History/Social Studies: 6-8

Read and comprehend history/social studies texts independently and proficiently, and write effectively for a variety of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences

Extract and construct meaning from history/social studies texts using a variety of comprehension skills

Build understanding of history/social studies texts, using knowledge of structural organization and author’s purpose and message

Build understanding of history/social studies texts by synthesizing and connecting ideas and evaluating specific claims

Write for different purposes and to specific audiences or people

Produce coherent and legible documents by planning, drafting, revising, editing, and collaborating with others

Build knowledge about the research process and the topic under study by conducting short or more sustained research

 Read and comprehend history/social studies texts within a range of complexity appropriate for grades 6-8 independently and proficiently by the end of grade 8

Write routinely over a variety of time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. 

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources

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.

 Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes a law, how interest rates are raised or lowered). 

 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies. 

Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

 Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s perspective or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

Integrate visual information (e.g., charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in a primary and secondary source. 

Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

Write informative texts, including analyses of historical events. 

Plan and develop; draft; revise using appropriate reference materials; rewrite; try a new approach; and edit to produce and strengthen writing that is clear and coherent, with some guidance and support from peers and adults. 

Use technology to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently. 

Conduct short research assignments and tasks to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

Gather relevant information from multiple sources, using search terms effectively; annotate sources; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation (e.g., APA or Chicago). 

Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.