Supporting Question
What can we know about the past when the evidence is incomplete?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 1
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Directions: Consider both the investigative and interpretive nature of history, answer the Think question. Then, pair up with a partner and record their answer. Finally, answer the supporting question.
Think: Historian John Fea has noted that “While the past never changes, history changes all the time.” What do you think that means?
Pair: What is your partner’s name? How did they answer the Think question?
Share: Together, answer the supporting question.
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How do we know what we know about the past?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 3
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Directions: Below is a list a ways that historians can exercise epistemological humility when studying history. On the right, rank the list in order from “most essential” to “least essential” based on your own understanding. Then, provide a rationale for your #1 choice.
Rationale:
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
Why should historians understand the past on its own terms?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 4
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Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Source: Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft, 1953. Note: Marc Bloch was a Jewish French Historian who joined the resistance against Nazi Germany. He wrote this entire book in his prison cell after his capture, but was executed it was finished. The book was published posthumously (after his death). |
There are two ways of being impartial: that of the scholar and that of the judge. They have a common root in their honest submission to the truth… However, there comes a moment when their paths divide. When the scholar has observed and explained, his task is finished. It yet remains for the judge to pass sentence… Are we so sure of ourselves and of our age as to divide the company of our forefathers into the just and the damned? How absurd it is, by elevating the entirely relative criteria of one individual, one party, or one generation to the absolute…When the passions of the past blend with the prejudices of the present, human reality is reduced to a picture in black and white… When all is said and done, a single word, “understanding,” is the beacon light of our studies. Let us not say that the true historian is a stranger to emotion: he has that, at all events. “Understanding,” in all honesty, is a word pregnant with difficulties, but also with hope. Moreover, it is a friendly word.… The judge expresses it as: “Who is right, and who is wrong?” The scholar is content to ask: “Why?” and he accepts the fact that the answer may not be simple. |
Questions:
Supporting Question
How can maps shape the way we understand the world?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 5
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Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Directions: In the space below, draw a simple symbolic or abstract “map” that reflects something meaningful to you. This could be a map of community, of home, of identity, etc. Be creative! Then, provide explanation and rationale for your choices.
1. With the concept “maps as arguments” as a guide, provide rationale for the map above and the argument it is making.
Evaluating Perspective
Thinking historically means considering how one's personhood has influenced their perspective. It also means recognizing how diverse viewpoints and experiences shape the understanding of historical events. This allows students of history to cultivate empathy for the people of the past that are studied.
Supporting Question
How do timelines shape historical understanding?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 7
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Directions: Using a combination of writing and drawing, summarize your learnings from today’s lesson on chronology and timelines. For the written component, you must “Say-it-in-Six!” You can use six words (no more, no less), but it does not have to be grammatically correct.
Drawing
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How can multiple interpretations of the same event all be supported by evidence?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 8
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Directions: Answer each of the questions below.
What three important ideas or facts did you learn today?
What is something that squared with or confirmed your prior knowledge?
What is something that is still circling in your head?
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How can evaluating claims lead to a more accurate history?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 9
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Directions: Using a combination of writing and drawing, summarize your learnings from today’s lesson on chronology and timelines. For the written component, you must “Say-it-in-Six!” You can use six words (no more, no less), but it does not have to be grammatically correct.
Drawing
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How can avoiding fallacies help historians better understand the past?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 10
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Directions: Below is a list of the different historians’ fallacies you learned about this lesson. On the right, rank the list in order from “most essential” to “least essential” based on your own understanding. Then, provide a rationale for your #1 choice.
Rationale:
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
What can we know about the past when the evidence is incomplete?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 1 (Exemplar)
©2025 Thinking Nation
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Directions: Consider both the investigative and interpretive nature of history, answer the Think question. Then, pair up with a partner and record their answer. Finally, answer the supporting question.
Think: Historian John Fea has noted that “While the past never changes, history changes all the time.” What do you think that means?
I think it means that the events of the past are fixed, but our understanding of them changes as we find new evidence or look at them from different points of view. Historians are always rethinking the meaning of the past.
Pair: What is your partner’s name? How did they answer the Think question?
My partner’s name is Jordan. They said that the past stays the same, but what we know about it can change because new evidence might be found or people might see it in new ways. They think that’s what makes studying history interesting.
Share: Together, answer the supporting question.
We can know some things about the past even when the evidence is incomplete by carefully investigating artifacts and interpreting their meaning. But we also have to understand that our conclusions might change as we learn more.
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How do we know what we know about the past?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 3 (Exemplar)
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Directions: Below is a list a ways that historians can exercise epistemological humility when studying history. On the right, rank the list in order from “most essential” to “least essential” based on your own understanding. Then, provide a rationale for your #1 choice.
Rationale: I ranked "Be guided by the evidence" as the most essential because it is the foundation of historical thinking. Without strong evidence, all interpretations and claims about the past are weak or untrustworthy. Evidence gives historians the grounding they need to make accurate, fair, and well-supported conclusions.
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
Why should historians understand the past on its own terms?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 4 (Exemplar)
©2025 Thinking Nation
thinkingnation.org
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Source: Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft, 1953. Note: Marc Bloch was a Jewish French Historian who joined the resistance against Nazi Germany. He wrote this entire book in his prison cell after his capture, but was executed it was finished. The book was published posthumously (after his death). |
There are two ways of being impartial: that of the scholar and that of the judge. They have a common root in their honest submission to the truth… However, there comes a moment when their paths divide. When the scholar has observed and explained, his task is finished. It yet remains for the judge to pass sentence… Are we so sure of ourselves and of our age as to divide the company of our forefathers into the just and the damned? How absurd it is, by elevating the entirely relative criteria of one individual, one party, or one generation to the absolute…When the passions of the past blend with the prejudices of the present, human reality is reduced to a picture in black and white… When all is said and done, a single word, “understanding,” is the beacon light of our studies. Let us not say that the true historian is a stranger to emotion: he has that, at all events. “Understanding,” in all honesty, is a word pregnant with difficulties, but also with hope. Moreover, it is a friendly word.… The judge expresses it as: “Who is right, and who is wrong?” The scholar is content to ask: “Why?” and he accepts the fact that the answer may not be simple. |
Questions:
They both aim to seek truth, but their goals are different. The judge decides who is right or wrong, while the scholar tries to understand why things happened.
He warns that judging the past through modern values creates unfair and oversimplified views. He believes the historian's goal is not to judge but to understand, even when it is difficult.
Historical empathy helps us see the past through the lens of those who lived it. It prevents us from unfairly judging people or events and helps us better understand the full complexity of human experiences across time.
Supporting Question
How can maps shape the way we understand the world?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 5 (Exemplar)
©2025 Thinking Nation
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Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Directions: In the space below, draw a simple symbolic or abstract “map” that reflects something meaningful to you. This could be a map of community, of home, of identity, etc. Be creative! Then, provide explanation and rationale for your choices.
1. With the concept “maps as arguments” as a guide, provide rationale for the map above and the argument it is making.
This map shows the different parts of my identity and what guides me. I put school at the top because education is a big part of my goals. Family is also on the right because they support me and are always by my side. Sports are at the bottom because they keep me grounded, and music is also represented because it's how I express myself. I added the compass in the center to show that all of these things work together to give me direction and positivity in life.
Evaluating Perspective
Thinking historically means considering how one's personhood has influenced their perspective. It also means recognizing how diverse viewpoints and experiences shape the understanding of historical events. This allows students of history to cultivate empathy for the people of the past that are studied.
Supporting Question
How do timelines shape historical understanding?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 7 (Exemplar)
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Directions: Using a combination of writing and drawing, summarize your learnings from today’s lesson on chronology and timelines. For the written component, you must “Say-it-in-Six!” You can use six words (no more, no less), but it does not have to be grammatically correct.
Drawing
Order
reveals
meaning
In
life
events
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How can multiple interpretations of the same event all be supported by evidence?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 8 (Exemplar)
©2025 Thinking Nation
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Directions: Answer each of the questions below.
What three important ideas or facts did you learn today?
What is something that squared with or confirmed your prior knowledge?
I already knew that the Silk Road was a major trade route between Asia and Europe and that silk was a big part of it, so it made sense that it became such a famous term.
What is something that is still circling in your head?
I’m still thinking about how much our modern view of history is shaped by who tells the story. It makes me wonder: what else in history might be labeled or framed in a way that hides the full truth?
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________
Supporting Question
How can evaluating claims lead to a more accurate history?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 9 (Exemplar)
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Directions: Using a combination of writing and drawing, demonstrate the main idea of today’s lesson. However, for your written component, you must “Say-it-in-Six!” You can use six words (no more, no less), but it does not have to be grammatically correct.
Drawing
Supporting Question
How can avoiding fallacies help historians better understand the past?
Unit 1: Thinking Like a Historian
Exit Ticket - Lesson 10
©2025 Thinking Nation
thinkingnation.org
Directions: Below is a list of the different historians’ fallacies you learned about this lesson. On the right, rank the list in order from “most essential” to “least essential” based on your own understanding. Then, provide a rationale for your #1 choice.
Rationale: I chose the fallacy of false dichotomous questions as most essential because if historians start with a bad question, they are likely to get a misleading or limited answer. When we’re forced to pick between two extremes, we ignore the complexity of the past. Good history depends on asking open, thoughtful questions that allow for multiple perspectives.
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________ Class: ____________________