Checking Sources Against Each Other
METACorroborate: check whether multiple sources agree on the same facts — and investigate why they might not
Mastery Evidence
- Wineburg corroboration heuristic
- Historical Thinking in the Elementary Years (ERIC)
Assessment Prompt
“If [child] was trying to find out what really happened in a historical event, would they know to look at more than one source and compare what they say?”
Prerequisites5
- Different Accounts of the Same EventsoftAges 6—8
- Describing Rules & PatternssoftAges 8—9
- Questioning Historical SourceshardAges 8—10
- Vocabulary: historical thinkinghardAges 6—10
- Evidence-Based WritingsoftAges 9—11
Show full prerequisite tree
- Different Accounts of the Same Event soft
Corroboration builds directly on the understanding that accounts can differ — it is the systematic practice of comparing those differences
- Evidence from the Past hard
Recognising that accounts can differ requires first understanding that accounts exist because people left behind evidence
- Thinking Before Starting soft
Understanding that knowledge of the past comes from surviving evidence builds on the habit of activating prior knowledge — what do I already know, and where did that knowledge come from?
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
Understanding that everything we know comes from evidence requires 'evidence' and 'source' vocabulary
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Comparing Characters Across Stories soft
Recognising that different people give different accounts of the same event is the historical application of the English skill of comparing and contrasting two texts on the same topic
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Comparing and contrasting characters or texts draws on the universal habit of connecting new ideas to existing knowledge
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Feelings Change and Differ soft
Comparing characters' adventures and reactions in stories is enriched by the foundational SEL understanding that the same event can make different people feel differently
- Spotting Patterns soft
Identifying patterns and similarities across texts is the reading form of the universal pattern-recognition habit
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Spotting patterns across domains is an extension of the habit of connecting new ideas to existing ones
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
Recognising that different accounts exist requires 'source', 'perspective', and 'interpretation' vocabulary
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Spotting Patterns soft
Recognising that accounts diverge in systematic ways — based on who is telling the story — is an application of the universal pattern-recognition habit
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Spotting patterns across domains is an extension of the habit of connecting new ideas to existing ones
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Describing Rules & Patterns soft
Corroboration involves forming a generalisation from multiple instances of evidence — the universal generalisation habit applied to historical sources
- Spotting Patterns hard
Generalising a rule requires first being able to spot the recurring pattern that the rule captures
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Spotting patterns across domains is an extension of the habit of connecting new ideas to existing ones
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Questioning Historical Sources hard
Corroborating across sources requires first knowing how to evaluate each source individually through sourcing
- Different Accounts of the Same Event hard
Sourcing — asking who made this and why — is the analytical tool for explaining why accounts of the same event differ
- Evidence from the Past hard
Recognising that accounts can differ requires first understanding that accounts exist because people left behind evidence
- Thinking Before Starting soft
Understanding that knowledge of the past comes from surviving evidence builds on the habit of activating prior knowledge — what do I already know, and where did that knowledge come from?
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
Understanding that everything we know comes from evidence requires 'evidence' and 'source' vocabulary
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Comparing Characters Across Stories soft
Recognising that different people give different accounts of the same event is the historical application of the English skill of comparing and contrasting two texts on the same topic
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Comparing and contrasting characters or texts draws on the universal habit of connecting new ideas to existing knowledge
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Feelings Change and Differ soft
Comparing characters' adventures and reactions in stories is enriched by the foundational SEL understanding that the same event can make different people feel differently
- Spotting Patterns soft
Identifying patterns and similarities across texts is the reading form of the universal pattern-recognition habit
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Spotting patterns across domains is an extension of the habit of connecting new ideas to existing ones
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
Recognising that different accounts exist requires 'source', 'perspective', and 'interpretation' vocabulary
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Spotting Patterns soft
Recognising that accounts diverge in systematic ways — based on who is telling the story — is an application of the universal pattern-recognition habit
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Spotting patterns across domains is an extension of the habit of connecting new ideas to existing ones
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Reading between the lines soft
Interrogating historical sources with critical questions builds on the skill of asking and answering questions about key details in non-fiction texts
- Inferring Characters' Feelings and Motives soft
Asking who made a source, when, and why — and interpreting what that means — requires the inference skills developed in English reading comprehension
- Predicting what happens next soft
Drawing inferences about characters' feelings and justifying them with evidence is enriched by prior experience predicting what might happen next — both require reading ahead of the literal text
- Reading between the lines hard
Inferring characters' feelings/motives with evidence builds on identifying key details and making simple inferences
- Self-Correcting While Reading soft
Inferring and justifying inferences with text evidence requires the metacognitive habit of checking that the text makes sense as you read — a reader who doesn't self-monitor will miss the cues on which inference depends
- Monitoring Comprehension soft
Self-correcting while reading requires the awareness that decoding correctly is not the same as understanding
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading for Meaning hard
Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Checking that a text makes sense while reading and self-correcting is the reading-domain form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Reading comprehension monitoring builds on earlier fluency skills
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Story Sequence and Central Message soft
Drawing inferences about motivations is enriched by the prior ability to understand and discuss the sequence of events and connections between them — inference relies on understanding what happened and in what order
- Main Topic of Informational Texts soft
Understanding main topic and key details of informational texts supports discussing how items of information are related
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Expressive reading supports comprehension of sequence and meaning
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Drawing inferences from complex texts requires academic vocabulary for reasoning about evidence and argument
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
Evaluating a source requires 'primary source', 'secondary source', 'bias' vocabulary
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Understanding Why soft
Sourcing is elaborative interrogation applied to historical documents — asking not just what it says but why it was made
- Teaching It Back hard
Asking 'why does this work?' requires first being able to explain what you know — interrogation builds on explanation
- Explaining Mathematical Reasoning soft
The universal self-explanation habit (LtL 7-8) builds on the maths-specific practice of explaining reasoning when prompted (MT 6-7)
- Showing Your Working hard
Age 6-7 explaining with diagrams/logic builds on age 5-6 showing and telling with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs soft
Explaining part-part-whole decompositions exercises showing and telling
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Number bonds to 9 soft
Explaining how to find number bonds to 10 exercises showing thinking with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs hard
Making 10 is a specific application of decomposing numbers into pairs
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Listening and responding soft
Explaining mathematical reasoning orally requires basic listening and responding skills
- What the equals sign means soft
Determining whether equations are true/false exercises evaluating and justifying
- Reading +, −, and = symbols hard
Deep understanding of = requires already being able to read and write number sentences
- Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
Writing number sentences requires reading and writing numerals
- How Many in Total? hard
Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Writing digits 0-9 hard
Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Reading/writing the + symbol requires understanding what addition means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
Reading/writing the − symbol requires understanding what subtraction means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Understanding commutativity of addition requires understanding addition
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Explaining in your own words requires connecting new learning to existing knowledge already held in mind
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
Corroborating sources requires the term 'corroborate' and 'evidence'
- Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
- Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
- Defining Words soft
Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Evidence-Based Writing soft
Corroborating information across multiple historical sources requires the skill of drawing and evaluating evidence from informational texts, as taught in English
- Short Research Projects soft
Research and note-taking skills support the ability to gather and organise evidence from informational sources
- Writing Process Vocabulary soft
Shared research and writing uses 'genre', 'purpose', 'audience', 'plan', and 'draft' vocabulary
- Writing Craft Vocabulary soft
Research projects require 'evidence', 'argument', 'perspective', and 'purpose' vocabulary
- Representing numbers with objects (age 8+) soft
Cross-subject: independent research projects may involve collecting and presenting data using charts and graphs
- Pictograms and tally charts hard
Constructing simple pictograms/tables is prerequisite to scaled versions
- Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
Constructing pictograms, tally charts, and bar charts requires these display vocabulary terms
- Sorting into categories hard
Constructing pictograms and tally charts requires classifying and counting objects first
- Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
- Counting objects to 20 soft
Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Counting objects to 20 hard
Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Sorting Data into Categories soft
Data representation formats (pictograms, tally charts) support organising data
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
Organising and representing data requires data, tally, frequency, and category vocabulary
- Sorting into categories hard
Organising data in categories builds on classifying and counting objects in categories
- Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
- Counting objects to 20 soft
Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Counting objects to 20 hard
Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
Drawing scaled bar charts and pictograms requires axis, scale, label, and frequency vocabulary
- Sorting Data into Categories hard
Drawing picture/bar graphs extends organising and representing data
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
Organising and representing data requires data, tally, frequency, and category vocabulary
- Sorting into categories hard
Organising data in categories builds on classifying and counting objects in categories
- Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
- Counting objects to 20 soft
Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Counting objects to 20 hard
Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Main Ideas & Note-Taking soft
Note-taking for research benefits from summarising and recording skills
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
Summarising builds on identifying main topic in informational texts
- Self-Correcting While Reading soft
Retrieving and summarising main ideas from multi-paragraph texts requires active self-monitoring comprehension — noticing when something doesn't make sense and re-reading to fix it
- Monitoring Comprehension soft
Self-correcting while reading requires the awareness that decoding correctly is not the same as understanding
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading for Meaning hard
Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Checking that a text makes sense while reading and self-correcting is the reading-domain form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Reading comprehension monitoring builds on earlier fluency skills
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Story Sequence and Central Message hard
Identifying main ideas from multiple paragraphs and summarising builds on the prior skill of discussing sequence of events and how information items are related in shorter texts
- Main Topic of Informational Texts soft
Understanding main topic and key details of informational texts supports discussing how items of information are related
- Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
Expressive reading supports comprehension of sequence and meaning
- Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
Non-fiction structures build on Y1 informational text main topic
- Main Topic & Key Details hard
Drawing evidence from informational texts requires the ability to identify main ideas across paragraphs
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
Multi-paragraph main idea analysis builds on identifying main topic and key details in simpler texts
Unlocks3
- Historical Sources on Ancient EgyptsoftAges 11—13
- Evidence Versus InterpretationhardAges 10—11
- Who Really Built the PyramidssoftAges 12—14