Southern Support during the Civil War

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Assessment:

• Remind students that this is a difficult question with which professional historians struggle. The evidence is definitely conflicting. Students must weigh the evidence they have found, synthesize it, and decide on which side of the question they will argue.
• Once they have done this, they should formulate their thesis and write it at the top of their outline as they plan.
  
• Remind students that whichever side they choose, they should address the evidence on the other side and argue why it is less convincing.
• Power notes is a strategy which helps students differentiate between main ideas and details (Miller, 1985; Sparks, 1982). Simliar to outlining, power notes is more straightforward and avoids the confusion of when to do an (a) and when to do a (ii). Main ideas are power 1s while details are either power 2s, 3s, etc. Explain to students the basic premise:

  Power 1: Main idea

  Power 2: Detail or support for Power 1

Power 3: Detail or support for Power

Initially, it will be easiest if students use words or phrases rather than whole sentences for each power. If students are at the earliest stages of essay writing, the teacher may need to provide the initial Power 1 for a paragraph and help students generate the Power 2s and 3s. The Power Notes strategy is helpful for students who struggle with structure or knowing how to attack a question such as this. It's important to underscore that each sentence in a paragraph must relate to its Power 1 (Main idea) and to the thesis.

• Remind students of the importance of transitions and connecting words in their essay. Suggest the use of words such as however, therefore, in conjunction with, on the other hand, similarly, in contrast to, moreover, etc.
  
  
• If students are struggling to move from power notes to the actual essay, the strategy of framed paragraphs may help. These are simply pre-writing tools which guide the development of well-formed paragraphs. They are skeleton formats containing information about the main idea and transition words that guide the organization and the development of supportive materials. Explain to students the structure of a paragraph: the topic sentence, three to five examples to develop the opinion, use transitions as needed, include a summary sentence; vary sentence structure - long and short, simple and complex. If students need more help, try to offer a frame for them which they complete. For example:
  
  Faust argues that as the war progressed and hardship and abandonment by their husbands continued, southern women abandoned the war effort. First...Second...Then....Faust concludes, Southern women's lack of support contributed to the loss of the war.
  
  
• Once students have a draft, ask them to answer the following questions about their writing and edit accordingly:
  
  
  · Is my argument clear? Where does it need to be clearer?
  · Do I need more evidence to support my thesis?
  · Are my convincing facts placed in a position in my paragraph and my essay that will make them stand out clearly?
  · Are my transitions smooth?
  · Do I address and refute the opposing argument thoroughly?