Introductions
and
Conclusions
Social Studies
Writing Series #6
Remember:
An Essay is like a Tour
To go on a tour, you need a
_________ (= introduction)
After you get off the tour, you still
have __________ (= conclusion)
Introductions
Introduction = Ticket
What do you need on a ticket?
• What (Subject)
• When (Time)
• Where (Place)
Find the subject,
time and place
on each ticket
What makes a good intro?
•
•
•
•
Catches the reader’s attention
Sets the stage for what’s in the essay
Narrows to a thesis
Makes the reader want to keep
reading
Strategy #1
• Choose any school-appropriate movie or
TV show and view just the opening
sequence (before the title appears)
• Have students identify the subject, time,
and place for the movie
• Have students predict what the movie will
be about (What are the clues they use?)
• Suggestions: Raiders of the Lost Ark,
Simpsons, Princess and the Frog, etc.
Strategy #2
• Choose an Essential Question from a
curriculum bundle
• Have students write an introduction to that
Essential Question which includes the
subject, time, and place (but not the thesis
statement)
Strategy #3
• Have an introduction contest
• For any essay that you assign, have each
class choose the best 2-3 introductions for
that class
• Post the introductions (without names) in
the cafeteria or hallway and give each
student in that team or grade level one
sticker dot to place on the introduction
he/she likes the best
• Alternate suggestion: Ask your principal or
AP to act as the judge for the best
introduction
Strategy #4
• For any essay assigned, choose a
student’s introduction which could be
improved (do this anonymously!)
• In small groups or as a whole class,
rewrite the introduction so that it includes
subject, time and place, uses strong verbs
and descriptive adjectives, and invites the
reader to continue reading
Strategy #5
• Choose several introductions from an
assigned essay and remove names
• Divide introductions among groups and
ask the groups to describe how they would
film this introduction, if they were movie
directors
– Which actors would they use?
– What would each of the costumes look like?
– What would be in the background?
– What would the characters say and do?
Strategy #6
• Using the thesis statements from previous
trainings, practice writing introductions
• See handout
Conclusions
Memories = Conclusion
We can think about memories in
terms of a scrapbook. What
were the pictures and stories
that capture the most important
parts of your trip?
• Pictures – Important moments
• Stories – What did you learn
on your tour? What were the
highlights? What will you
remember?
What makes a good
conclusion?
• Restates the thesis with new words
• Pulls the body paragraphs back
together
• Explains why the essay is important
to know
• Has a clincher statement that
answers the question “So what?”
Strategy #1
• Give each student 4 conclusions and ask
them to score the conclusions using the
rubric (next slide)
• The AP Vertical Teams Guide for Social
Studies has sample conclusions on p. 149
• Use conclusions from student essays from
a previous or current year and remove
names
Strategy #1
Conclusion Scoring Guidelines
0 – Not present
1 – Present but flawed and incomplete
2 – Present
3 – Present and sophisticated
Score _____ Reinforces thesis
Score _____ Synthesizes/summarizes essay in a new way
Score _____ Answers the question “So what?”
Writer’s name ________________________________
Evaluator’s name _____________________________
Strategy #2
• Locate the handout “Conclusion
Practice”
• Choose 4 thesis statements and do
the following:
–Restate the thesis
–Answer the question “So What?”
Strategy #3
• For any essay assigned, choose a
student’s conclusion which could be
improved (do this anonymously!)
• In small groups or as a whole class,
rewrite the conclusion so that it includes a
restatement of the thesis, a synthesis of
the topic statemnts, and an answer to the
question “So what?”