Frame-aided writing procedure for authors of historical explanations¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

A concrete writing recipe in which authors construct a frame map of the to-be-explained content, sorting notes into the slots of a Problem/Solution frame map to reveal the depth, breadth, and detail of available information. Authors then evaluate the adequacy of the frame-mapped notes against the target audience's prior knowledge, write from the map — which the authors found more straightforward than writing from an outline or notecards — and use the map afterward as an editing aid by comparing map and text to check that all necessary content and relationships are included.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Authors begin by constructing a frame map and sorting notes into frame slot categories before writing

Constraints¶

• The procedure is illustrated only with the Problem/Solution frame

Target Learners¶

• authors and publishers of history and social studies textbooks

Target Learning Goals¶

• producing coherent, well-structured historical explanations

Affordances¶

• Problem Solution Frame History

Related Strategies¶

• Teach students to use frame slot questions as a reading, studying, and self-monitoring tool
• Affinity Mapping

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Armbruster, B. B., & Anderson, T. H. (1982). Structures for Explanations in History Textbooks or So What If Governor Stanford Missed the Spike and Hit the Rail? (Technical Report No. 252). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED218595