How do I plan a source-based history enquiry?

Teaching answer · History

How do I plan a source-based history enquiry?

Short answer: Plan a source-based enquiry around a clear historical question, choosing sources that offer different perspectives, and building tasks that move students from comprehending sources to evaluating and using them as evidence. Model the reasoning and scaffold the writing so students argue from evidence to a conclusion.
EnquirySourcesPerspectivesEvidence-based writing

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Step by step

How to do it in the classroom

  1. Set the time & placeA clear overview orients pupils before they dig into detail.
  2. Investigate sourcesPupils weigh evidence and practise thinking like historians.
  3. Explore cause & consequenceStructured tasks build reasoning about why events mattered.
  4. Show understandingWriting and project tasks let pupils demonstrate and apply learning.

Key focus points

What to build in

  • Ancient civilisations
  • Daily life & society
  • Sources & evidence
  • Cause & consequence
  • Historical enquiry

Make it work for everyone

Differentiation & assessment

Source work is scaffolded with sentence stems and glossaries for access, and extended-writing prompts stretch able historians — making the same unit work across a mixed class.

Quick answers

Related questions

How do I plan a source-based history enquiry?

Plan a source-based enquiry around a clear historical question, choosing sources that offer different perspectives, and building tasks that move students from comprehending sources to evaluating and using them as evidence. Model the reasoning and scaffold the writing so students argue from evidence to a conclusion.

What makes a good enquiry question?

One that is genuinely debatable and can be answered from evidence — it gives the sources and the lesson a purpose.

How do I structure the enquiry?

Build from understanding sources to evaluating and using them, ending in a piece of evidence-based writing.

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