Summaries of Thomas Matlhus: 10th Grade Writing Refresher

What are we doing? 

 In their first series of posts, the 10th grade Modern World History classes will summarize Thomas Malthus' argument regarding industrialization, population growth, and control. 

Why and how are we doing it?

After reading Malthus individually, and then discussing his argument as a class, the students created thesis statements outlining Malthus' argument in small groups.  In this group writing exercise, students experience both the benefits and frustration of collaborative writing, ultimately creating stronger thesis statements together.

For homework, the students wrote paragraphs that summarized Malthus' argument.  The purpose of this activity is to practice summary writing, identifying arguments, and to refresh our writing skills from last year.  Students should actively seek to pull evidence from Malthus' writing in order to successfully summarize his analytical argument.

Now, students are posting their paragraphs on the blog and receiving feedback from their classmates on their writing. The students are expected to offer each other constructive criticism and insightful suggestions.  Finally, students will revise their paragraphs based on their peers' feedback and submit the second copy to me.  I will offer the students further feedback, and use the paragraph as an opportunity to gauge the students' writing skills at the beginning of the year!