Describes principles which achieve good writing assignments in the social studies: (1) define the content and skills teachers want students to learn, (2) devise assignments in which level of difficulty of task fits the level of the goal, (3) let students speculate on the topic, and (4) present the topic so that students know how and what to do.…

Presents guidelines for social studies teachers and a sample writing assignment to encourage student's developmental writing. Suggests that students emphasize the significance of the writer's ideas and information rather than the information itself. Establishes the relationship between thinking processes and writing and the need to break these…

The authors describe an experimental curriculum they developed, whose central core is the child's recognition of his uniqueness, identity, and legitimacy as a real person. The curriculum is based on the belief that the basis of a child's learning is himself and his need to get information about his world. (JB)