Sources and bias

Ages 9 to 12 Read alone or together · about 30 minutes

Read together

Historians use sources: things from the past, like letters, objects and records. Each source has a point of view.

Bias means leaning one way. Good readers ask who wrote it, why and for whom.

Do it

1. Choose an event from your family: a move or a holiday. Ask two people to tell it.
2. Notice what each one remembers and what they leave out.
3. Look at a primary source (an old letter or photo) and ask who made it and why.
4. Write two questions you would ask any source.

Talk about it

• Who wrote this, and why?
• What might be missing?

For the grown-up

Weighing sources is the core skill of history and of fair reading online. This site cites its sources for each lesson. Use the same care when your child looks things up.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• Wineburg, S., Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts (Temple University Press, 2001)
• National Archives (United States), educational pages on analysing primary sources

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.