Lesson 4: Methodology 101
Duration of Days: 5
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to critique historical sources by identifying bias, perspective, and the difference between primary and secondary evidence.
How do we know what we know about the history of Meriden?
Primary Source, Secondary Source, Historiography, Bias.
INQ 9–12.6, INQ 9–12.7.
Hands-on workshop with local artifacts. DOK Level: 3.
Provide "Sentence Starters" (e.g., "The author might be biased because...") for students developing their analytical writing. Gifted students compare two conflicting newspaper accounts of a 19th-century Meriden labor strike.
A "Source Classification" quiz using real Meriden artifacts.