Chronological Thinking

Historical Thinking Standard One & Alignment to Common Core
Historical Thinking Standard Common Core Standards
*RH=Reading History
*RI=Reading Informational Text
Standard One: Chronological Thinking

  1. Distinguish between past, present, and future time.
  2. Identify in historical narratives the temporal structure of a historical narrative or story: its beginning, middle, and end (the latter defined as the outcome of a particular beginning)
  3. Establish temporal order in constructing historical narratives of their own: working forward from some beginning through its development, to some end or outcome; working backward from some issue, problem, or event to explain its origins and its development over time.
  4. Measure and calculate calendar time*: BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, “in the year of our Lord”) in the Gregorian calendar and the contemporary secular designation for these same dates, BCE (before the Common Era) and CE (in the Common Era); and compare with the fixed points of other calendar systems such as the Roman (753 BC, the founding of the city of Rome) and the Muslim (622 AD, the hegira).
  5. Interpret data presented in time lines: Interpret data presented in time lines and create time lines by designating appropriate equidistant intervals of time and recording events according to the temporal order in which they occurred
  6. Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration in which historical developments have unfolded, and apply them to explain historical continuity and change
  7. Compare alternative models for periodization by identifying the organizing principles on which each is based.
Key Ideas and Details

RH 9-10.3: Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

RH 9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

Craft and Structure

RI 5.5: Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.

RH 6-8.5: Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).