Guidelines: Summarizing a Social Studies Argument

Summarizing helps students reflect on new learning, capture it in their own words, understand it, and synthesize it with other learning. Use this page to guide students through the process of summary writing.

Before they write their own summaries, have students read and discuss the sample article and summary on page 369.

Then have students use SQ3R to closely read a current-events article or part of a social studies textbook. Have students identify the focus of the reading and the main supporting points.

Present the suggestions for writing the beginning, middle, and ending of the summary.

Then help students improve their work by quipping them with the Checklist for Revising and Editing Social Studies Summaries.

Guidelines: Writing an Editorial

Use this page to help students write editorials expressing opinions about current events, historical periods, or social concerns.

Before students write their own editorials, have them review the editorial on page 371.

Then have students choose a topic that relates to their current studies, research it, and form an opinion.

Once they are ready to draft their editorials, lead students through the suggestions for creating opening, middle, and closing parts.

Afterward, provide them the Checklist for Revising and Editing Editorials.
 

Guidelines: Responding to Document-Based Questions

Document-based questions (DBQs) ask about ideas presented in a series of articles and graphics. Students need to analyze the documents and draw evidence from them to answer the DBQ. Use this page to help students learn best practices for responding to these kinds of questions.

Before they answer their own DBQ, have students review the documents and response on pages 373–375.

When students are ready, provide then a DBQ and ask them to analyze it using the PAST strategy. Then have them use the SQ3R strategy to closely read the documents. After they have done so, they should jot down a thesis statement and a quick list of main details.

Lead students through the instructions for creating an effective opening, middle, and closing.

Then provide them the Checklist for Revising and Editing DBQ Responses, noting that they will not have this checklist in real test environments. However, these are the kinds of questions they should ask themselves as they revise and edit.

Documents 3 and 4

Have students closely read these documents, thinking about the document-based question on page 375. Ask them to note the focus and main points of each document.