Elementary Students’ Historical Thinking and Levels of Acquisition of Historical Habits of Mind

Providing elementary-aged students with opportunities to engage in authentic historical analysis is crucial to building their historical thinking skills. Teaching with primary and secondary sources allows students opportunities to engage in authentic, disciplined inquiry-based learning experiences where the acquisition of a historical concept is in their hands. Developing social studies instruction utilizing the SOURCES Framework for Teaching with Primary and Secondary Sources is an effective way to scaffold authentic historical inquiry at the upper elementary level. In this study, the researchers sought to explore student levels of acquisition of four historical Habits of Mind when taught using student-centered inquiry-based approaches to instruction. The researchers concluded that each student exhibited the use of Habits of Mind when taught using a student-centered approach to historical inquiry; however, the levels at which the students acquired the Habits varied.