Elementary Students' Historical Thinking and Levels of Acquisition of Historical Habits of Mind.

This article examines the use of the SOURCES Framework for Teaching with Primary and Secondary Sources to foster historical thinking and the acquisition of specific historical Habits of Mind among fifth-grade students. The study focused on three Habits of Mind outlined by the National Council for History Education (NCHE): interrogating sources, evolving narrative, and decisions and choices, through an inquiry-based unit centered on immigration experiences at Ellis Island. Findings indicate that students demonstrated authentic engagement with historical thinking skills—such as sourcing, contextualization, corroboration, and close reading—and acquired the targeted Habits of Mind to varying degrees, with interrogating sources being most frequently exhibited and decisions and choices least. The research highlights the effectiveness of the SOURCES Framework in scaffolding authentic historical inquiry at the elementary level, while noting challenges related to instructional time and the need for explicit modeling of Habits of Mind to deepen student understanding.