Back to the History Kit Page

Activity 25: Comparing Information

 

Meets EALR: Social Studies, History

2.2 analyze historical information

compare and contrast information from different historical sources as grade level appropriate

 

Objective: Read two articles about the same place or event and compare how each author chose to portray the event.  Students discover how different information can be gathered when using more than one resource to learn about history.

 

Materials: books; The Past at Present,  This Was Issaquah and Preserving the Stories of Issaquah, board, large sheet of paper, or overhead to write on

 

Procedure:

Part I

  1. Show the picture of the bridge on page 24 of The Past at Present and the same picture of the bridge on page 60 of This Was Issaquah.  Ask students if they think the articles next to each photo will be the same since they both use the same photo. 
  2. Read the titles of the articles that accompany these photos.  Let students predict which each article will be about.
  3. Make a two-column table or a Venn diagram on the board.  Label one column or circle “City Park” and the other “Bridges and People Come and Go.”  Read the captions under the photos.   List the main ideas from each of the captions in the appropriate column or section on the board. 
  4. Compare the information.  What is the same information given in both captions and what is different information?
  5. Allow students to revise their predictions as to what each article is about.
  6. Read the first paragraph of each article to the class.  Continue to fill in the table or Venn diagram with main ideas, and then compare the information.

 

Part II

1.      Compare two articles about the same event, the Monohan fire.  Read the article on page 100 of This was Issaquah, The day Monohan burned, to the class.

2.      Then read the article on page 38 of Preserving the Stories of Issaquah,
Sawmills by Eric Erickson.

3.      Make a two-column chart or Venn diagram, and write the main ideas of each article in the appropriate places.  Compare the information that is the same and different.

4.      Discuss how reading more than one article, or using more than one source can provide new or additional information about an event in history.