vary. Have students pull out their social studies text book. Pick any historical event that is covered by the text and have students turn to that page. Ask one student to read a section of the text outloud. Pose the question again. "How do we know about something that happened in the past if we weren't there?"
If we, as students and teachers use text books, how do we know that the information in the text book is correct? We technically don't. So where else can we go to learn about a historical event? Have students brainstorm a list of resources that they could use in order to learn about a historical event. Write the list on the board for students to reference.
After you have a list of resources, add postcard to the list if it is not there. Next pass out copies of the postcard. Have students work in small groups to answer the following question:
-Who wrote the postcard?
-Who is the postcard written to?
-When was the postcard written?
-What clues made you think that?
-What is the tone of the postcard?
-What did you learn about the author or recipient from the postcard?
Have groups share their answers, as they compare to those of the other groups, adding new or differing information only.
Finally, define the process of using resources to get information about the past as "historical inquiry." Inform students that they will not be using their text books for this unit. Instead, they will be detectives of sorts and will be investigating different resources to find out what happened in the United States during WWII.
Assessment- Exit Ticket
Define historical inquiry and give three examples of resorces that can be used in historical inquiry.
