Investigate World Geography & Write Interpretations
World Geography Investigations: Interpretation
What type of argument writing will students work on?
Five World Geography investigations call for students to write interpretations of historical or social issues in e-mails to contemporary audiences. Interpretation tasks are the foundation for social studies argument writing centered on claims, evidence, and reasoning. The writing task in each World Geography investigation sets a purpose for the investigation, whether considering causation and narrative in the Mexico City investigation or thinking about change over time and perspective in the Middle East investigation. Each investigation creates a process for social studies inquiry and writing, makes connections to students’ lives, and extends their incoming knowledge. Check out the Writing Progression page to learn about the different styles of argument writing that are supported by RIW investigations.
Write Interpretations: Students make an argument for an interpretation. Students read sources and interpret them to make claims and reason about the evidence they offer.
Investigate World Geography: Students dive deeply into issues of perspective and context in considering how mapmaking and ways of framing a region like the Middle East shape how we think about people and places. Students build on their learning about perspective to consider issues of equity and justice through investigations of democracy in South Africa, child labor in Nepal, and water access in Mexico.
How do I structure each investigation?
What's in an investigation?
Each investigation is designed around a compelling question, a text set of primary and secondary sources that offer multiple perspectives modified for reading level, and a writing task with a real-world audience and purpose. Materials for each investigation may include:
- slides to guide instruction;
- a detailed teacher guide;
- a planning tool to support teacher decision-making;
- a video of students’ thinking about the material;
- a video overview of the investigation;
- a student packet of materials;
- sort cards to use in weighing the evidence;
- audio files of us reading the sources aloud;
- accommodated materials for bi/multilingual learners in English, Arabic, and Spanish.
- samples of student writing scored using our argument writing rubrics;
We have learned from our partners that adjusting and adapting these curriculum materials to suit their context is important to supporting students’ learning with Read.Inquire.Write. Therefore, all of our files for use with students can be freely downloaded and edited with proper attribution (they may not be sold or used for profit).
One way to organize an investigation in the classroom
