Welcome to Gear Up – Preparing students for
the Social Studies Extended Response
John Trerotola
Robbinsdale ABE
Pam Ampferer
Saint Paul ABE
The 2014 GED Social
Studies Extended
Response
An “Enduring Issue” for Educators
Session Objectives
 Give an overview of the 2014 GED Social Studies Extended
Response Question.
 Discuss the necessary reading and writing skills students will
need to effectively answer the extended response.
 Explore methods and strategies to incorporate social studies
content while teaching the extended response.
 Provide suggestions and resources for introducing students to
the concept of an “enduring issue” and for finding the
relationship between texts, evaluating evidence and related
skills.
 Show ways to model the extended response to students and
have them draft their own essays for review and feedback.
 Give a brief overview of assessment and feedback strategies
for practice extended responses by students.
Social Studies Practices
1. Drawing conclusions and making inferences
2. Determining central ideas, hypotheses and conclusion
3. Analyzing events and ideas
4. Interpreting meaning of symbols, words and phrases
5. Analyzing purpose and point of view
6. Integrating data presented in different ways
7. Evaluating reasoning and evidence
8. Analyzing relationships between texts
9. Writing analytic responses to source texts
10. Reading and interpreting graphs, charts, and other data representation
11. Measuring the center of a statistical data set
2014 GED Social Studies Safari, Steve Schmidt (schmidtsj@appstate.edu)
2002
2014
The test contains 50 multiple-choice
questions. The test takes around 70
minutes to complete.
The number of questions on the Social Studies
test will vary. It takes around 90 minutes to
complete.
The test contains multiple-choice questions
only.
The test includes an extended response item.
It is suggested that test-takes use 25 minutes
to provide an analysis of primary and
secondary source documents.
Extended response passages will range from
550 to 650 words.
Questions come from the following areas:
• U.S. History—25%
• World History—15%
• Geography—15%
• Civics and Government—25%
• Economics—20%
Questions come from the following areas:
• Civics and Government—50%
• U.S. History—20%
• Economics—15%
• Geography and the World—15%
• The Social Studies ER requires the following skills …
• Analyze ideas in two source texts.
• Recognize the context of the source materials for the prompt.
• Create an argument about how texts are related.
• Support claims with evidence drawn from the text.
• Incorporate elements from the passages into presentation of your own ideas.
• Incorporate content and background knowledge into the written response.
• Present ideas logically.
GEDtestingservice.com • GED.com
HOW IS IT SCORED?
Three-trait, Multi-dimensional Scoring Rubric
Responses scored based on three traits:
• Trait 1: Creation of arguments and use of evidence
• Trait 2: Development of ideas and structure
• Trait 3: Clarity and command of standard English conventions
MORE ON THAT LATER…
GEDtestingservice.com • GED.com
WHERE TO START?
WHY THE EXTENDED RESPONSE?
“The
notion that learning comes about by
accretion of little bits is outmoded learning
theory. Current models of learning…contend
that learners gain understanding when they
construct their own knowledge and develop
interconnections among facts and concepts.”
Shepard
The extended response asks students to unpack a
prompt, read source material, plan their response, type
it, and then edit/revise. Students should be able to
keyboard about 25 words per minute.
The enduring issue
An enduring issue is “an important topic or idea that may be subject to ongoing discussion throughout
multiple eras of history. Enduring issues do not have easy solutions. Rather, they are ideas the American
people wrestle with as new situations arise” (GED Testing Service). Many of the enduring issues concern
first amendment rights like the freedom of speech. Others center on issues like the majority rules but must
respect minority rights. The enduring issue is a one sentence quote or excerpt.
The later writing
The later writing is more recent and concerns how we view the enduring issue in a more modern context.
It may be a speech, letter, or editorial. Before the later writing, the prompt writers outline the historical
context that students are asked to discuss in the question.
The question
Always have students read this part first! It will ask students how the two writings tie together, to use
evidence to back up their conclusions, and to include their own knowledge about the issue.
Page 14 | US History 1, Steve Schmidt (schmidtsj@appstate.edu)
Excerpt
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Fifteenth Amendment, US Constitution 1870
Speech
In this excerpt from his March 15, 1965 speech to Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson outlines the need for a national voting
rights act.
Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish, it must be rooted in democracy. The most basic right of
all was the right to choose our own leaders. The history of this country, in large measure, is the history of the expansion of that right to
all of our people.
Many of the issues of civil rights are very complex and most difficult. But about this there can and should be no argument. Every
American citizen must have an equal right to vote…
Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negros.
Every device of which human ingenuity is capable has been used to deny this right. The negro citizen may go to register only to be told
that the day is wrong, or the hour is late, or the official in charge is absent. And if he persists, and if he manages to present himself to the
registrar, he may be disqualified because he did not spell out his middle name or because he abbreviated a word on the application.
For the fact is that the only way to pass these barriers is to show a white skin….
In such a case our duty must be clear to all of us. The Constitution says that no person shall be kept from voting because of his race or his
color. We have all sworn an oath before God to support and to defend that Constitution. We must now act in obedience to that oath.
Wednesday I will send to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote.
Prompt
In your response, develop an argument about how President Johnson’s
position in his speech reflects the enduring issue expressed in the excerpt from
the United States Constitution. Incorporate the relevant and specific evidence
from the excerpt, the speech and our own knowledge of the enduring issue
and the circumstances surrounding voting rights to support your analysis.
Type your response in the box. This task may require 25 minutes to complete.
Don’t Panic…
• Fight “writer’s block” and don’t try to be perfect.
• All writing is expected to be “on-demand, draft” quality.
• Monitor your time but get something down on paper.
• Any points earned are points earned towards a passing score.
TEACHERS SHOULD NOT
PANIC EITHER!
What students are saying about the extended
response after taking the GED Ready social
studies practice test
• Unfamiliar Language in the documents
• Too much reading in such a short period of time
• Not having the necessary content background to understand
the passages
• Not understanding the concept of an “enduring issue”
• Not knowing how to relate the two social studies ER
passages to each other
Let’s look at some of the reading skills
specific to the Social Studies test.
Evaluate resources
Stanford History Education Group
Differentiate between primary and secondary
documents.
• SS Webinar\Reading
Skills\Primary Secondary Def and
Ex.pdf
National Archives
Practice with the important historical
documents.
• Go to Library of Congress
Declaration of Independence
• SS Webinar\Reading Skills\LP Preamble Dec of In Pledge.pdf
How Well Do Students Need to Know
Content?
Reminder… incorporate it into every lesson,
even if talking about summarizing!
• PDF Webinar\Assesment Targets Content.docx
Breaking Down the Prompt
It’s now time to take students through the
drafting process…
So what is it our students need to do?
• Identify Enduring Issues
• Analyze the relationship between 2 source documents
This implies knowledge of context and background knowledge
Here’s That Prompt Again
Excerpt
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Fifteenth Amendment, US Constitution 1870
Speech
In this excerpt from his March 15, 1965 speech to Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson outlines the need for a national voting
rights act.
Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish, it must be rooted in democracy. The most basic right of
all was the right to choose our own leaders. The history of this country, in large measure, is the history of the expansion of that right to
all of our people.
Many of the issues of civil rights are very complex and most difficult. But about this there can and should be no argument. Every
American citizen must have an equal right to vote…
Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negros.
Every device of which human ingenuity is capable has been used to deny this right. The negro citizen may go to register only to be told
that the day is wrong, or the hour is late, or the official in charge is absent. And if he persists, and if he manages to present himself to the
registrar, he may be disqualified because he did not spell out his middle name or because he abbreviated a word on the application.
For the fact is that the only way to pass these barriers is to show a white skin….
In such a case our duty must be clear to all of us. The Constitution says that no person shall be kept from voting because of his race or his
color. We have all sworn an oath before God to support and to defend that Constitution. We must now act in obedience to that oath.
Wednesday I will send to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote.
First…Think!
• What’s the enduring issue in the first passage? What do you know about the
issue or the person quoted?
• Next, what kind of information does the introduction to the second passage
give you?
• Now look at the second passage. What does it tell me about the enduring
issue? Does it support it or criticize it? Is it an example of the issue in a more
modern context? What do you think is the author’s purpose in the second
passage?
ENDURING ISSUES…
What are they and, more importantly, how
do we teach them to our students?
An enduring issue reflects the founding
principles of the United States and is an
important idea that people often struggle with
as new situations arise.
So…what’s an enduring issue?
Match pictures and cartoons to enduring
issues.
Match Headlines
• The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco on
Thursday upheld the right of the
federal government to impose a
55-m.p.h. speed limit on
highways by threatening to
withhold highway construction
money from states." Los Angeles
Times - September 1, 1989
? Majority Rule
? States Rights vs Federal Power
? Individual Rights
• SS Webinar\SS Assesment
targets.docx
More ways to teach enduring issues
•
SS
Webinar\Con
stitutional
Principals\co
nstitutionprin
cipleshsms_e
ng_ver4.pdf
Deliberating in a Democracy
• Principals of Democracy Lesson
PDF
Webinar\Deliber
ating in a
Democracy.pdf
First…Think!
• What’s the enduring issue in the first passage? What do you know about the
issue or the person quoted?
• Next, what kind of information does the introduction to the second passage
give you?
• Now look at the second passage. What does it tell me about the enduring
issue? Does it support it or criticize it? Is it an example of the issue in a more
modern context? What do you think is the author’s purpose in the second
passage?
Use a prompt to teach related
content
and
Excerpt
enduring issue.
“Government has no other end, but the preservation of
property.”
John Locke, 1690
http://www.icivics.org
• I civics
Speech
This March 30, 1973 speech from Marlon Brando was delivered at the
Academy Awards where he refused his award to protest the United
States’ treatment of Native Americans.
For 200 years we have said to the Indian people who are fighting for their
land, their life, their families and their right to be free: ''Lay down your
arms, my friends, and then we will remain together. Only if you lay down
your arms, my friends, can we then talk of peace and come to an
agreement which will be good for you.''
When they laid down their arms, we murdered them. We lied to them.
We cheated them out of their lands. We starved them into signing
fraudulent agreements that we called treaties which we never kept. We
turned them into beggars on a continent that gave life for as long as life
can remember. And by any interpretation of history, however twisted, we
did not do right. We were not lawful nor were we just in what we did . . .
Looking at the attachment we sent
• PDF Webinar\Prompt Guiding
questions Voting age.pdf
Teach writing as a process
•
•
•
•
•
Unpack the prompt
Read the source material
Plan the response
Write the response
Edit the response
• It is important to model this
process multiple times!
Model the Process
The US Constitution makes clear
in the 15th Amendment the
enduring principle that
Americans have the right to vote
regardless of “race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.”
In his March 1965 speech to
Congress, President Johnson
supports this enduring principle
and asks Congress for a law to
uphold this right.
• The enduring principle is
explained in bold.
• The underlined shows the
connection between the
enduring principle and the later
speech.
• In areas of the country, Negroes • Personal information on the
(African Americans) were denied
historical context is in the first
the right to vote because of their
two sentences of the second
skin color. Election officials
paragraph.
worked to stop African
Americans from voting by
charging poll taxes or making
them pass literacy tests.
President Johnson’s speech
shows the election workers’ true
goal was to keep African
Americans from voting when he • Italics show specific evidence
said, “For the fact is that the only
from the text.
way to pass these barriers is to
show a white skin.”
• Next, President Johnson shows his
support of the enduring issue of
voting rights for all races by
describing what history and the
Constitution says. He said that
people’s basic rights in a democracy
were the right to choose their
leaders. The President quotes the
Constitution which says that no one
should be prevented from voting
because of their race or color. He
also said that in order for all of
America’s races to be treated the
same, “every American citizen must
have an equal right to vote.”
• Italics show specific evidence
from the text.
• Finally, President Johnson called • Transition words connect the
for a national voting rights act to
last two paragraphs.
help African Americans. The 15th
Amendment to the Constitution
allows Congress to enforce
voting rights for African
• The paragraphs bring in
Americans by passing
evidence from both passages
“appropriate legislation.” At the
and explain how they support
end of his speech, President
the enduring principle.
Johnson tells Congress that he
will send them a bill to end the
illegal acts that were stopping
African Americans from voting
that he wants Congress to pass.
TIME FOR THE STUDENTS TO
PRACTICE
Idea….
You may want to completely simulate the testing
environment and have students draft their responses
with no “cheat sheets”. Or, depending on the student’s
level, have them use graphic organizers and other
related tools for their first attempt at a full response.
Here are some examples:
ER Guidelines from GED
Testing
Writing Frame
• ______________________________ states the
enduring principle
• The second way ___________________ (explains,
supports, criticizes, gives an example of) the enduring
principle is by________________________________
___________________________________________
• _________________________ (explains, supports,
criticizes, gives an example of) the enduring principle
by__________________________________________
________________________________________
• The evidence for this is_________________________
• The first way ___________________ (explains,
supports, criticizes, gives an example of) the enduring
principle is by________________________________
• During this time in history, ______________________
____________________________________________
• The evidence for this is _______________________
____________________________________________
• During this time in history, _____________________
___________________________________________
____________________________________________
• In conclusion, ________________________________
____________________________________________
Extended Response Graphic Organizer
•
SUGGESTIONS FOR ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK OF
STUDENT WRITING
Social Studies Extended Response Rubric
The Social Studies rubric is very similar to the Reasoning through Language Arts rubric and has
the same 3 traits. Both rubrics ask students to:
• Write a response based on the prompt
• Back up an argument with evidence from the passage(s)
The main differences between the 2 rubrics are in trait 1.
An Extended Look at the Extended Response, Steve Schmidt (schmidtsj@appstate.edu page 17
What if my students come to me with a
response that they drafted on the
official practice test, GED Ready?
SUGGESTIONS
FOR FEEDBACK
Student Feedback sheet.
• SS Webinar\Evaluation Assessment\ER Rubric Blank.pdf
Resources are available from
GEDtestingservice.com. . .
Instructor Resources
• Item Samplers
– Includes complete answer explanations of the CR items with selected examples
• Assessment Guide for Educators
– Includes the “official rubrics” with annotations
• ER and SA Resource Guides
– Provide example responses at all score levels and score explanations
• ER and SA Scoring Tools
– Walk you step-by-step through the evaluation of a student response
GEDtestingservice.com • GED.com
http://abspd.appstate.edu/teaching-resources
You Tube Video
teachingcivics.org
Hopefully you have endured our discussion….