5 year plan

sentence/s, and 3. a conclusion/wrap-up sentence. A student needs to learn to incorporate these three elements to construct an effective paragraph, and when a student achieves this, that student is ready to move on to essay writing. For a student to write an essay, all a student needs to do is take what was learned to write an effective paragraph and apply those same principles to a bigger scheme.

Where are you? 1. How well can you write a paragraph? 2. Can you effectively write a paragraph that addresses a question or theme? 3. Do your paragraphs always have at least an introduction, body, and conclusion sentence? 4. Can you construct an introduction sentence that effectively addresses the question or theme that is presented to you to write on? Can you identify tasks?

Like good paragraphs, essays need to have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Without these three essential paragraphs, an essay will not be effective to a reader in fully grasping what it is that is being conveyed in the essay. For Social Studies courses students are often asked to write essays to demonstrate knowledge of a subject area, and to prompt students to demonstrate synthesis of knowledge. Students are often asked to answer a question, address a theme, or possibly do both. What is being asked of you to write on is known as a task, and there is often for students of the Social Sciences the event where multiple tasks are expected to be addressed in one essay. In whatever situation, it is important that students realize that what they learned to write an effective paragraph translates into what is needed in writing an effective essay. Once a student has learned to construct effective paragraphs, a student should have no problem writing an effective essay. Webster defines an essay as "a short literary composition in which the author analyzes or interprets something in a personal way". This definition is good in that it addresses the need for essays to demonstrate personal analysis and interpretation. This is where mastery lies in writing scholarly paragraphs and essays, but knowing the basics in terms of structure and mechanics is all a student needs to write an effective paragraph and then an essay. Where are you? 1. Can you write a thesis statement? 2. Can you easily determine what you are expected to write about from what is presented to you in a question or topic? 3. Does your writing present evidence of analysis and interpretation. Writing an essay is the next step for a student after mastering writing an effective paragraph. Following the basic structure of providing an introduction, body material, and a conclusion will always lead to the construction of an effective essay. Obviously just providing an introduction paragraph, a body paragraph, and a conclusion paragraph does not guarantee an "A", but these are the essential elements of an excellent essay.

II. Writing an "A" Essay for a Social Studies Course

Writing an essay for a Social Studies course is somewhat different from writing assignments in English courses. There is a difference between scholarly/ technical writing and creative writing. Both are of equal status, but the standards and styles for each are different. For Social Studies courses, scholarly/technical writing is the style. Scholarly writing is distinguished, sophisticated, and accurate. Students in Social Studies courses are expected to write formally, concisely, and to support writing with as much information as possible from scholastic sources. Writing scholarly essays is a necessary skill to develop for aspiring students, and developing this skill is the goal of all Social Studies teachers at Gibbs High School. As a Department, the Social Studies teachers at Gibbs high School have agreed upon the following expectations for writing assignments in all courses offered by the Social Studies Department. If a student learns to write an effective essay and incorporate the following expectations in terms of mechanics, content, structure, and rules for citation and referencing, a student will find a level of excellence in writing an essay.

III. Mechanics of Writing for Social Studies Courses 1. Use standard white eight-inch by ten -and-a-half-inch paper. Wide ruled or college ruled paper is acceptable. Do not use torn out spiral notebook paper at any time. 2. Write with blue or black ink only. 3. Be sure to always have your name, course title, period #, and date either in the upper right hand corner of your assignment or on a cover sheet. 4. Essays should always have a title. Write the title on the first line or present it on a cover sheet. Capitalize important words, and do not place a period after the title. It is not necessary to repeat the title at the top of other pages. English, Geography, etc. are not appropriate titles for papers. 5. On the first page, leave one line blank (skip a line) between the title and the top line of the composition, test, or other work. On all other pages, begin on the second line. 6. Indent the first line of each paragraph one inch from the left hand margin. Write in between the margins provided on your paper. Leave a one-half inch margin on the right, and leave the margin to the left of the red line blank. 7. Leave the last line of each page blank. 8. Always attempt to write as concisely and accurately as possible. 9. Write legibly. Join the letters of a word, and do not crowd words. Do not use contractions. 10. Pay careful attention to the division of words, and use the hyphen correctly at the end of lines. Check words in the dictionary if you are uncertain where to divide syllables. 11. Turn in all papers stapled in the upper left-hand corner. 12. Staple essays in the following order when the following are asked for upon turning in an assignment: Top page--final, corrected ink copy, Middle page-- rough draft, Bottom page--outline or prewriting form. 13. Some papers must be word processed. 14. No decorations or extraneous comments should be placed on the paper (i.e.: "The End", "Note to Teacher", etc). 15. No theme park script writing! There is a fine line between creative writing and scholarly writing. All writing for Social Studies courses should be as distinguished and as formal as possible. 16. Write out all numbers up to three digits with the exception of years/dates (i.e.: 1900s or 1860s). Usually there is no need to place an apostrophe after a decade or century presented in numeric form. 17. Use pronouns ONLY in rare exceptions. 18. When beginning a sentence with a prepositional phrase, always separate it from the rest of the sentence with a comma. 19. Spell out everything, and do not use abbreviations (i.e.: #, &, Fl., etc.) 20. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Whenever another writer's work is used in any shape, way, or form, there should be a reference.

IV. Strategies For Writing In Social Studies A. Planning and Prewriting 1. Read the question carefully to determine what it is asking. Look for key words. Is there more than one part to the question? You must understand the question fully in order to answer it! 2. Think first of the question as if it were a standard free response essay. Try to recall anything you know about the topic. Write brief notes in the margin. Plan a possible answer. 3. Scan the documents. Get an idea of what each is about. Look at the author and date. Underline or circle key words, phrases, author and date. What is the context of each? Are the documents selected trying to "trigger" other information? If so, what? 4. Re-read the question. Double check to be absolutely certain you understand what it is asking. Home in on the question. 5. Now go back and carefully re-read each document. How do the documents interrelate? Rip the heart out of each. Summarize each in one line in your own words in the margin. 6. Stop. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Outline your answer. Plan. Think. Relax. Combine both the documents and outside information in the margins or where ever space permits. Form your hypothesis. Organize the data to prove the hypothesis. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. ONCE YOU HAVE DONE THIS THE WRITING WILL QUICKLY FOLLOW. B. Writing the Essay 1. Use proper essay form (Introduction, Body, and Conclusion) 2. Do not merely paraphrase the documents! This is the cardinal sin. Evaluate the evidence and use it to prove your hypothesis.. 3. You must use outside information either to interpret the documents or to place them in context or supplement information in the documents. Failure to include outside information automatically places your essay in the lowest categories. A "laundry list" stands out to the readers, but so does a thoughtful essay. 4. Make you hypothesis specific. Show awareness of the complexity and subtlety of the documents and the question. Be certain your introduction contains your hypothesis and that your essay consistently follows it. Avoid contradicting yourself. C. Questions To Ask Yourself To Ensure You Wrote An Effective Essay 1. Does the introductory paragraph present the topic to the reader in a clear, concise manner? ___ Yes ___ No

2. Does the thesis sentence answer the question and let the reader know the writer's PRECISE position on the question? ___ Yes ___ No 3. Is there a proper transition between the introductory paragraph and the first body paragraph of the essay? ___ Yes ___ No 4. Does a proper transition exist between each of the succeeding paragraphs in the body of the essay? ___ Yes ___ No 5. Do the body paragraphs of the paper follow and support the position set forth in the thesis? ___ Yes ___ No 6. Is the thesis supported with EVIDENCE, rather than with OPINIONS and SWEEPING GENERALIZATIONS? ___ Yes ___ No 7. Is the evidence organized in some logical manner-- TOPICAL, CHRONOLOGICAL, etc.? ___ Yes ___ No 8. Does the conclusion begin with a restatement of the thesis sentence? ___ Yes ___ No 9. Does the conclusion agree with the introduction and the thesis? ___ Yes ___ No 10. Is the conclusion supported by the weight of evidence presented in the body paragraphs of the essay? ___Yes ___ No 11. Does the paper conclude with a thought-provoking statement, rather than a superficial treatment of the subject? ___Yes ___ No 12. Does the paper exhibit a depth of INSIGHT and ANALYSIS, rather than a superficial treatment of the subject? ___Yes ___No 13. Are there any grammatical, spelling, or mechanical errors? Have you proofread? ___Yes ___No 14. Does the paper flow (read) smoothly as an essay, rather than as a series of unconnected statements? ___Yes ___No 15. Are ALL parts of the question THOROUGHLY discussed? ___Yes ___No D. Additional Criteria- For Document Based/ Referenced Writing 16. Were at least half the documents used? ___Yes ___No 17. Are the documents used INTERPRETED correctly? ___Yes ___No 19. Are the documents incorporated into the essay in an ANALYTICAL fashion, rather than in a narrative (i.e.- "Laundry List" fashion or stream of consciousness fashion)? ___Yes ___No 20. Is there mention of relevant information and outside historical information the writer should have known mentioned? ___Yes ___No 21. Is your hypothesis presented in your introduction paragraph specific? Show awareness of the complexity and subtly of the documents and the question. ____Yes ___No 22. Is your essay coherent and cohesive? ____Yes ___No Be certain your introduction contains your hypothesis and that your essay consistently follows it. AVOID CONTRADICTING YOURSELF! ____Yes ___No

E. Rubrics for Grading Essays Letter
Grade Percentage
Grade A.P.
Score Criteria
A 90-100 5 - a -Contains a clear and well developed thesis -Understands complexity of question; analyzes rather than describes -Supports thesis with substantial and relevant information
- -Shows superior analysis; displays well-reasoned cause cause and effect; evaluates historical change; reaches fully-supported conclusions -May contain minor errors -(D.B.Q.) Analytical use of ALL documents
B 80-89 4 --Contains a clear and well developed thesis -Understands complexity of question; analyzes rather than describes -Supports thesis with substantial and relevant information -Shows analysis; displays well-reasoned cause and effect; evaluates historical change; reaches supported conclusions -May contain minor errors -(D.B.Q.) Analytical use of ALL documents
C 70-79 3 -Contains a clear and developed thesis -Understands complexity of question; analyzes rather than describes -Supports thesis with substantial and relevant information -Shows analysis; displays cause and effect; evaluates historical change; reaches supported conclusions -Contain some major errors -(D.B.Q.) Analytical use of MOST documents
D 60-69 2 * -Contains a weak thesis -Understands the question; shows some analysis -Supports thesis with some substantial and relevant information -Shows some analysis and reaches some conclusions -Contain major errors -(D.B.Q.) Analytical use of SOME of the documents
F 0-59 1 -Contains a weak thesis -Off task and lacks analysis -Thesis lacks substantial, relevant, supporting information -Lacks analysis and conclusions -Contains multiple major errors -(D.B.Q.) Lacks analytical use of the documents

Writing to F.C.A.T./Fl. Writes (Grade 10 FCAT Writing Rubric)

Score Criteria
5 The writing is focused on the topic, and its organizational pattern provides for a logical progression of ideas. Effective use of transitional devices contributes to a sense of completeness. The support is developed through ample use of specific details and examples. The writing demonstrates a mature command of language, and there is variation in sentence structure. The response generally follows the conventions of mechanics, usage, punctuation, and spelling.