Sample Prompts
Sample PromptsThe following pages contain sample writing prompts taken from selectedPrentice Hall social studies programs. The writing prompts are organized bysubject and grade. The writing prompts for middle grades world studies andmiddle grades American history are aimed at students in grades 6, 7, and 8.Writing prompts for civics, world geography, world history, U.S. history, economics, and government are aimed at students in the high-school gradeswhere these subjects are generally taught. Within each category, the samplewriting prompts are divided into short-answer questions, open-ended questions, essay questions, and document- and data-based questions. Pearson Education, Inc.These sample writing prompts are provided for a number of reasons. First ofall, they serve as examples of the types of writing assessments described in thisbooklet. They also can be used as a reference for style and content in the individualized prompts you create according to your curriculum. Finally, theyserve as models for existing prompts you may be evaluating.
Sample Prompts for Middle Grades World CulturesShort-Answer Questions1. What are two ways in which the vast desertregions of Southwest and Central Asia affectthe lives of the people who live there?2. What are the seven major features of anyculture?3. Why has the Middle East been called “thecrossroads of the world”?4. What were three major contributions of Muslim civilization?5. What role did rivers and seas play in thedevelopment of Western Europe?6. Describe two themes explored by Renaissanceartists and writers.Open-Response Questions1. Ethnic and cultural diversity have led to conflict in many parts of South Asia. Describe thecauses and effects of two of the following:(a) Conflict between Hindus and Muslims atthe time of independence, (b) Sikh separatismin India, (c) Tamil Sinhalese tensions in SriLanka.2. The nations of Latin America have taken different paths to modernization. (a) Describeone political or economic challenge that hasfaced either Mexico, Argentina, or Brazil.(b) Explain what steps that country took tomeet that challenge.3. After 1945, the Cold War shaped events inEurope. (a) Describe two ways in which ColdWar tensions affected Europe. (b) Describetwo effects of the end of the Cold War.4. Western Europe contains a wide variety oflandforms. (a) Describe how geography hasshaped the economic development of oneregion in Western Europe. (b) Describe twoways in which western Europeans have usedtechnology to reshape their environment.Essay Questions2. Mohandas Gandhi had a major impact on hiscountry’s development. Write an essay thatdescribes Gandhi’s goals for India, how heset out to achieve those goals and how hisphilosophy reflected both Indian and westerntraditions. Pearson Education, Inc.1. African nations have experienced rapid cultural change in recent years. Write an essaydescribing how three of the following havecontributed to cultural change in one Africannation: (a) urbanization, (b) education,(c) economic development, (d) populationexplosion, (e) westernization, (f) technology.20 Writing for Social Studies Assessment
Document- and Data-Based Questions“Bengal sweets are the best in India. I can’t take Bombay or Delhi sweets.”—Bengali civil servant“Only in Uttar Pradesh is politics really understood.The Uttar Pradesh is the political heart of India.”—Gujarati factory owner“Live in the South? NEVER! Their languages are impossible and one gets only rice, rice, rice!”—Punjabi engineerRead the quotes above. What kind of bias do these statements imply about thepeople and cultures within India? Do you think these statements support theconclusion that India is a nation characterized by culture diversity? Why orwhy not?Prime Minister Calls forVote of ConfidenceLabor Party MembersResign from CabinetNew Coalition GovernmentSeems Fragile Pearson Education, Inc.Read the headlines above. To which type of government do the headlinesrefer—an absolute monarchy or a parliamentary democracy? Use evidencefrom the headlines to support your answer.Writing for Social Studies Assessment 21
Mexico Triples Wheat ProductionWorld Chemical Fertilizer Consumption Rises by 10% Per Year Since 1960Synthetic Hormones Regulate Plant Size and Growth RateIR 58 The Wonder Rice of the 1980s!Philippines End More than50 Years of Rice ImportsUSA Doubles Food Production in 30 YearsRead the headlines above. What effects do you think the developmentsdescribed in the headlines would have on Asian and Latin American nations?In your opinion, would these effects be positive or negative? Support youranswer with examples.Speaker A: The story of history is the story of class struggles. Revolution isnecessary to overthrow the ruling class and eventually create a classless societyin which no one will be exploited.Speaker B: The royal power is absolute and the prince need render accountof his acts to no one. Where the word of a king is, there is power. Without thisabsolute authority, the king could neither do good nor repress evil.Speaker C: Government should leave business alone. It should let the natural law of supply and demand determine what gets produced, how much getsproduced, who does the work, the price of goods, rates of pay, and all othereconomic questions.Speaker D: Men are born and remain free and equal in right. It is the dutyof every government to preserve and protect these natural and inalienablerights.Directions: Read the excerpts above, then answer the questions that follow. Pearson Education, Inc.Each of the speakers above expresses a viewpoint on the philosophy of government. Based on your knowledge of world governments, select two of thetheories and list at least two nations that accepted them and were ruled bythem. In your opinion, were these theories beneficial or detrimental to the success of the nations as a whole? Support your conclusions with examples.22 Writing for Social Studies Assessment
Sample Prompts for Middle GradesAmerican HistoryShort-Answer Questions1. Describe three ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence.4. Explain why Harriet Tubman was called the“Black Moses.”2. Describe one reason why Federalists favoredthe Constitution and one reason why Antifederalists opposed it.5. Describe one way the New Deal helped eachof the following groups: (a) the unemployed,(b) farmers, (c) factory workers.3. What were three goals of the Lewis and Clarkexpedition?Open-Response Questions1. Consider the following four events: American victory at Saratoga French entry into the war against Britain British defeat at Yorktown Signing of the Treaty of ParisExplain how each event helped to cause thenext event.2. (a) Describe the idea of Manifest Destiny.(b) Explain how the nation achieved this goal.(c) What do you think were some of the positive and negative effects of Manifest Destiny?3. (a) Identify a major ecological problem in theworld today. (b) How is it similar to, and howis it different from, the Dust Bowl problem ofthe 1930s?Essay Questions2. Do you think Britain had the right to tax thecolonies? Write an essay to defend yourposition.3. Write a short essay describing the early battlesof the Revolutionary War and what impact anAmerican victory or defeat seemed to have onthe Patriot cause. Pearson Education, Inc.1. Select one of the following and describe theevents of the time that would have had thegreatest effect on you if you had lived at thattime. Be sure to include specific historicaldetails. A Native American in the Ohio Valley in1750 Major George Washington in the 1750s A Son or Daughter of Liberty in 1770 A minuteman on April 19, 1775Writing for Social Studies Assessment 23
Document- and Data-Based QuestionsDirections: Read the documents below and then answer the questions thatfollow.Pledge of Allegiance, 1892The Pledge of Allegiance first appeared in a magazine called The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892. The original Pledge, attributed to Francis Bellamy, stated: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which itstands; one Nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” In 1924, “myFlag” was changed to “the Flag of the United States of America.” Congressofficially recognized the Pledge in 1942. In 1954, Congress added “underGod.”“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to theRepublic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty andjustice for all.”American’s Creed, 1917In 1917, William Tyler Page, the clerk of the House of Representatives, won acontest sponsored by the city of Baltimore calling for the “best summary ofAmerican political faith.” Page’s poem, which contains phrases borrowedfrom the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and famous American speeches, became the American’s Creed on April 3, 1918, when Congressofficially accepted it.“I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, bythe people, for the people; whose Just powers are derived from the consent ofthe governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereignStates; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles offreedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificedtheir lives and fortunes.I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies.”1. Patriotism is love, support, and defense of one’s country. Write a paragraphthat supports the following statement: The Pledge of Allegiance and theAmerican’s Creed are both expressions of American patriotism. In yourparagraph, cite one example from the Pledge of Allegiance and three examples from the American’s Creed to support your answer. Be sure to include atopic sentence in your paragraph. Pearson Education, Inc.2. Write a paragraph that identifies principles of government expressed inboth the Pledge of Allegiance and the American’s Creed.24 Writing for Social Studies Assessment
Directions: Read the documents below and then answer the questions thatfollow.The “Little Rock Nine” faced incredible opposition from white students,teachers, and parents during their first year at Central High School. Every dayof the school year, the African American students were harassed by other students. When it became clear that seven black students would be returning toCentral High the next fall, Governor Faubus closed the school rather thanallow integration to continue. The school did not reopen until 1960, andgradually it became more integrated.A Diary of the StruggleFifteen-year-old Melba Pattillo kept a diary of her experience as one of theLittle Rock Nine:“September 26, 1957Now I have a bodyguard. I know very well that the President didn’t send thosesoldiers just to protect me but to show support for an idea—the idea that agovernor can’t ignore federal laws.February 13, 1958I sometimes wish I could change myself into a psychiatrist to determine whatmakes me such a hated member of this school. Can they really be treating methis way simply because I am brown, that’s all?February 18, 1958A red-haired, freckle-faced girl, the one who taunts me in homeroom, keepstrailing me in the hallway between classes. Today she spit on me, then slappedme. Later in the day as I came around a corner, she tripped me so that I felldown a flight of stairs. I picked myself up to face a group of boys who thenchased me up the stairs.April 27, 1958I salute the flag every morning as I look at a picture on the homeroom walldirectly in front of me. . . . As the boys behind me call me names and girls toeach side sneer, I look straight ahead. . . . It is a promise that if I salute theflag like a good American, all these integration problems will be worked outeventually.”The Road From Little RockThirty years later, in 1987, the Little Rock Nine reassembled in their hometown for their first reunion ever. Pattillo described some of the thoughts thatwent through her mind in her book Warriors Don’t Cry:“My eight friends and I paid for the integration of Central High with our innocence. During those years, when we desperately needed approval from our peers,we were victims of the most harsh rejection imaginable. . . . I am proud to reportthat the Little Rock experience also gave us courage, strength, and hope.” Pearson Education, Inc.1. What did Pattillo hope to achieve by saluting the flag?2. Compare Pattillo’s diary entries with her observations 30 years later. Howare her beliefs and attitudes similar or different?Writing for Social Studies Assessment 25
Directions: Write a brief essay on the topic below using the documents as evidence. Be sure to consider the point of view of the writer who created eachdocument. Your essay should include three parts: (1) an introduction thatstates your main point, (2) a body that develops your main point and offersevidence from the documents and your knowledge of American history, and(3) a conclusion that restates your main point. Include specific historicaldetails and use information from the documents.Essay topic: In the late 1800s, the United States economy was changed by newinventions, remarkably rapid growth, and new forms of transportation andcommunication. What benefits did these changes bring about? What problemsdid they cause?Document 1: Historian Sandy Lydon, describing the lives of Chinese immigrants who worked on California railroads, in Chinese Gold (1985)“Between 1875 and 1880 the Chinese built three separate railroads, laid fortytwo miles of track, and drilled 2.6 miles of tunnels to stitch Santa Cruz Countytogether and attach it permanently to the world beyond the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Chinese contributed not only their sweat and their muscle, buttheir lives. At least fifty Chinese were killed in accidents while building thoserailroads . . .Chinese railroad workers on the Santa Cruz Railroad worked six ten-hourdays a week and were paid one dollar a day. Two dollars per week [were]deducted from their pay for food, while expenses such as clothing and recreationchipped away at the remaining four dollars.”Document 2: Andrew Carnegie, describing the beginnings of the American steelindustry, in an essay (1901)“As late as 1810 there were produced in the whole country only 917 tons ofsteel. . . . It was not [until] 1864, when the last century was almost two-thirdsgone, that the revolution in steel manufacture came to us, and the Iron Agebegan to give way to the new King Steel, for our first Bessemer steel was made inthat notable year, and steel [that earlier had cost] from six to seven cents perpound for ordinary grades has since sold at less than one cent per pound.There is one element of cost, however, . . . that has not been [reduced], andthat is human labor. [Wages have] risen and the tendency is to higher earningsper man.”InvestmentTextiles: 1 billionIron and steel: 998 millionLumber: 844 millionFood processing 508 millionTotal WorkersTextiles: 824,000Lumber: 548,000Iron and steel: 532,000Food processing: 249,000Cost of LaborIron and steel: 285 millionTextiles: 278 millionLumber: 202 millionPaper and printing: 118 millionSource: John A Garraty, The New Commonwealth (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), p. 82.26 Writing for Social Studies Assessment Pearson Education, Inc.Document 3: Table based on federal government statistics highlighting majorAmerican industries (1890)Ranking of Major Industries
Sample Prompts for CivicsShort-Answer Questions1. List four rights of American citizens.2. What two checks does Congress have on theSupreme Court?3. Name two major sources of state revenue.4. Name a kind of crime against a person and akind of crime against property.5. Give two reasons why third parties areformed.Open-Response Questions1. Name three ways that the institutions of thefamily, religion, and education differ in theneeds they meet and the ways they helpsociety? What three ways do they have incommon?2. Explain how each of the following influencedAmerican government. (a) the governments ofancient Athens and Rome (b) the history ofEnglish government (c) the ideas of Locke andMontesquieu3. Choose two of the three branches of the federal government. Describe the checks eachbranch has on the power of the other. What isthe importance of each of these checks?4. What is the advantage of giving Congress,rather than the President, the final say indetermining the federal budget? What is a disadvantage?Essay Questions1. Choose one right protected by the Bill ofRights. Write an essay explaining how thisright has been important in your life. Use specific examples to support your explanation. Pearson Education, Inc.2. Write an essay that describes a new law youwould like to have in your town. Rememberto include what the goal of the law would beand what the punishment would be for breaking your law.3. Describe four purchases you have maderecently and the prices you paid for each. Inan essay answer the following questions andexplain your reasoning: Which item would you have bought even ifthe price were higher? At what price would you no longer havebeen willing to buy each item? What factors other than price influencedyour decisions to buy?Writing for Social Studies Assessment 27
Document- and Data-Based QuestionsDirections: Picture being an immigrant and arriving in this country knowingnothing of the language or customs. Think how important your school wouldbe to you. To Mary Antin, a Russian-Jewish immigrant in 1894, and toErnesto Galarza, writing in 1971, school offered hope and opportunity. Readthe two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.The Promised Land“Education was free. That subject my father had written about repeatedly, asmaking up his chief hope for us children, the essence of American opportunity,the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or poverty. It was theone thing that he was able to promise us when he sent for us; surer, safer thanbread or shelter.On our second day in this country, I was thrilled with the realization of whatthis freedom of education meant. A little girl from across the alley came andoffered to conduct us to school. My father was out, but we had a few words ofEnglish by this time. We knew the word school. We understood. This child, whohad never seen us till yesterday, was able to offer us the freedom of the schoolsof Boston! No application was made, no questions asked, no examinations,rulings, exclusions, no fee. The doors stood open. The smallest child could showus the way.”The Griddle“The Lincoln School was a sampling of the lower part of town. My pals in thesecond grade were Kazushi, whose parents spoke only Japanese; Matti, a skinnyItalian boy; and Manuel, a Portuguese.Miss Hopley and her teachers never let us forget why we were at Lincoln; forthose who were foreign-born, to become good Americans; for those who wereAmerican-born, to accept the rest of us. The school was not so much a meltingpot as a griddle where Miss Hopley warmed knowledge into us and roastedracial hatreds out of us.At Lincoln, making us into Americans did not mean scrubbing away whatmade us originally foreign. No one was ever punished for speaking his nativetongue on the playground. Matti told the class about his mother’s down quilt,which she had made in Italy. Encarnación acted out how boys learned to fish inthe Philippines. Someone showed a Chinese painting. It was easy for me to feelthat becoming a proud American, as Miss Hopley said we should, did not meanfeeling ashamed of being a Mexican.”1. What does Mary Antin say that gives you an idea of how Russian schoolsdiffered from Boston schools in 1894? Pearson Education, Inc.2. What does Ernesto Galarza mean by calling his school “a griddle”? Whatevidence does he give that Miss Hopley succeeded in her goal?28 Writing for Social Studies Assessment
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writing prompts are divided into short-answer questions, open-ended ques-tions, essay questions, and document- and data-based questions. These sample writing prompts are provided for a number of reasons. First of all, they serve as examples of the types of writing assessments described in this booklet.
Sample Responses and Rubrics Two of the four expository clarification prompts and two of the four expository point-of-view prompts have sample responses. Both of the persuasive prompts have sample responses. The narrative prompt also has sample responses. The three sample responses for each prompt are all modeled after the same basic essay.
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Sample 9th–12th Argument Mentor Text Questions/Prompts Check grade level reading/writing standards when choosing which questions/prompts to address. Create additional prompts/questions based on the standards for your grade level. To answer the questions or address the prompts, students should use evidence from the text to support their answers.
Sample 6th-8th Argument Mentor Text Questions/Prompts Check grade level reading/writing standards when choosing which questions/prompts to address. Create additional prompts/questions based on the standards for your grade level. To answer the questions or address the prompts, students should use evidence
1 LRJ prompts for Maus Mr. Rose Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman LRJ Prompts The following LRJ prompts must be completed for the assignment dates. I will check each prompt for completion on the date it is due, and then I will collect the LRJ’s for grading on the day of the unit exam.
fade prompting - once your child starts to make progress, begin fading the prompts You have to give multiple verbal prompts for your child to do a task a) Try different types of prompts. Verbal prompts can be difficult to fade. Using a different type of prompt at the beginning, such as visual or gestural prompt, may help your child
Table / Pivot Prompts Vs Dashboard Prompts 34 Table / Pivot Prompts provide an interactive result set that enables users to select the data that they want to view - Do not append any WHERE condition to the query issued by the Oracle BI Server Prefer Dashboard Prompts instead to transfer the least data possible from the database into OBIEE
