One of the greatest rewards of teaching history is when students can show that they can make effective arguments supported by historical evidence. From a practical point of view, argumentation is at the heart of the free response section of the AP® exam. This can be particularly difficult with younger students taking their first AP® history class.
This blog post outlines how I scaffold historical thinking skills and reasoning processes into teaching students how to write effectively. Please note that this is primarily aimed at 10th graders who have never taken an AP® history class (but have taken an AP® Human Geography class) prior and may need to be modified depending on your student's age and experience writing.
Overview: This is how I teach my first-year AP History students how to write for the exam.
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Units 1/2
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- Model SAQ with students and have students answer an SAQ in class by Day 2/3.
- SAQs will be in both homework assignments and weekly/chapter quizzes
- Students write a SCAR paragraph (from bulleted notes to paragraph) for Bacon’s Rebellion during the first week of school.
- I usually have students look this up and start with the bulleted notes. I also have half of the class use the Amsco textbook to do this and the other half use google. My goal here is for students to see that the Amsco textbook is more succinct and will save them time compared with googling the topic.
- Sourcing and analyzing various documents (in preparation for the DBQ)
- Review of the LEQ and Reasoning Processes
- Suggested construction of History essays
- Unit 1 LEQ is a take home LEQ (I show them the College Board samples online and allow them to use this as a model but not a template). We will self/peer score this essay.
- Unit 2 LEQ-students will be given the prompt and allowed to write a one-page outline/graphic organizer at home. They can use this (but no other sources) to write the essay in class while taking their summative test on Units 1/2
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Setting the norm for the class:
- Introduction of SCAR (Week 1)
- PIRATES/PERSIA/SPRITE chart Week 1 (characteristics of middle and southern colonies).
- Through questioning, students must provide evidence for analysis/assertions in class. I have them use evidence to compare Spanish interactions with Native Americans and English interactions with Native Americans.
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Unit 3
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- SAQ will be in both homework assignments and quizzes
- Unit 3 LEQ-students will be given the prompt ahead of time but will write the essay in class and they ARE NOT allowed to use any notes, etc.
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Unit 4
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- SAQ will be in both homework assignments and quizzes
- Unit 4 LEQ-students will be given the topic(s) ahead of time but not the prompt. They have 60 minutes in class to write this essay. If class time is less than 60 minutes, allow them to create notes at home on the topic(s) and use them in class to write the essay in the time you have in class.
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Unit 5
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- SAQ will be in both homework assignments and quizzes
- Unit 5 LEQ-students are not given the prompt but students are very familiar with the topics, either the Civil War and prelude or Reconstruction..
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Unit 6
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- SAQ will be in both homework assignments and quizzes
- Unit 6 and all subsequent LEQs…students will not get any assistance unless I bring in a previous topic. For example, I may have students compare the experiences of women after Seneca Falls with the experiences of women during the Revolutionary period.
- This is when I introduce the DBQ (usually mid-January). We’ve been analyzing documents and making arguments; however, this will be the first full DBQ that students will write. Similar to the LEQ, I show them the College Board samples online and allow them to use this as a model but not a template). We will self/peer score this DBQ.
Students will write 4-5 DBQs between now and the exam.
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Unit 7
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- SAQ will be in both homework assignments and quizzes
- LEQ…students will not get any assistance unless I bring in a previous topic.
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Units 8/9
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Writing using Historical Thinking Skills and Reasoning Processes:
- Continue writing SAQs, LEQs, and DBQs
- Mock Exam
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