Class: Junior Secondary School 1 (JSS1)
Term: First Term
Week: 2
Age: 12 years
Duration: 45 minutes
Subject: History
Curriculum Theme: History
Previous Lesson: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources of History
Topic: Differences Between History and Storytelling
Subject Matter: Differences Between History and Storytelling

Specific Objectives

By the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:

define history and storytelling;
identify features shared by history and storytelling;
distinguish evidence-based historical accounts from imaginative stories;
revise a short account by labelling fact, evidence and invention;

Reference Materials

9-Year Basic Education Curriculum for History
Approved JSS1 History textbook and state scheme of work
Teacher-checked library, museum or archive material relevant to the topic

Instructional Materials

one short historical account and one folktale
fact-evidence-imagination sorting cards
comparison chart

Rationale for the Lesson

Stories can preserve memory and values, but a historical account must answer questions about sources and evidence. Learners need this distinction without dismissing oral traditions that can be investigated historically.

Prerequisite/Previous Knowledge

Learners can retell a familiar story and can identify the beginning, events and ending of an account.

Lesson Content/Board Summary

History and Storytelling

History and storytelling can both describe past people and events, but their main purposes and methods differ. A historical account makes claims that should be checked against evidence and placed in time and context. A story may entertain, teach a moral or express imagination and does not always claim that every event happened.

Main Differences

Evidence: history cites sources; fiction may be invented.
Time: history arranges change through dates, periods and sequence; a story may rearrange time for effect.
Verification: historical claims can be compared with other evidence; fictional events are not verified in the same way.
Purpose: history explains a supported past; storytelling may entertain, warn, celebrate or teach.

Where They Meet

Oral traditions are told as narratives and can contain valuable historical information. They must still be examined for the identity of the narrator, changes during retelling and support from other sources. A historical novel may use a real setting but invent characters or dialogue. Learners should ask: “Which part is an evidenced claim, and which part is creative presentation?”

Worked Comparison

“Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960” is a historical claim that can be checked in laws, newspapers, photographs and official records. A tale about an imaginary child attending the ceremony may help a reader picture the period, but the invented child is not historical evidence. A storyteller can also relate a true account; the difference lies in the claim, evidence and method, not merely whether the account is spoken.

Teaching Methods/Instructional Techniques

Source-based enquiry, guided observation, modelling, comparison, collaborative analysis and evidence-focused questioning.

Instructional Procedures

Step 1: Paired Reading

Time: 5 minutes
Teacher’s Activity: Reads a folktale and a short sourced historical account.
Learners’ Activity: Listen for similarities and differences.
Learning Check: The teacher checks the stated product or explanation before moving on.

Step 2: Shared Features

Time: 9 minutes
Teacher’s Activity: Identifies sequence, people, place and explanation in both accounts.
Learners’ Activity: Complete the shared-features column.
Learning Check: The teacher checks the stated product or explanation before moving on.

Step 3: Key Difference

Time: 10 minutes
Teacher’s Activity: Models source citation, corroboration and uncertainty in history.
Learners’ Activity: Underline evidence and circle imaginative additions.
Learning Check: The teacher checks the stated product or explanation before moving on.

Step 4: Account Repair

Time: 9 minutes
Teacher’s Activity: Provides a mixed paragraph containing supported facts and invented detail.
Learners’ Activity: Rewrite it with evidence labels or cautious wording.
Learning Check: The teacher checks the stated product or explanation before moving on.

Step 5: Review

Time: 7 minutes
Teacher’s Activity: Uses new examples to test the distinction.
Learners’ Activity: Explain classifications with reasons.
Learning Check: The teacher checks the stated product or explanation before moving on.

Objective-aligned checks:

define history and storytelling.
identify features shared by history and storytelling.
distinguish evidence-based historical accounts from imaginative stories.

Step 6: Conclusion

Time: 5 minutes
Teacher’s Activity: Summarises the lesson through the research question and corrects unsupported claims.
Learners’ Activity: State one conclusion, its supporting evidence and one remaining question.

Lesson Keywords

history — evidence-based study of the past
source — material from which information is obtained
evidence — information used to support or question a claim
interpretation — an explanation based on selected evidence
context — the circumstances surrounding a source or event

Lesson Evaluation

Define storytelling and history.
State two features they may share.
Give two differences between them.
Explain why an oral story can still be useful to a historian.
Identify the unsupported sentence in a short account and say how to check it.

Assignment/Homework

Write six sentences retelling a family or community story. Label what came from a named source and mark any part that cannot yet be verified.

Differentiation

Support: Provide labelled source cards, sentence starters and a partially completed evidence table.
Extension: Learners explain why an enjoyable account is not automatically false and a serious-sounding account is not automatically historical.
Accessibility: Permit paired reading, oral recording, enlarged print or tactile-safe replicas where appropriate.

Note for Teachers

Avoid saying that all stories are fiction. Oral tradition can be historical evidence, but it must be attributed, contextualised and compared with other evidence where possible.