Writing+in+Social+Studies

Here are some great resources gathered by a teacher - []

Writing/Research Skills
How can a Social Studies student show that he or she has a thorough understanding of a topic? By writing. Writing is so very important to the social studies student. I have collected what I think are some of the most helpful sites

Reading
[|AP US History - Study Skills: Improving Your Reading Skills]Good Advice from the people who administer the AP program. This also applies to the World History AP course. [|Identifying the Argument of an Essay]Created by Metropolitan Community College, this is labelled as a tutorial in critical reasoning.

Note Taking
[|Note Taking]Created by a History professor at North Carolina State. [|Note Taking]From Muskingum College Center for Advancement and Learning [|Note Taking Skills]Some good hints if this is a weakness [|Note Taking Skills]From the Academic Resource Center at Sweet Briar College [|Slatta's Lazy S Ranch Home Range]Click on Notetaking in the left hand frame. Professor at North Carolina State University [|Taking Lecture and Class Notes]Dartmouth University

Comprehensive
[|CORE: Comprehensive Online Research Education] An interactive tutorial designed to help students learn effective research strategies. Includes a variety of modules including Topic Evaluation, Internet, and Evaluating Sources. This site does require that you logon, but you can logon as guest. [|The Historian's Toolbox]A 6 part tutorial designed for beginning college History majors. [|History Writing Guides] One of the best college sites. Prepared by Bowdoin College. Extensive guide that covers the reading, writing, researching and evaluating of history. A must for all AP students [|IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing] Prepared by the Internet Public Library, this guide is written for teenagers. [|Jules Benjamin, A Student's Guide to History]Contains sections on Study Assignments and Writing Assignments in History Courses, How to Research a History Topic, and How to Write a History Paper. [|Reading, Writing and Research for History: a Guide for College Students]Produced by Bowdoin College [|Student Experience Studies - Tutorials, How-to's & Step-by-Step Instructions]A great collection of information to help you work more effeciently, especially if you have Microsoft Office. [|A Student's Guide to the Study of History -- Main] Written by a college professor as a guide for any student studying history. Contains segments on taking notes in class, studying, as well as the various aspects of writing. [|Study Guides and Strategies] Created by the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota. Contains sections on Preparing to Learn, Classroom Participation, Preparing for Tests, Writing Basics, Studying, Reading Skills, Taking Tests, and Webtruth. [|Study Skills][|UW-Madison Writing Center Writer's Handbook] Very clearly written in a conversational tone rather than just a list of how-to.<

Writing
[|AP US History Essay Writing Tips and Tutorials]Tutorials on Understanding Essay Prompts and on The Thesis Sentence [|AP US History - Study Skills: Improving Your Writing Skil]ls Very good advice from the people who administer the AP program. Also applies to the World History AP course. [|Basic Guide to Essay Writing] The title says it all; contains some xamples. [|The Five Paragraph Essay Wizard- Persuasive Essay and prompts] Easy to understand approach to writing the five paragraph essay. [|Glossary of Exam Terms][|How to Write a Compare Contrast Thesis]Written by a WHAP teacher. [|How to Write A Historical Essay]Provided by an APUS History teacher. [|How to Write History Essays] A college professor's how-to guide, but this one uses humor. [|Mrs. Ruland's Cues for Quality Writing] Online version of the handout given to 9th grade US History [|Mrs. Ruland's Hints for Academic Writing]Online version of the handout given to APUS [|Mrs. Ruland's How to Create a Precis]Instructions on creating a certain type of summary [|Mrs. Ruland's Writing History Essays: A Series of Mini-Lessons]Online version of the in-class lessons. [|OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts] Nice collection that deals with planning to write, effective writing, and revising and proofreading. [|Paisley Currah's Writing Guide]Brooklyn College, CUNY [|Paradigm Online Writing Assistant] Very nice collection of lessons on organizing, revising, editing, documenting sources as well as the various types of essays. [|Social Sciences: General advice for non-majors] Provided by Dartmouth College to assist non-majors. Another great site for AP students [|Thesis Statement]Shows examples of the difference between weak and strong thesis [|Thesis Statements: What Are They?]Nice concise discussion of the thesis statement [|Writing Guide]Produced by Rutgers University History Department [|10 Commandments of Good Historical Writing by Theron F. Schlabach]Nice set of "rules" for writing a history paper.

Plagiarism
[|Mrs. Ruland's Tutorial on Plagiarism and Paraphrasing] Avoid the pitfalls and problems of plagiarism and learn how to paraphrase. [|Avoiding Plagiarism][|Earl Babbie -- Plagiarism] Wonderful site that contains examples of acceptable and unacceptable paraphrasing. Learn how to avoid problems [|Everything You Need To Know About Detecting Plagiarism and Preventing It]This site is useful for both teachers and students. [|OWL: Avoiding Plagiarism] Very nice clear information on when to document sources. Very nice practice exercise. [|Plagiarism Tutorial]Select Flash or Non-Flash version from San Jose State Univeristy [|What is Plagiarism?]Prepared by the History News Network [|You Quote It, You Note It!]Fun animated tutorial from Vaughan Memorial Library in Canada.

Research
Remember that research on the Internet is not the same as surfing the Internet. Being able to find appropriate and useful information requires different skills.

[|Finding Information on the Internet] Very nice tutorial from UC Berkley on how to find information; includes how to use search engines effectively. [|A Helpful Guide to Search Engines]Not as clear as some. History: A Research Guide [|Internet Detective]Interactive tutorial that covers doing research on the Internet and evaluating the results [|Literary Criticism]Internet Public Libary guide to finding literary criticism on the Internet [|Online Research Guide]Prepared by the Springfield Township High School, PA [|OWL: Handouts: Research and Documenting Sources] Clear discussion of many issues regarding research. [|OWL: Internet Research: Searching the World Wide Web] This is a great resource if you are sometimes unable to find the information you want; it may be your searching skills. Try the interactive tutorial too. [|Research and Documentation Online]Contains information on Finding Sources and Documenting Sources in the Humanities, Social Sciences and History. Includes sample MLA paper, APA paper, and //Chicago// paper. [|Searching for Reliable Resources]Interesting WebQuest prepared by Sacramento State University [|A Student's Guide to WWW Research: Web Searching, Web Page Evaluation, and Research Strategies] This site is for the beginner but can also help more experienced searchers. It starts with the anatomy of a web page, discusses the types of pages, and discuses how to search. [|Using the Internet as a Resource for Historical Research and Writing] This is the more involved site for those who already know the basics, but want to learn how to do it even better. [|Using Primary Sources on the Web]How to find, evaluate, and site a primary document. [|Vaughn Memorial Libary Tutorials]Nice collection of fun tutorials dealing with various aspects of the research process and the use of materials [|21st Century Information Fluency]Good site if your internet research skills a weak

Evaluating Internet Resources
Once you have found some Internet resources, you must be able to evaluate just how useful/valid/accurate they are. Anyone can put anything on the Internet. It doesn't have to be truthful. These sites can help you learn how to recognize the good from the bad.

[|Checklist for Evaluating Web Resources] Nice, simple checklist [|Evaluating Web Information] Provides a number of questions and tips to use when looking for quality information. Discusses authority, coverage, objectivity, accuracy and currency; provides examples for each; has a practice exercise. [|Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask] Nice interactive tutorial from UC Berkley [|Evaluating Web Resources] Contains checklists for the various types of web pages as well as how to recognize them. Discusses advocacy, business/marketing informational, news and personal web pages. [|Evaluating Web Sites]Nice site from Cornell University Library. [|Evaluation Criteria from "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources"]Very clear checklist. [|Five criteria for evaluating Web pages] Nice chart with criteria and how to evaluate the basic elements. [|How to Evaluate the Information You Find][|ICYouSee: T is for Thinking] Great interactive tutorial from Ithica College. Approach it with an open mind, do all the activities, and you will have an understanding of the problem and how to protect yourself. [|Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Critical Evaluation Surveys and Resources]With the advent of the World Wide Web and the huge amount of information that is contained there, students need to be able to critically evaluate a Web page for authenticity, applicability, authorship, bias, and usability. The ability to critically evaluate information is an important skill in this information age. [|Rating System for Evaluating Public History Web Sites][|Reading News Critically] This is a nice WebQuest for recognizing bias. [|A Student's Guide to WWW Research: Web Searching, Web Page Evaluation, and Research Strategies] Sections of this guide deal with evaluating for relevance, authority and accuracy. [|Vaughan Memorial Library Tutorials - Credible Sources Count]A fun interactive tutorial designed to teach students how to evaluate the information they find on the web. [|Web Page Evaluation Worksheet] [|WYSIWYG: Web Site Reliability WebQuest] Nice way to step through the process.

Working With Sources
This is particularly important for the AP students who will have to learn how to answer a Document Based Question (DBQ). However, all my students are expected to interpret maps, charts, political cartoons, and a wide variety of primary and secondary sources.

[|DBQ/CRQ: Teaching with Documents by Peter Pappas] Contains a variety of worksheets designed for the different types of documents used in social studies. Includes discussion of how to identify the various types of sources and how to analyze them. [|Do History]Site that shows you how to piece together the past from the fragments that have survived using a case study. Part of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. [|Focus on Cartoons]Created by the British National Archive Learning Curve [|Focus on Film]Created by the British National Archive Learning Curve [|Focus on How to Read a Document]Created by the British National Archive Learning Curve [|Football DBQ] A fun exercise that demonstrates the importance of POV [|History Writing Guides] Bowdoin College guide on how to read and evaluate primary sources. [|How to Read a Document] Great tutorial on POV [|How to Use Primary Sources]The New Jersey Historical Society has created this fun series of lessons using a variety of documents in their collection to demonstrate how different types of primary sources can be analysed and used. [|Making Sense of Documents]History Matters site that combines how-to guides on making sense of oral history, numbers, American popular songs, photography, letters and diaries as well as a series of pages featuring scholars in action analyzing a variety of documents. [|Making Sense of Films]In-depth essay with examples. [|Making Sense of Maps] Good basic information. [|Mrs. Ruland's Document Based Question (DBQ) Essay Hints][|Mrs. Ruland's How to Use Evidence][|NARA | Digital Classroom | Teaching With Documents: Document Analysis Worksheets] The various document analysis worksheets used in class. [|Primary Source Document Exercise]This exercise was created by the Smithsonian as a way to introduce students to the use, comparison, and evaluation of primary source documents. [|Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement]Create by Dartmouth College [|Teacher Resources - The Historian's Sources Lesson Overview] Wonderful interactive lesson on primary sources. [|The Use of Evidence][|Using Primary Sources on the Web]Interesting tutorial with examples; deals with finding, evaluating and citing primary sources. [|Why Study History Through Primary Sources] MORE SITES:

RAFTS - [] Powerpoint highlighting strategies - []#