Writing Alternate History
Made Possible by a Grant from the Greater Capital Region Teachers Center

Alternate history changes a detail of history and ponders the ways in which the world would be different as a result.  Writing this history requires a great deal of creativity and analysis.  The assignments created as a result of this grant will help students to be more creative in Social Studies while teaching the same knowledge and skills that traditional Social Studies assignments do. 

 The core content of this grant is a set of six assignments that are appropriate for grades six, seven, and eight.  These assignments have been crafted to give students an historical context for their writing, the point at which the alternate history veers from actual history, and the issues that students need to address concerning the changed world.  In addition, a pre-writing outline, student evaluation form, and general scoring rubric have been created, and each assignment has been linked to the New York State Intermediate Social Studies Standards.

Sixth Grade Assignment (includes connections to state Social Studies standards)

Seventh Grade Assignments (includes connections to state Social Studies standards)

Eighth Grade Assignment (includes connections to state Social Studies standards)

General Scoring Rubric

Sample Student Work

Student Evaluation Form