Lesson 3: What Does History Mean?

Big Ideas of the Lesson

The word history has two meanings.
History can mean events that happened in the past.
History can also mean an account of events in the past.
An account of the past includes the selection of specific events and the interpretation
of those events.
Historians select from events of the past and interpret their meaning to create
historical accounts.
Lesson Abstract:
In this lesson, students make visible their understanding of history. After discussing some basic
questions about history, students write a history of the first day of school. They use this
experience to complicate their use and understanding of the word history. Through comparing
their accounts of the same event the first day of school -- students learn to distinguish between
historical events and historical accounts.
Content Expectations: 7 H1.2.4
Common Core State Standards: WHST.6-8.4, 8, 10
Key Concepts
event
history
perspective
representations/accounts