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Historical Thinking Skills

Arts Integrated Lesson Plans and Materials for Teaching Historical Thinking Skills & Grade 6 Social Studies

Jump to topic: Intro To Historical Thinking Skills Context and Corroboration Tableau

Historical Thinking Skills

Pairs with Thinking Like a Historian, Grade 6

This lesson introduces students to historical thinking skills—Sourcing, Contextualization, Corroboration, and Close Reading—through a combination of discussion, music, movement, and visual representation. Students begin by exploring why history matters, engaging with primary and secondary sources, and learning key historical analysis strategies through a rap song and choreography. 

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MSDE/BCPSS CONTENT STANDARDS AND INDICATORS

  • 6.3.1 -Analyze the importance and study of history.
  • 6.3.1.a. Explain the process of historical interpretation
    • Learning about the Past – Types of Sources
    • What is history?
    • Primary vs. Secondary
  • 6.3.1.b. Describe the methodology of source analysis for written and non-written sources
    • How to analyze different types of sources
    • Context
    • Corroboration
    • Reliability of Sources
    • Putting all the skills together

C3 STANDARDS – SKILL DEVELOPMENT

  • D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
  • D2.His.5.6-8. Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.
  • D2.His.6.6-8. Analyze how peopleʼs perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.
  • D2.His.9.6-8. Classify the kinds of historical sources used in a secondary interpretation.
  • D2.His.10.6-8. Detect possible limitations in the historical record based on evidence collected from different kinds of historical sources
  • D2.His.11.6-8. Use other historical sources to infer a plausible maker, date, place of origin, and intended audience for historical sources where this information is not easily identified.
  • D2.His.13.6-8. Evaluate the relevancy and utility of a historical source based on information such as maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
  • D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past.

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

  • Anchor Reading Standards 1-10
  • Anchor Writing Standard 7
  • Anchor Speaking and Listening Standard 1
  • Anchor Language Standard 6

NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS

  • Music E:6 – 8:3: With increasing independence, make connections between music and other common core subjects, including the arts, through creating, performing, or responding to music.
  • Dance E:6 – 8:3: Improvise using the information from a given phrase to create contrasting sections.
  • Dance I:6 – 8.1: Use fundamentals of composition to create dance in a variety of forms and explain reasons for movement choices and organization.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • Why is history important?
  • What questions are important to ask about the past?

SUPPORTING QUESTIONS

  • How do historians use key events, documents, dates, and people to interpret the past?
  • How do we evaluate the usefulness and degree of reliability of a variety of forms of historical evidence?

OBJECTIVES

  • I will be able to choose a source and identify it as primary or secondary. I will be able to analyze this source by using sourcing, context, corroboration, and close reading.
    • Engaging with music, movement, and visual arts will prepare students to achieve the objective.
  • I will be able to use Historical Thinking Skills to select reliable, information-rich sources that effectively support my claim when writing.

ASSESSMENT

MATERIALS & CLASSROOM SETUP

KEY SOCIAL STUDIES VOCAB

  • Sourcing, Primary, Secondary, Contextualization, Corroboration, Close Reading, Reliable, Unreliable, Interpretation, Context, Analyze

KEY ARTS INTEGRATION VOCAB

  • Embodied Gesture, Verse, Intent, Icon, Illustration

TEACHER BACKGROUND

  • Review materials
  • Practice modeling chorus choreography to build confidence and comfort before facilitating

STUDENT PREREQUISITES

  • Because this is an introductory lesson, no specific background information is required.

ACCESSIBILITY

  • Scaffold up to the choreography for an entire verse by breaking the verse down into specific vocabulary that might be new to students.
  • Create a simple tableau (frozen picture) or hand gesture to represent the term and deepen understanding.
  • Offer 2-3 sources for students to practice applying each historical thinking skill set of questions to.

WHY USE MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

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BUILD MEMORY

How do historians use Sourcing, Contextualization, Corroboration, and Close Reading to analyze the past?

    • Use Music to Learn the Definitions of Historical Thinking Skills: Pass out the Historical Thinking Song Lyrics Sheets and play the song aloud.
      • The song breaks down the four key historical thinking terms: Sourcing, Contextualization, Corroboration, and Close Reading.
        • You may opt to use the audio-only recording (included on Slide 11 or play the Historical Thinking Song Music Video (included within these Arts Every Day Resources).
      • As the song plays, instruct students to follow along with the lyrics and to underline any unfamiliar terms.

Reinforce: Create Historical Thinking Charts for Student Binders

    • Distribute the Historical Thinking Notes Chart.
    • Present slides 13 – 16 and ask students to record the guiding questions for each of the 4 key historical thinking terms in the second column of the chart.
    • Additionally, students should create an icon or image in the first column that illustrates the term’s meaning.
    • Note: Additional information is included in columns 3 and 4 of the chart that will help guide students throughout the school year when using these skills. It is recommended that this chart be kept in a binder/folder to be referenced throughout the year.

*Brain Connections: Engaging students with these terms through song, visuals, written notes, illustrations, and movement (in the next segment) is an example of using the arts as repeated rehearsal. Repetition in novel and immersive ways helps students retain information long term.

APPLY: LET’S MOVE!

Applying Understanding Through Movement

WATCH our music video!!

    • Explain using Slide 19 that weʼll be developing dance moves for each verse that exemplify the historical thinking skill discussed in that verse.
    • Explain that this can be “TikTok-styleˮ choreography, meaning that it should be simple, repeatable, and catchy.
    • Demonstrate: Using the chorus to start, model these moves for the students (Slide 20).
    • Explain to students that it’s clear how the choreography ties directly to what is being sung, both showing and telling the concept of talking or putting on a thinking cap.

*Brain Connections: This is an example of embodied cognition: a physical motion tied to a concept that helps students understand its meaning more deeply.

    • Break students into four groups to tackle the four historical thinking skills in the song: sourcing, contextualization, corroboration, and close reading.
      • Slide 21: Explain that each group of students will develop their own dance moves for their verse, keeping in mind that the moves should embody the concept.
        • Note: Each verse is 8 lines long, follows an AABB rhyme scheme, and flows in 4/4 time.

After each group has developed their dance phrase aligned to their verse, share these dances group by group at the front of the class.

    • If possible, have a clearly defined performance space in your classroom.
      • Note: While sharing these dances, it’s inevitable that students will feel nervous or shy. Feel free to slow the tempo down or talk through the steps.
    • Once all of the groups have shared their verse, it’s time to put it all together. It may be that the students have not memorized the entire song/dance by the end of class, but they should at least know their verse and the chorus.
    • Close this segment with a mini performance of the entire song, with each group taking the spotlight at their table and dancing with their verse.
      • Note: Keep the emotional environment light and celebratory. Remind students that they are not being graded on their dance technique, but instead their participation and effort.

ASSESS & EXTEND

Select & Analyze a Source

    • Slide 23: Revisit the objective. Provide students with a list of sources to select from and distribute the Source Analysis Chart. Ask students to complete the chart, applying what they’ve learned about each of the 4 historical thinking skills to analyze their selected source.

Extend:

    • Create a classroom library of different types of sources.
    • Create a scavenger hunt activity for students to use the Library of Congress web site. https://www.loc.gov/

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Materials Google Folder

BRAIN TARGETED TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM

Repeated Rehearsal:

  • Engaging students with these terms through song, visuals, written notes, illustrations, and movement (in the next segment) is an example of using the arts as repeated rehearsal. Repetition in novel and immersive ways helps students retain information long term.
Applying Understanding through Movement:

  • This is an example of embodied cognition: a physical motion tied to a concept that helps students understand its meaning more deeply.

ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!

All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.

MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!

Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.

ALLISUN THOMPSON

Allisun Thompson is an educator who has taught at Roland Park Middle School for 15 years, working in both ELA and Social Studies classrooms. Currently, she teaches 6th grade Eastern Geography and Cultures and is the Social Studies department lead along with the National History Day lead. In her total 25 years of teaching, Allisun has found that Arts Integration keeps her students excited about learning. In the past, she has included watercolor in map making, poetry to study primary sources, sculpture to learn about early forms of writing, and making masks to learn about culture. Join her and guest speakers on this year’s coming BCPSS PD Arc for Arts Integration.

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Context and Corroboration Tableau

Pairs with Thinking Like a Historian, Grade 6

This lesson helps students deepen their understanding of the historical thinking skills of Contextualization and Corroboration through tableau and visual analysis. Students begin by defining and discussing tableau as a tool for historical interpretation. They then participate in tableau exercises, analyzing how body positioning and expression contribute to meaning, examining multiple perspectives, evaluating sources for reliability, and exploring how added context can shift interpretation.

Printable Version
Z

Standards
Z

Getting Ready
Z

Downloads
Z

TEACH!
Z

Creators

MSDE/BCPSS CONTENT STANDARDS AND INDICATORS

  • 6.3.1 -Analyze the importance and study of history.
  • 6.3.1.a. Explain the process of historical interpretation
    • Learning about the Past – Types of Sources
    • What is history?
    • Primary vs. Secondary
  • 6.3.1.b. Describe the methodology of source analysis for written and non-written sources
    • How to analyze different types of sources
    • Context
    • Corroboration
    • Reliability of Sources
    • Putting all the skills together

C3 STANDARDS – SKILL DEVELOPMENT

  • D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
  • D2.His.5.6-8. Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.
  • D2.His.6.6-8. Analyze how peopleʼs perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.
  • D2.His.9.6-8. Classify the kinds of historical sources used in a secondary interpretation.
  • D2.His.10.6-8. Detect possible limitations in the historical record based on evidence collected from different kinds of historical sources
  • D2.His.11.6-8. Use other historical sources to infer a plausible maker, date, place of origin, and intended audience for historical sources where this information is not easily identified.
  • D2.His.13.6-8. Evaluate the relevancy and utility of a historical source based on information such as maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
  • D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past.

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

  • ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1 – Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
  • ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2 – Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary.
  • ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6 – Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose.
  • ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.9 – Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • ELA-LITERACY.SL.6-8.1 – Engage effectively in collaborative discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS

Theater Arts Standards:

  • TH: Cr1.1.6-8 – Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work (creating tableaux to represent historical concepts).
  • TH:Pr4.1.6-8 – Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation (using movement and body positioning to convey meaning).
  • TH:Pr5.1.6-8 – Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation (adjusting tableaux based on added historical context).
  • TH:Re7.1.6-8 – Analyze how personal experiences influence artistic expression (reflecting on movement and historical interpretation).

Visual Arts Standards:

  • VA: Re7.1.6-8 – Analyze how the interaction of subject matter, media, and historical context influence meaning in artworks (examining Wendy Red Star’s annotated portrait).
  • VA:Re8.1.6-8 – Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work (discussing how historical context changes understanding).

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • Why is history important?
  • What questions are important to ask about the past?

SUPPORTING QUESTIONS

  • How do historians use key events, documents, dates, and people to interpret the past?
  • How do we evaluate the usefulness and degree of reliability of a variety of forms of historical evidence?

OBJECTIVES

  • Students will use Tableau to deepen their understanding of corroboration and contextualization.
  • Students will be able to define corroboration and contextualization and apply these skills while researching to make sure they are using the best sources they can find.

ASSESSMENT

  • Formative: Teacher observation of tableaux and discussions. Use these exercises to check for understanding and redirect when necessary.

MATERIALS & CLASSROOM SETUP

KEY SOCIAL STUDIES VOCAB

  • Contextualization, Corroboration, Reliable, Unreliable, Interpretation, Context, Analyze, Evidence, Claim, Annotation

KEY ARTS INTEGRATION VOCAB

  • Tableau, Energy, Expression, Variation, Levels

TEACHER BACKGROUND

  • Review materials
  • Practice modeling tableau to build confidence and comfort before facilitating

STUDENT PREREQUISITES

  • Introduction to Historical Thinking Skills Through Art, Song, & Movement lesson series included in this Arts Every Day Resource Set.

ACCESSIBILITY

  • Sentence Frames & Visual Supports: Provide students with sentence starters and visual cues to help them articulate their observations and analysis of tableaux and artworks (e.g., “I notice that…” / “This image makes me think of…”).
  • Modified Participation in Tableau: Allow students who may be uncomfortable performing to contribute by directing the tableau, helping decide poses, or describing the scene instead of physically participating.

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Printable Version

Slides

Video Playlist

Video Playlist

Concept Map

ENGAGE

Explain that today’s focus is on Contextualization and Corroboration, two key historical thinking skills.

Present the Corroboration and Contextualization Tableau Slides.

    • Slide 1: Have one student read aloud the objective: I will be able to define and use corroboration and contextualization while researching to make sure that I am using the best sources I can find.
    • Slide 2: Define tableau as a still image created using only the body.
    • Slides 3 – 5: Explain that Tableau can be:
      • A group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from art
      • A group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story
      • A group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from history
    • Slide 6: Demonstrate an example: Strike a pose that represents a well-known image (e.g., Edvard Munch’s The Scream).
      • Discuss how body and facial expressions help convey meaning.

LEARN

    • Slide 7: Review the elements of a strong tableau, asking students reflection questions as you go.
      • Stillness: Students must remain frozen in their pose.
        • What does it look like to be still?
      • Silence: No talking or sound effects.
        • What does it sound like to be silent?
      • Energy: Use full-body expression, including facial expressions and levels (standing, sitting, crouching, etc.).
        • What do you think it means or looks like to pose with energy?

Assure students they can breathe and blink while in a tableau.

Set any additional ground rules based on classroom needs.

CORROBORATION TABLEAUX

    • Slide 8: Select 2 volunteers will come up to the front of the classroom (or our class “Stage”). Explain that these two individuals will represent different sources.
    • Slide 9: Explain that a prompt will appear on the slide in the form of an image with a brief phrase. Example:

    • The performers (or “sources”) will have until the count of 3 to strike a pose and freeze into a tableau.
    • The audience will observe and discuss the following questions:
      • What do you see?
        • Do the actors share the same emotion?
        • Do their body positions match?
      • Do they match? Do these “sources” corroborate each other?

If they do not corroborate, another “source” will join the stage and create a tableau that does. You could also add another student, if the first two volunteers corroborate, to show the opposite reaction. How has the new source changed the corroboration?

      • Audience members will decide which sources could be used as reliable evidence (which sources best represent the prompt/claim?).
      • Slides 10 – 13: Then add in new volunteers for the multiple prompts continued on the following slides. The audience will continue evaluating the corroboration of each.

      CONTEXTUALIZATION

        • Slide 14: Tell students that this round we will follow the same basic idea of seeing a prompt and creating a frozen pose. However, we will also be adding context. Explain the steps:
          • Stand up behind your chair and make sure you have space to move your arms.
          • We will use the same prompts we did for Corroboration BUT Context will be added.
          • First, you will create a personal tableau for each “slide 1”.
          • Then, you will shift your frozen pose once the context, “slide 2,” is added.
          • Lastly, we will discuss: How does the Context change your understanding of the scene?
        • Slides 15 – 24: Engage in the activity. Encourage students to create variations in their poses instead of copying others.
        • Following the exercise, facilitate discussion:
          • What do you notice about the different perspectives?
          • How do body positioning and facial expressions contribute to understanding?

      ANALYZE, APPLY, & REFLECT

        • Slide 25: Share background knowledge on artist Wendy Red Star’s annotated portrait.
        • Slide 26: View the portrait with annotations blurred. Ask students to describe what they see without context.
          • What do you notice about the people in this image?
          • What do you wonder about this image?
          • What emotions do you think they are feeling? Why?
          • Who do you think these individuals are?
        • Slides 26 & 27: Reveal Red Star’s annotations that provide deeper meaning. Students will see the image a little closer, revealing Red Star’s signature style of annotation. Her red writing details interpersonal relationships, family trees, and materials used at the time. The writing gives the piece context.
        • Facilitate discussion on how the added context influences interpretation. Prompt students to consider the context of the time the portrait was taken (1873) as well as the time Red Star enhanced it (2014).
          • Note: Students can use their previous knowledge from the 5th Grade Wit and Wisdom Module 1: Cultures in Conflict to corroborate and evaluate its trustworthiness. Arts integrated materials for this unit are also included in the Baltimore Arts Integration Project’s library of resources.

        ASSESS & EXTEND

        Assess:

          • Observation of Tableaux: Assess students’ understanding of contextualization and corroboration by observing their poses, body expressions, and participation.
          • Class Discussion & Reflection: Students explain how adding or changing context affects interpretation. They answer guiding questions on corroboration and contextualization during discussions.

        Extend:

          • Tableaux for Other Historical Events: Have students research a historical event of their choice and create their own tableaux, incorporating sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization to present their scene to the class.
          • Comparing Multiple Artists’ Interpretations of History: Extend the visual analysis by having students compare Wendy Red Star’s work with other artists who incorporate historical context in their pieces, analyzing how different perspectives shape understanding.

        Return to Topic

        Materials Google Folder

        ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!

        All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.

        MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!

        Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.

        ALLISUN THOMPSON

        Allisun Thompson is an educator who has taught at Roland Park Middle School for 15 years, working in both ELA and Social Studies classrooms. Currently, she teaches 6th grade Eastern Geography and Cultures and is the Social Studies department lead along with the National History Day lead. In her total 25 years of teaching, Allisun has found that Arts Integration keeps her students excited about learning. In the past, she has included watercolor in map making, poetry to study primary sources, sculpture to learn about early forms of writing, and making masks to learn about culture. Join her and guest speakers on this year’s coming BCPSS PD Arc for Arts Integration.

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