Transcript File - Harrisville 13

8TH GRADE
SOCIAL STUDIES
T. HARRIS @2013
 Today
I will learn how to distinguish between
facts and opinions.
 My job is to identify primary sources,
interpret primary sources, and explain how
they can be used to do research.
 WRITE
3 FACTS
 WRITE 3 OPINIONS
A
fact is something that is true or real.
 A fact can be proven by evidence.
 George
Washington was the first president of
the United States.
 A quadrilateral is any shape that has four
sides.
 There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes
in an hour, and 24 hours in one day.
 An
opinion is different from a fact because it
is a belief or judgment that cannot be
proven.
 Words like “best” and “most” are often clues
that statement is an opinion.
 George
Washington was the best president
the country has ever had.
 Blue is the prettiest color.
 Star Wars is the best movie ever made.
 Primary
sources are original materials. They
are from the time period you are researching
and have not been changed from their first
form.
 The
painting below is an example of a
primary source from the 1800s. It shows the
bombardment of Fort Sumter at the
beginning of the American Civil War.
 diaries
 interviews
 letters
 photographs
 paintings
and sculptures
 birth certificates, death certificates, and
other legal documents
 artifacts
 Secondary
sources are written after the time
period and often are used to interpret
primary sources.

Example: if you read a history book about the
causes of the Civil War, the historian who wrote
the book used primary sources in order to come
up with his or her opinion of what caused the
war. When looking at both primary and secondary
sources, it is important to keep in mind that the
creator of the work might be expressing
their opinion and not just the facts as they
occurred. Knowing about the author or creator of
a work is important when studying any source.
 biographies
 commentaries
 magazine
articles
 book reviews
 textbooks
 journal articles
 We
need to look at purpose, main idea, and
point of view.
 Purpose
is the reason someone has for
writing or creating a source. Often, you can
figure out the purpose of a source by
understanding the intended audience.
 Knowing the intended audience can tell you a
lot of information about why the source was
written.
 Main
idea is a similar concept to purpose.
 The main idea of a source is the basic idea a
writer is trying to share with the reader.
 GOAL: After reading a source, you should be
able to sum up the details of the source in
one or two sentences.
 Anything
that is not the main idea will be
a supporting detail.
 Supporting details are sentences that "help
out" or give more information about the main
idea.
 Point
of view can refer to the background
and perspective of the author of the
source.
 The background of the author can often
influence their opinions.
 Opinions, in turn, can influence what the
author writes about.
 Credibility
is similar to reliability and
accuracy.
 These concepts are important when studying
both primary and secondary sources.
 If a source can be trusted as accurate, then
it is most likely reliable.
 Do
your current event! Study!!!
 www.studyisland.com
 www.google.com
 www.harrisville13.com
 www.schoolrack.com
 www.pitt.k12.nc.us
 www.ecu.edu
 www.thisdayinhistory.com