Bias in Journals

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4 and 5 strengthen critical reading, historical literacy, source analysis, and reasoning skills by examining a fictional diary entry about the Boston Tea Party. Students read a first-person account written from the perspective of a participant and identify emotionally charged or biased language while separating it from factual details. Through close reading and guided analysis, learners gain a clearer understanding of how personal perspective can shape historical narratives.

Learning Goals

• Identifying Bias and Emotional Language (Grades 4-5) – Students recognize words and phrases that reveal opinion, emotion, or personal viewpoint.
• Fact vs. Opinion – Learners distinguish between objective details and subjective statements within a text.
• Analyzing Historical Sources – The activity introduces how historians evaluate reliability in primary source-style documents.
• Critical Thinking – Students explain why separating fact from opinion is essential when studying past events.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with elementary ELA and social studies standards.
• Primary Source-Style Practice – Fictional diary format prepares students for analyzing real historical documents.
• Guided Text Analysis – Underlining and categorizing information encourages close, careful reading.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Works well for independent practice, small groups, discussion lessons, or assessment.
• Low-Prep Printable – Ready for classroom or homeschool use with minimal preparation.

This Bias in Journals worksheet helps students become more thoughtful readers of historical texts by teaching them to recognize emotion, bias, and factual information. By evaluating perspective and reliability, learners strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and historical reasoning skills essential for studying the past accurately.

This worksheet is part of our The Boston Tea Party Worksheets collection.