Unit Plan 16 (Grade 4 Social Studies): Sources Tell Our State’s Story
Students investigate a guiding historical question using primary and secondary sources, analyzing relevance, credibility, and perspective to separate fact from opinion and write a clear, evidence-based explanation of who/what/where/when/why.
Focus: Use primary and secondary sources to investigate one historical question about the state (for example, why a town became the capital or how a local event changed communities). Students learn to analyze, compare, and evaluate sources for relevance, credibility, and perspective, then write a short explanation that summarizes who/what/where/when/why with evidence.
Grade Level: 4
Subject Area: Social Studies (History • Inquiry/Skills)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students become history investigators as they explore how sources tell our state’s story. They learn the difference between primary sources (photos, letters, maps, artifacts, newspaper clippings from the time) and secondary sources (textbook summaries, articles, videos created later). Working with a single guiding historical question about their state or community, students gather and examine a small set of sources, ask who created each one and why, and practice telling facts apart from opinions. By the end of the week, they use their sources to write a short, evidence-based answer to their question.
Essential Questions
- How do primary and secondary sources help us learn about our state’s past?
- What makes a source relevant and trustworthy for answering a historical question?
- How can we tell the difference between facts, opinions, and author perspective in a source?
- Why might two sources tell the same event in different ways?
- How can we use evidence from sources to answer a historical question about our state?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Define and identify primary and secondary sources using examples from state/local history.
- Work with a single guiding historical question about the state and select relevant sources that help answer it.
- Use source analysis organizers to summarize who/what/where/when/why for at least two sources, citing specific details.
- Evaluate sources for relevance, credibility, and perspective, and distinguish between fact and opinion statements.
- Use evidence from two or more sources to write a short historical explanation that answers the guiding question.
- Explain how author point of view and type of source can affect the way a story about the state is told.
Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 4.C3.Hist.5 — Use primary/secondary sources to answer questions; summarize who/what/where/when/why with evidence.
- Example: Analyze a treaty excerpt and a historian’s summary to explain differing perspectives.
- 4.C3.Inq.3 — Evaluate sources for relevance, credibility, and perspective; distinguish fact/opinion.
- Example: Identify author point of view in a local history article.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can tell the difference between a primary source and a secondary source from our state’s history.
- I can explain who created a source, when, and why, and summarize who/what/where/when/why using an organizer.
- I can decide if a source is relevant and trustworthy for answering our historical question.
- I can point out facts, opinions, and author perspective in at least one source.
- I can answer our historical question with a short explanation that uses evidence from at least two sources.