Gilman Middle School: Social Studies Department

8th grade Ancient History Writing Expectations

Process Whenever possible, you should utilize the stages of the writing process 1) Gathering information (e.g. brainstorming, research) 2) Organizing (e.g. outline, sequence chain, venn diagram) 3) Writing (where you can focus on HOW to express your ideas) 4) Editing / Proofreading 5) Re-writing

In ALL Responses  Include important elements of the question in your answer without merely repeating the question word-for-word o Do not use a pronoun or “I think” to start an answer  Be clear – use strong, action verbs  Be complete – include all important information that fits the format  Utilize a sophisticated vocabulary – descriptive words that strengthen the ideas as opposed to distracting the reader  Utilize varied sentence structures, including compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences

For SHORT ANSWER (3-5 sentences) Responses  Start with a strong, clear main idea that answers the question o That first sentence, unlike a topic sentence (t.s.) or thesis statement, can have some specific information  Provide some examples or explanation to support your main idea  Use transition words and phrases to connect your ideas

For A PARAGRAPH (8-10 sentences)  Write a strong, clear topic sentence (t.s.)  Use many supporting ideas, details, facts, examples  Explain your supporting ideas  Order your supporting ideas & explanation logically  Use transition words & phrases  Write a concluding sentence (c.s.) which is not a duplicate of t.s. but instead builds on the main idea of the t.s.

For AN ESSAY (more than one paragraph on same topic)  Write an introduction that builds to a strong thesis statement  Use c.s. of body paragraphs to transition  Write a conclusion that builds on and explains thesis statement