Florida B.E.S.T. ELA.5.R.3.3
The Standard
Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources related to the same topic.
Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for English Language Arts · Reading
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify whether a source gives firsthand evidence or explains information gathered from other sources. They compare the sources for shared facts, different details, and viewpoints.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly identify firsthand evidence and later accounts. They explain how the sources present shared facts, different details, or different viewpoints about one topic.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think any old document is a primary source, even if its author did not witness the event. They may compare formats instead of comparing facts, details, and viewpoints.
How to Assess It
- Give students a diary excerpt and a textbook paragraph about the same event. Ask them to label each source and write one similarity and one difference.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a photograph, letter, and encyclopedia entry about one event, then have them sort and compare the sources on a chart.
Ask students to write: Which source brings you closer to the event, and which helps you understand the larger picture?
Play Source Match by having teams pair firsthand source cards with secondary source cards about the same event and justify each match.
Compare a recorded interview with a news summary about a local event, noting what the summary adds, leaves out, or explains.
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Printable ELA.5.R.3.3 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- ELA.2.R.3.3
Compare and contrast important details presented by two texts on the same topic or theme.
- ELA.6.R.3.3
Compare and contrast how authors from different time periods address the same or related topics.
- ELA.4.R.3.3
Compare and contrast accounts of the same event using primary and/or secondary sources.
- ELA.1.R.3.3
Compare and contrast two texts on the same topic.
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