4.13.D

ELA4th GradeThe student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.

The Standard

identify primary and secondary sources

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students decide whether information comes directly from a person, event, or time being studied, or from someone interpreting it later. They use the source's creator, date, and purpose to explain the difference.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students correctly sort evidence based on who created it, when it was created, and its purpose. They explain their choices with details from the source rather than relying only on its format.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think every old document is firsthand evidence or that every website is a later account. They may also assume firsthand evidence is always accurate and unbiased.
How to Assess It: Give students a diary entry, a textbook paragraph, a photograph, and a biography excerpt. Ask them to sort each item and justify one choice using its creator and purpose.

Lesson moves

Set out letters, photographs, encyclopedia entries, and biographies for teams to sort, then have them label each item with evidence.
Ask students to explain whether an interview with a storm survivor or an article about the storm gives more direct evidence.
Play Source Sort Relay, where teams classify cards and earn a point only when they give an accurate reason.
Compare a family photograph with a written family history to show how people use different sources to learn about the past.

Keep exploring

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