1. 9/5/14
Aim: What is history and how do historians construct historical narratives?
Do Now: Answer the following questions in your notebook or on a separate sheet of paper.
What is history?
Why is it important to study history?

2. What is history?
History is an account of the past constructed from evidence. This account from the past differs based on one’s perspective.

3. Vocabulary Account: One person’s story of what happened
Construct: To build or make
Evidence: Facts that can be proven
Perspective: A point of view; a particular attitude towards something

4. Two types of evidence:
Primary Evidence: Document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. (EX: Declaration of Independence, cave paintings in France, the diary of Anne Frank)
Secondary Evidence: Interprets or analyzes primary sources; removed from original event
(EX: History textbook, book about the French Revolution, magazine article remembering 9/11)

5. Vocabulary
Historian: A person who writes about and constructs history.
Corroboration
Contextualization
Sourcing

6. Vocabulary—”Historian’s Toolbox”
Corroboration: The act of comparing pieces of evidence and seeing where they agree or disagree
Contextualization: The act of describing what was happening around the time a piece of evidence was created
Sourcing: The act of determining who created a piece of evidence, and when, where and why it was created. This helps historians figure out if a piece of evidence is reliable.

7. History depends on perspective!
Have you ever been in an argument with a friend or family member?
When they tell that story later, do your stories always match up? Why do you think that is?

8. Independent Work—Lunchroom Fight