Using the Mentoring Minds Tool to Write Common Core Social Studies Text-Dependent Questions

As teachers of Social Studies we want to guide our students in learning how to gather information and provide a literate product that illustrates that they have rigorously read informational text; while gathering information from numerous sources that they interpret,  aggregate, and analyze on their own. A good way to help students become more explicit in their manipulation of historical text and informational text generally is to make good text dependent questions that direct students toward mastery of :

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.3
Identify key steps in a text's description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).

Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5
Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.9
Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

Amy Lynn Mount, in  Authentic Questioning in Social Studies, provides teachers with valuable information on writing these questions for a variety of student research projects.

A good source you can use to write your own questions is the Mentoring Minds: Out of the Box Thinking tool. This Mentoring Minds tool can be used by Social studies teachers in addition to the DOK to make questions that allow students to focus on the CCSS and write explicit responses to historical questions.

The mentoring Minds tool can be ordered from  RR Donnelly, Houston TX. USA. 31040

Using DOK to make Common Core Text Dependent Questions

There is a need for Social Studies teachers to make questions explicit when teaching students via the CCSS. The DOK is a great resource teachers can use to make appropriate and relevant text-dependent questions.

Going Forward in Common Core Social Studies