Digging up the Past: An Introduction to using Evidence as a Historian

This lesson is great for a brand new year 7 class and requires minimum preparation. You will need a suitcase of your possessions though as the lesson requires students to handle objects and make inferences as to what kind of person might own that stuff. I have done this lesson several times and I take things such as:

a travel guide
the case to Resident Evil V for Xbox 360
a picture of my goddaughter
an old pipe
a jar of marmite
a caribena
a copy of George Orwell's 1984

The better the objects, the better this lesson will go. I once encountered a teacher who used the contents of her handbag and the lesson flopped. You want to create some intrigue and use this lesson as the basis for building a relationship with your students and allowing them to get to know you.

The homework task allows students to select their own objects as evidence of who THEY are, all the while making inferences before they even get it drummed into them that that is a skill. Speaking of skills, here are the learning outcomes:

ALL students will know what evidence is and how we use it to build a picture
MOST Students will be able to make inferences from the evidence and link evidence
SOME Students will be able to explain how evidence can lead to misunderstandings