Texas TEKS K.13.B

Social StudiesKindergartenSocial studies skills

The Standard

identify different kinds of historical sources and artifacts and explain how they can be used to study the past

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students recognize photographs, letters, maps, recordings, and objects as clues about earlier times. They explain what each item might show about how people lived, worked, or played.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can name the kind of clue, such as a photograph, letter, map, recording, or object. The student can make a reasonable claim about the past and point to a detail that supports it.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think every old item is an artifact or that a replica is an original. They may assume one photograph or object tells the whole story rather than offering one limited clue.
How to Assess It: Show an old class photograph and a wooden toy. Ask each student to choose one, name the kind of clue, and tell one thing it reveals about the past.

Lesson moves

Set out an old photograph, postcard, map, and toy; students handle safe items, sort them, and record one clue from each.
Ask, “What could an old lunchbox tell us about children long ago, and what could it not tell us?”
Play a matching game where students pair source cards with questions each source could help answer.
Invite a longtime school employee to share an old photo and explain what it shows about school life.

Keep exploring

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