1. Successful Strategies for Pre-AP Social Studies Essay Writing

2. Successful Strategies:  Analyzing Primary Source Documents: SOAPS and APPARTS  Analyzing Primary Source Documents: Using the Critical Analysis Organizer  Argumentation and Contrasting Views: Yes, But…….  Analyzing Data: The Mini DBQ  Categorization: Examining Culture Areas and Empires - PERSIA

3. SOAPS  Provides students with a strategy that will allow them to practice and develop intellectual skills by which they will be able to make meaning from text that may at first appear difficult or irrelevant  Encourages the critical thinking that leads to writing whose purpose is to argue or evaluate.

4. SOAPS Are there ways that you can integrate the following situations into the subject matter that you teach?  Primary Sources  An article whose purpose and meaning changes with context  A topic presented from different points of view  The interpretation of two poems

5. SOAPS  What is the Subject? The subject should be stated in a few words or short phrases. The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text.

6. SOAPS  What is the Subject? The subject should be stated in a few words or short phrases. The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text.

7. SOAPS  Who is the Audience? The author writes for a certain audience. They audience may be one person, a small group or a large group, a certain person, or a certain people.

8. SOAPS  What is the Purpose? The purpose is the reason the text is written. In order to be able to examine the argument or the logic of the text, students must understand the purpose of the text.

9. SOAPS  Who is the Speaker? The speaker is the voice that tells the story. In a piece of fiction, the author may tell the story from any different points of view. Students need to understand the differences between the author and the speaker in a piece of fiction.

10. SOAPS SubjectThe subject should be stated in a few words or short phrases. The subject is the general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text. OccasionThe occasion is the time and place or the current situation that encourage a piece of writing to happen. AudienceThe author writes for a certain audience. They audience may be one person, a small group or a large group, a certain person, or a certain people. PurposeThe purpose is the reason the text is written. In order to be able to examine the argument or the logic of the text, students must understand the purpose of the text. SpeakerThe speaker is the voice that tells the story. In a piece of fiction, the author may tell the story from any different points of view. Students need to understand the differences between the author and the speaker in a piece of fiction.

11. APPARTS  What does the source say?  Who was the author and why did he or she create this piece?  When and where was the primary source created?  For whom was it created or performed?

12. APPARTS Author Place and Time Prior Knowledge Audience Reason The Main Idea Significance

13. APPARTS AuthorWho created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the author’s point of view? Place and TimeWhere and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source? Prior KnowledgeBeyond information about the author and the context of its created, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent? AudienceFor whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source? ReasonWhy was this source produced at the time it was produced? The Main IdeaWhat point is the source trying to convey? SignificanceWhy is this source important? What inferences can you draw from this document? As yourself, “So what?” in relation to the question asked.

14. Critical Analysis Organizer Title of Subject What do you infer from the details? What prior knowledge do you bring? What are the details? What is your conclusion? Explain

15. Title of Subject What do you infer from the details? What prior knowledge do you bring? What are the details? What is your conclusion? Explain

16. The good thinker: Welcomes problematic situations and is tolerant of ambiguity Looks for alternate possibilities; seeks evidence on both sides Is reflective and deliberate Is open to multiple possibilities Revises goals when necessary

17. Looking at the Whole Picture - Developing the Big Question  The best questions center on issues: Compare/Contrast Illustrate similarities and differences Illustrate bias or point of view Describe change over time Discuss issues categorically: socially, economically, politically Explain causes and effects of historic events Examine contending perspectives on an issue

18. Sample Big Questions:  Describe the conditions in _________ that led to ___________.  Discuss the effects of _____________ on ______________.  Evaluate the problems/difficulties that led to __________.  What were the consequences of __________?

19. Sample Big Questions:  Describe the conditions in _________ that led to ___________.  Discuss the effects of _____________ on ______________.  Evaluate the problems/difficulties that led to __________.  What were the consequences of __________?

20. PERSIA  Political, Economic, Religious, Social, Intellectual and Area/Geographic Connections  World Geography – Characteristics of Culture Areas  World History – Characteristics of Empires and Significant Eras

21. Area – Geographic Influences Political Influences Economic InfluencesSocial Influences Intellectual Influences – The Arts Religious Influences

22. Political InfluencesEconomic InfluencesReligious Influences Governmental Structure, War, Treaties, Courts/Laws, Leaders, Popular Participation, Loyalty to Leader State Control of Trade/Industry, Agriculture, Industry, Labor Systems, Levels of Technology, Levels of International Trade, Gender, Slavery, Money System Importance on Societal Interaction, Holy Books, Beliefs/Teachings, Conversion, Role of Missionaries, Sin/Salvation, Deities Social InfluencesIntellectual InfluencesArea/Geographic Influences Family Order, Patriarchal, Matriarchal, Gender Relations, Role of Women and Children, Social Classes, Slavery, Entertainment, Lifestyles Art, Music, Writing, Literature, Philosophy, Math, Science, Education, Inventions, Technology Location, Physical Geography, Human Geography, Movement, Spatial Diffusion, Urbanization, Globalization PERSIA