Great subject!

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Great subject!
By LindaR

Hi Amy,
The themes in Social Studies can launch some very creative writing ideas. Since I teach 6th grade, I'll just give some general ideas that you might want to consider from your grade level curriculum. You could
have the students draw a picture on the top half of their paper and write on the bottom part. Although most of these are questions, you could also create story starters.
CHARACTERS. You can pick a specific person from your SS book to be the "main character."
What kind of person is the main character? What character is most interesting to you? List the things you liked about the character.

In what ways is the character like/unlike you? Would this character be one of your friends? Why or why not? You woke up one day as_______, and you are granted three wishes. What would they be and why?

These questions could answered as a letter to the character. Another idea is to have a diary entry from the point of view of the character.

SETTING. If you were to take a visit to this setting what would you like to do while you were there? If you visited the setting in (name a season), what would you need to bring and why?

PROBLEM. Why did _______ have so much trouble (getting along with others, traveling to...). Living conditions from long ago would definitely create problems for kids today, so you generate a question or story starter regarding something specific (ex: not having a phone to call friends).

I hope this gives you some ideas of how to use SS in writing. There are SO many more ideas that I'm sure you will think of. Using Bloom's has helped me to create appropriate questions for my different leveled students. Have fun with it!