Happy Monday! Last time I posted, the kids had just finished their ancient landmark posters. We have done a lot since then! We used the research projects as an opportunity to reflect on our work and talk about the importance of failing, or having first attempts guide our next moves in class.

We spent a morning in the innovation lab examining photos to decide if they were real or fake. The kids had a blast writing on the dry erase walls and sharing out their thoughts.  This fun activity helped transition us into a really important topic–credible sources. We looked at and decided on criteria that we would use while evaluating websites and other sources. Some of this criteria includes looking at the author, the format (.gov, .edu, etc.) the audience, the content and the purpose of each website. The kids examined two different sites and determined which was credible and which was a fake. The discussion of credible sources guided us onto our next topic–primary and secondary sources.

We spent three days investigating the differences between primary and secondary sources. The class watched videos, examined sources and ended their study by participating in a crime scene activity that required them to categorize evidence and solve a crime.  The crime scene activity helped the students understand that primary sources are often more reliable as they are first hand accounts of what actually happened at an event.

This all came back to one question–how will we use this new information as we move forward in Social Studies this year? Please talk about this post with your children. Ask them what they think! How will credible, primary and secondary sources come up again this year as we start delving into ancient civilizations? 

Stay tuned as we shift our focus onto the study of maps and their many purposes as well as the concept of timelines.