Historical Thinking Skills

Many of the resources and lessons used in the introduction to this inquiry-based world history course has been developed by Stanford University's Stanford History Education Group. 

What does it mean to think like a historian?

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Intro to Course - Lessons

• Thinking Like a Historian: "The Lunchroom Fight" Scenario
• Reading, Thinking & Writing Like a Historian: India Partition

Historical Research Skills - Resources

• Inquiry Questions - Reference Document
• Bloom's Taxonomy - 6 Levels of Complexity to Asking Questions for Research​

• Internet Research Tips
• A few Tools for Academic Research (recommended sites, databases, etc.)
• Research & Note-taking Tips (Google Slides)​
• Videonot.es  (be sure to click to connect with Google; use this to take notes from videos used in inquiry/research)

• Example of Evaluation of Supporting Questions

• Critically Analyzing Information Sources (Cornell.edu)
• OPVL Guiding Questions
• Guide to OPVL - Questions to ask about my source to do proper OPVL​
• Sample Student Work: OPVL Evaluations
  
• Sample OPVLs - 3 good samples  + 1 nonexample (did not meet expectations)​

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Historical writing and speaking skills- Resources

Template for Writing a 5-paragraph Essay:

• Template for Civilizations Formative 5 paragraph Explanatory Essay

Claims & Thesis

• Argumentative Essay or Speech - Types of Claims

​Evidence & Analysis

• Informational (Explanatory) Writing - Video
• Five Awesome Text Integration Techniques

Organization, Transitions & Cohesion

• Eternal Principles of Writing For School (created by Mr. Ratner)
• Transitional phrases
• Words to use instead of "This shows that..."​

Style & Tone of Historical Writing/Speech 

• Checklist for Writing Style
• English vs. History Thesis (Youtube)​​

Citing Sources:

• Difference between Works Cited List vs. Bibliography
• Purdue University OWL - MLA In-text Citations Style Guidelines
• Sample Essay with Sources + Works Cited list
  

Helpful links for Annotated Bibliographies:

• ​OWL Purdue Library - MLA Guidelines on annotations
• Annotated Bibliography Instructions
• Annotated Bibliography Examples
• More examples of Annotations - This is from some of Mr. Bisset’s former students
• Sample of Annotation & how to set this up (note: this is an example from my previous IB school-- just be glad you don’t have to write one this in depth -- this was for my 7th grade IB history students. Yikes!)

​Shared Inquiry - Socratic Discussions:

• How to Master the Shared Inquiry: Norms & Moves During Participation (Google Doc)
• “Effective Shared Inquiry Strategies & Sentence Starters” document
  

• Exemplar Claims & Counterclaims for Argumentative Speech & Writing
• Sample claims & counterclaims

World History Assessment Rubrics

• Inquiry/Research Rubric
• Explanatory Rubric
• Reflection Rubric
• Shared Inquiry Rubric w/ Peer Assessment
• Argumentative Writing/Speech Rubric

World History Sample work + Exemplars

• Exemplar - Research Portfolio (Sample ”Power” Research Portfolio)​​
• ​Sample Student Work: OPVL Evaluations
• WWI Argumentative Essay Outline with quotes page & Works Cited page
• Belief Systems Explanatory Essay Outlines
• Explanatory Writing Sample (Meets level) Essay: "Cultural Identity Among Mongols"
• Exemplar Paragraph: Early Empires
• ​Sample OPVLs - 3 good samples  + 1 nonexample (did not meet expectations)

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