2. What types of writing have you done in your history classes?
What is history?
What types of writing have you done in your history classes?
What does it mean to write history “as a historian”?
Students should be led to the understanding that the term “history” includes people and events from the past as well as the record of those people and events. William Kashatus characterizes these two components as “past history,” in that the events have already happened, and “present history,” in that they were written about at a later time. Bob Bain refers to them as “history-as-event” and “history-as-account,” respectively. The contested, uncertain nature of present history, or history-as-account, should be brought out to help students realize that history is not so cut and dried, but open to interpretation.
Students should be able to brainstorm different types of things they have done in their past classes, such as essays, reports, journals, speeches, debates. All of these types of writing incorporate the content of “past history” in a variety of formats. Most of this writing is “about” history, rather than “writing history” in the disciplinary sense.
Historians act as scientists who investigate and examine the clues and remains from the past to make reasonable claims and draw conclusions. At the most basic level, historians are storytellers who seek to provide a narrative of the past. At a more advanced level, they are like detectives and lawyers who seek to find evidence and formulate an argument from it, providing a clearer understanding of the past.

3. Ask students questions about the two images to build upon the content of the previous slide. Sample questions include:
What do you see? (A document and a book, or the Declaration of Independence and a book on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence.)
What is the difference between the two examples, historically speaking? (The former is a primary source, the latter a secondary source; the former was written over 200 years ago, the latter much more recently.)
How are these items similar? (Perhaps a Venn diagram would be useful.) Both documents are related to history and are sources of history. They both give insight to the American Revolutionary era and the actions of the Founders.
Help students to understand the difference between primary sources and secondary sources, and between past history (the Declaration of Independence) and present history (“We Hold These Truths”) as they relate to the two examples. Help students to realize that both types of documents and types of writing are essential to understanding history, and in fact both types of writing are history.

4. 1. What do you notice about this document?
2. What type of document is this?
3. Why was this document produced?
4. What went into producing this document?
To begin to consider some of the elements that contribute to historical writing, spend some time utilizing a draft version of the Declaration of Independence. Use student responses to highlight the role in the writing process (the draft version of the Declaration) of research, purpose, audience, peer involvement, and revision. These questions are a prelude to the elements of historical writing that the PowerPoint® will bring out:
Students should pick up on the draft nature of the document—the Declaration of Independence with lines through portions of the text. Even great writers require multiple drafts and revisions.
Students should identify this a primary source: an original document or artifact that provides a firsthand account of a given event. Writing in history is typically based upon primary sources.
The document was produced to explain to the world why the 13 Colonies were declaring their independence from Great Britain. Historical writing has a purpose for being produced: to explain, present, and persuade.
Research into the writings of others (such as John Locke) provided a foundation for the document. Students must read, research, sift through sources, and consider ideas and evidence while in the process of writing.

5. Consider a historical question or problem
Research and sift through the available sources
Draw inferences and conclusions to create a thesis
Organize information and evidence
Writing, feedback, revision, and editing
Complete and submit the work
Question: Which step is the most critical?
“History” comes from a Greek word meaning “inquiry.” The writing process in history starts with a historical question or problem, such as, “Why was slavery more important to the economy of the South than the North?” or, “To what extent did political factors contribute to the onset of the Civil War?”
Analyzing primary and secondary sources is critical to the writing process, as history is not an exercise in speculation, but in culling possible interpretations from the remnants of the historical record. In that sense, historians must be like detectives combing through documents and sources of the past.
Based upon the available sources, historians can draw some reasonable conclusions. Other historians may see the same evidence in a different light due to their bias or point of view. Historians incorporate their conclusions into a thesis or central argument that they then attempt to “prove” in their writing.
Historians usually do not engage in free verse. Rather, they organize their ideas and arguments into a coherent presentation utilizing time (chronology), the evidence, the elements of storytelling, and their individual voice and creativity.
As with the Declaration of Independence, historians write multiple drafts of their work. Based upon the feedback from their peers and personal reflection on their work, historians seek to arrive at clarity and credibility. The final step is completing and submitting their work for assessment or publication.
Have students dialog in twos and threes on the question of which step is most critical. Guide them to consider what is most important to you as a teacher.

6. Why do historians write?
What might be some reasons for writing in history classes?
What are the purposes for different types of writing?
What is the audience’s role in historical writing?
Historians may write for many purposes. Telling a narrative or story, explaining why things are the way they are, or to provide an interpretation that challenges commonly held views. Additional possibilities include making a living or supporting the views of a political or social movement.
Students write history to learn history, to think about history, to demonstrate their understanding of history, to empathize with the people of the past, to practice critical thinking—to learn to think as a historian.
Writing a journal entry differs from writing a timed essay or a research paper. Journal writing helps to capture spur-of-the-moment thoughts or reflections upon learning. Timed essays seek to determine what someone knows for the purpose of assessment. Research papers allow for the elements of research, collaboration, and the writing process. In short, the type of thinking and parameters of time and resources available help to determine the purpose of historical writing.
The audience has an important role in shaping what writing is produced. Writing for personal reflection will differ from writing intended for publication. Most writing in school is for the consumption of teachers or peers. Awareness of the criteria for evaluation (as explained via rubrics, checklists, etc.) should shape the writing that is produced. It is incumbent upon teachers to make their expectations clear to students. Knowing these expectations and mastering them is therefore the responsibility of students.

7. The importance of addressing the prompt TAP: Topic, Audience, Purpose
What is a prompt?
The importance of addressing the prompt
TAP: Topic, Audience, Purpose
Prompt Analysis—Practice
Common terms found in prompts:
Prompts are tools for guiding students in their writing. Also referred to as the task, question, or stimulus, a prompt tells students what content they need to write about and in what manner.
Student failure to address the prompt accurately and thoroughly is a major reason for poor writing. (Of course, not having anything to write about also contributes.) Before diving into the task, students should spend time breaking down the prompt into manageable bites. Paraphrasing the prompt, using an organizer to categorize evidence, and underlining key terms dealing with the type of response required and the specific events, times, or people involved may all be useful. Reviewing one’s introduction to see if all of the parts of the prompt are touched on provides a useful way to avoid having to tack on something at the end.
The acronym TAP helps students to think about the key elements of any prompt: What is my topic? Who is my audience? What is my purpose in writing?
These terms are typically found in school or AP* history writing assignments. Setting up a word wall displaying these terms and using them in classroom discussions so they become part of students’ active vocabulary help students to have greater confidence when seeing these terms on a test.
Make public the process for analyzing a prompt through “think-alouds” in which you describe to the class your own thinking about what a prompt is asking. Small-group analysis in which students analyze a prompt of unfamiliar content helps to make known the methods for analyzing prompts that different students have. Practice analyzing prompts with the handout titled “Prompt Analysis—Practice.”

8. Read as a “historical detective” to gather evidence in response to a question or prompt (putting the pieces of the puzzle together)
Sourcing
Contextualizing
Corroborating
Historical writing begins with historical reading. In order to write critically and analytically, students must read critically and analytically from multiple sources. Students must seek to put the pieces of a puzzle together to solve a historical question or problem. Remember to always connect reading to a purpose—in this case, the writing.
Sourcing is the act of considering and examining a document’s source. Contextualizing is the act of imagining the setting, or thinking about the past on its own terms. Corroborating is the act of cross-checking documents to assess the reliability of those sources. Sam Wineburg, who decided on these terms’ definition, worked with historians to decipher the ways in which historians read an unfamiliar text.

9. SOAPS: Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Significance 5W’s plus S:
Who? (the source, including point of view and bias)
What? (the type of document and its key ideas)
Where? (context)
When? (context)
Why? (purpose of the document’s creation)
So what? (significance)
The SOAPS acronym (modified from the College Board version) helps to organize the thinking about a given document to prepare students to explain and interpret its meaning.
The 5W’s plus S are utilized by many teachers to help students get the gist of a document. Summarizing a document in a sentence or two is an underemphasized but useful tool for students to transition from analyzing a document into writing. Under each W, numerous questions extend the basic skeleton presented here.
The final S is often the hardest aspect for students to master. A few guiding questions for helping students understand significance include: Who did this event/issue impact? How did this event/issue impact people’s lives? To what extent did this event/issue affect different segments of society? What was unique about this issue/event? What were some of the immediate and/or long-term effects of this issue/event? Why is this source/document important? To whom is the source/document important? Why?

10. Organize information and sources into categories:
SPRITE: Social, Political, Religious, Intellectual, Technological, Economic
Subcategories such as causes, effects, women, military, etc.
Categories should relate directly to the thesis
Categories provide the focus for body paragraphs
A single document may fall into multiple categories
After reading critically to determine the 5W’s plus S or SOAPS of a given document, students need to determine what analytical category that document falls into. Then they need to see which additional documents (as in the case of a DBQ) also fall into that category. This helps them to organize not only the documents but also their writing. More categories exist than the ones listed here, but these are some of the more common ones.
Once students have divided the documents into analytical categories, they can determine which ones their paper will focus on. These categories may serve as the key supporting elements of their thesis statement.
In addition to listing the analytical categories that relate to their thesis statement, students should bring out these categories in the topic sentences of their body paragraphs.
A single document may fall into multiple categories. For example, a debate may include economic and religious arguments, but could fall also into the category of politics if it is a debate among politicians. Students should utilize categories on both a macro level (the entire document) and a micro level (part of a document). This helps them to sort and classify their evidence even more precisely.

11. Organizing and Pre-Writing
Why are maps created?
Create a plan or road map for writing
Make sure you have enough information to begin writing
Various formats of organization:
Outlining
Categorizing and classifying charts (a column for each body paragraph, with info under each column)
Two-column charts (pro v. con, or interpretation and evidence

12. Thesis Statement
The main idea or argument that you will support and defend with evidence
Sets up the plan for the whole paper and directly relates to the prompt or historical question
Supported by key points, categories, or topics in your introducation as a preview of the body paragraphs
Sample thesis statement:
“The social, political, and economic ideals stated by the Declaration of Independence have not been satisfactorily realized in contemporary America.”

13. Introduction Set-up and packaging for a thesis statement
Historical Background/context:
“The Civil War between the United States and the Confederate States of America took place between 1861 and 1865 across thousands of battlefields.”
Catch a reader’s attention so they want to read further
“Thos who oppose immigration to American are un-American, unless of course they are Native Americans.”

14. Body Paragraphs: Topic Sentences
Topic Sentence: The first sentence of a paragraph, which sets out the main idea
The topic sentence should directly link to the thesis
Subsequent sentences should directly link to the topic sentences’s main idea
The language used should reflect the type of thinking required by the prompt
Example: What were the causes of World War One?
“One of the causes of World War One was militarism.”

15. Body Paragraphs: Evidence
Like a lawyer, you must prove your case with evidence:
Your evidence should link to your topic sentence, as well as the thesis
Use clear, convincing quotes and facts from multiple primary or statistical sources – at least two per paragraph
Avoid saying, “Document A says x”; weave in quotes instead
Example: The “right of the people to keep and bear arms” meant something completely different in 1787, due to the socio-political context in which it was written

16. Body Paragraphs: Explanations
The explanation (also called commentary or analysis) helps the reader understand exactly why and how your evidence supports your thesis and topic sentence
Should interpret the evidence and also answer the question, “So what?”
May require multiple sentences
Basic example: Bob was seen at a soccer game by four different individuals at 2 pm (evidence). Therefore, he could not have robbed the store at 2 pm (explanation).

17. Body Paragraphs: Concluding Sentences
The concluding sentence should reconnect the reader to the idea expressed in the topic sentence and thesis
The concluding sentence should not merely restate the topic sentence.

18. Concluding Paragraphs
The conclusion provides the final opportunity to make your point to your audience
Do not merely repeat your introduction and thesis, but instead think about what lessons should be learned form this event, or its relevance today
Write something which wil stand out to your audience—a memorable quote, or a restatement of the thesis that brings out the “So What?” of your main argument.

19. Revising Reflect and read
Rubric: How well does my writing reflect the criteria?
Word choice: Avoid “I”, “in my opinion,” “obviously,” “you”, and clichés, and slang
Citation: Has proper attribution been given? Has formatting been used?
Clarity: Would someone who does not know about history understand what is being said?

20. Thinking About Your Writing
What are your stronger points? How do you know?
What do you need to work on? How do you know?
How will you improve? In other words, what is the frontier of your writing?