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HOW CAN YOU...
Write to
Communicate
Clearly
...ABOUT PUBLIC ISSUES?
High School Lesson Plan on WRITING FOR ECONOMICS
Time Estimate: Three 45-minute class periods
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Page 2 of 20
Compelling Question: How can you write to communicate clearly about public issues?
Supporting Question 1: What are the components of good research?
Supporting Question 2: How does asking and answering questions guide the research
process?
Supporting Question 3: What are the different ways you can present an argument?
Extension Activity
Materials
• Worksheet 1: Types of Writing
• Worksheet 2: Compelling and Supporting Questions
• Worksheet 3: Analyzing a Research Blog
• Worksheet 4: The Research Process
• Worksheet 5: Brainstorming a Public Issues Project
• Worksheet 6: Analyzing a Student Podcast Script
• Liberty Street Economics blog (https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/)
• Journal of Future Economists (all volumes located here: https://www.newyorkfed.org/outreach-
and-education/high-school/high-school-fed-challenge)
• College, Career, and Civic Life (https://www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/les/c3/C3-Framework-
for-Social-Studies.pdf)
Answer Key NOTE: Answers will vary on Worksheets 1, 2, 5, and 6
State Curriculum Standards
Table of Contents
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Page 3 of 20
Supporting Question 1: What are the components of
good research?
Procedures
1. (As instructor, prior to the lesson, visit
libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org. There you will
nd the Liberty Street Economics blog, where New York
Fed economists write and present their research in an
accessible format. Find an article or articles on a topic
that you think may interest your students. Any topic you
think will engage students will work for the lesson.)
2. Begin by asking students about writing they have
done in the past, and in what other contexts. Put all
student answers in the front of the room such as on the
board or on a piece of chart paper. (Expected student
responses: Answers will vary, but students may talk
about writing they have done in other classes, such
as essays or term papers in English. They may also
talk about informal writing such as diary entries or
blogging.)
3. Once the list is complete, ask students to write down
the “class list” at the top of Worksheet 1.
4. Explain to students that an important part of all writing
is understanding three key components: Audience,
Tone, and Purpose. Show students the Triangles
1
at the
bottom of Worksheet 1, each of which includes these
important writing elements.
5. Ask students to pick any three of the types of writing
from the class list, and for each one complete the box
next to Audience, Tone, and Purpose. (For instance, if
the student chooses a “diary entry” for Audience they
may write “myself,” for Tone they may write “casual” or
“messy” or “emotional”, etc. For Purpose they may write
such things as “to vent feelings” or “to share with future
self”, etc.)
6. Ask several students to share their responses, making
note of how different Audience, Tone, and Purpose are
for each. Regardless of which types of writing students
discuss, the key takeaway for students to understand is
that writers use a spectrum of styles.
7. Expanding on Step 5, ask students if Audience, Tone,
and Purpose are interchangeable. For example,
using a diary entry, ask students to speculate what
would happen if the audience changed or if the writer
knew their diary was going to be read by someone
else. (Expected student response: It is likely that as
Audience changes, Tone or Purpose may change as
well.)
8. Explain to students that determining the Audience,
Tone, and Purpose are an important part of writing of
all types. Introduce the compelling question for this
lesson by telling students that they will focus on writing
about policy issues, and that to do so successfully they
must consider the following: "How can you write to
communicate clearly about public issues?"
9. Pass out Worksheet 2. Ask students to ll in the top of
Worksheet 2 with what they think the proper Audience,
Tone, and Purpose are for writing about public issues.
(Student answers will vary.)
10. Explain that students will tackle the rst supporting
question, “What are the components of good
research?” Pass out a copy/copies of the article that
you selected in Step 1, along with copies of
Worksheet 3: Analyzing a Research Blog. (You may
wish to provide students with some context about
what they are reading. You can explain that the Liberty
Street blog is written by economics researchers but is
on a public website designed to present insight and
analysis to a general audience.)
(Continued on next page...)
1
The Audience, Tone, and Purpose Writing Triangles are adapted from the University of Minnesota Open Lib website “Writing for Success,” April 22, 2023.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/writingforsuccess/chapter/6-1-purpose-audience-tone-and-content/
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Page 4 of 20
Supporting Question 2: How does asking and
answering questions guide the research process?
Procedures
1. (Prior to the activities for Supporting Question 2,
the instructor should collect sample pages from the
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) framework. A copy
of the document can be found online at https://www.
socialstudies.org/sites/default/les/c3/C3-Framework-
for-Social-Studies.pdf)
2. Remind students of the compelling question, “How
can you write to communicate clearly about public
issues?” Explain that now that they have looked
up an example of public issues writing and gotten a
sense of its characteristics, now they will examine the
structure and process of asking a research question
and answering it.
3. Pass out Worksheet 4: A Research Framework. Explain
that this framework is one (but certainly not the only)
way of looking at the research process and is a visual
representation of an approach students can take when
writing about public issues.
4. (All readings and page numbers referenced for this
step are based on the URL in Step 1 of Supporting
Question 2. You can also tell students to ignore any
standards that happen to be on their assigned pages.)
Divide the class into three groups for a jigsaw activity.
Explain that each group will be responsible for dening
their section of the framework to piece together the
entire puzzle.
a. Group 1 will read pages 23-24 (Questions and
Inquiry)
b. Group 2 will read pages 29-30 (Social Studies
Subjects)
c. Group 3 will read pages 53-54 (Evaluating
Sources and Using Evidence)
5. Provide time for students to read, answering the
questions for their assigned section on Worksheet 4.
Once there is group consensus, students should team
up with students from two other groups to complete
Worksheet 4 and piece together the framework.
(Continued on next page...)
11. Working in groups, ask students to read the blog article
and complete Worksheet 3, analyzing the article for the
following:
a. Tone
b. Audience
c. Purpose
d. Content
i. Thesis/Question the authors attempt to answer
ii. Data the authors use
iii. Conclusions
12. Debrief with students, gathering answers from each
group about their analysis of each of the writing
components. Some possible expected student
responses are provided below for some sections, while
others will be dependent on the blog chosen:
a. Tone: (Challenging, but understandable;
conversational; formal, but maybe not “too formal”)
b. Audience: (Written for public; audience may need
to be somewhat familiar with basic economics)
c. Purpose: (To prove a point; to analyze a problem;
to present research)
13. Ask students to answer the question at the bottom
of Worksheet 3. Then, have several students share.
(Expected student response: If the blog was instead
written for a casual audience, they may expect the
article to feature fewer charts or ones easier to read,
more background explanation and/or simplied
analysis, use less challenging language or jargon, etc.)
Ask students to reect on how Audience, Tone, and
Purpose all came together for the economists write
about these topics in the way they do.
14. Returning to Worksheet 2, ask students to answer
Supporting Question 1, “What are the components of
good research?” using their ndings from Worksheet 3
as a guide.
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Page 5 of 20
6. Check for understanding by asking students to
summarize the three steps in the framework at the
bottom of Worksheet 4. (Expected student response:
While the level of detail may vary, students should
in some way state that “Authors begin by posing a
question they want to answer. The question should be
compelling and interesting. Then the author uses tools
in social studies like history or economics to answer
the question, like reading historical documents or
interpreting economic data. The author needs to gather
sources from print and online, and needs to make sure
that the sources are factual by analyzing them for main
idea, point of view, bias, etc.)
7. Pass out Worksheet 5: Brainstorming a Public Issues
Project. Have students practice framing their research
by brainstorming in their group three possible topics
that they would want to write about. The groups
complete sections 1-3 of Worksheet 5, listing the
following:
a. Three possible questions that they would like to
research in the social studies
b. Examples of the disciplinary skills they would use
to answer those questions
c. Possible data sources they would need to nd to
answer their questions
8. Once groups are nished, explain that peer review
2
and
feedback is important in the writing process, and that
now students will engage in a lightning round of “peer
review speed dating.”
9. Divide students into new groups, so that every new
group has someone who developed different questions
in Step 7. Explain that each student will share their
question, disciplinary skills, and possible data sources.
The other students will provide feedback using the
suggested questions at the bottom of Worksheet 5.
(Student feedback will vary, but students could suggest
such things as improvement to the wording of the
question or additional sources of data to use.)
10. As a conclusion, return to Worksheet 2 and ask
students to answer Supporting Question 2, “How does
asking and answering questions guide the research
process?”
Supporting Question 3: What are the different ways
you can present an argument?
Procedures
1. Prior to this lesson, the instructor should nd several
articles from the Journal of Future Economists
published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York
3
. These journals feature academic articles and
podcast scripts written by teams of students from
high schools located in the Second Federal Reserve
District
4
. Volumes 2 and 3 are podcast scripts about
the economics of climate change and globalization.
The instructor should choose podcast scripts from each
that they feel are accessible for their students. It is
helpful as well to mix styles and tones, so the instructor
is encouraged to pick scripts that differ in content and
structure.
2. Remind students of the compelling question they
are trying to answer: "How can you write to
communicate clearly about public issues?"
Review that in previous lessons students answered
the supporting questions “What are the components
of good research?” and “How does asking and
answering questions guide the research process?”
Have students review their answers to those two
questions on Worksheet 2.
3. Explain that today students will look at the academic
writing of their high school peers to see how students
like them have tackled real-world economics problems
and written for an audience. Provide students some
context that the podcast scripts they will read are from
The Journal of Future Economists, and that all the
writing and research for these published works was
done by high school authors.
4. Pass out Worksheet 6: Evaluating a Student Podcast
Script. Divide students into groups. Each group will
read a different script that the instructor selected
in Step 1 of the sequence of steps for Supporting
Question 3.
(Continued on next page...)
2
Peer review is “the process of someone reading, checking, and giving his or her opinion about something that has been written by another scientist or
expert working in the same subject area.” (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/peer-review)
3
https://www.newyorkfed.org/outreach-and-education/high-school/high-school-fed-challenge
4
Participating high schools must be located in the Second Federal Reserve District, which includes New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon,
Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties in New Jersey; Faireld County in Connecticut; Puerto Rico, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands
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Page 6 of 20
5. Students work together to read their script, and
complete Worksheet 6. Students are evaluating the
script for the following:
a. Tone
b. Audience
c. Purpose
d. Question
e. Social studies subjects
f. Data
g. Conclusions
6. Once students have completed their rst script,
the instructor should provide a second article of a
contrasting style. Again, in their groups, students
complete Worksheet 6 for the second article.
7. Debrief, asking students to share their thoughts on
the writing they evaluated. (While answers will vary,
students will likely note that, for example, the podcast
scripts have a different tone than the academic articles.
Academic articles use data in a different way, with
charts and graphs, where the scripts use data that can
be read aloud because they have a different purpose.
Students should note that some of the podcast scripts
have a conversational tone and sound somewhat
casual, yet the content is still rigorous and there is still
extensive use of data.)
8. Ask students to return to Worksheet 2 and answer the
third supporting question, “What are the different
ways you can present an argument?” (Expected
student response: An author can make an argument
using a more formal academic paper or using a
podcast script, among others. The tone of the podcast
may be more casual than a paper, but that is because
the purposes of the two are different. Regardless of the
approach, the work it is important to ask questions and
use data and disciplinary skills to answer it.)
9. To conclude, ask students to reect with a personal
answer to the compelling question, “How can you write
to clearly communicate about public issues?”
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Page 7 of 20
Extension Activity/Next Steps: Journal of
Future Economists
1. Students have now spent time analyzing some
characteristics of academic writing, both informally and
formally, as well as learned a basic framework for the
inquiry and research process.
2. The High School Fed Challenge extends this student
learning and gives your class the opportunity to analyze
a real-world policy issue and write about it using the
disciplinary literacy of economics and other social
studies content areas.
3. Teams of student authors submit academic work on
a topic related to the year’s theme, developing their
research skills and teamwork in the process. Select
submissions are printed in the Journal of Future
Economists published yearly by the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York. All students who submit are credited
in the journal.
4. For more information about the program including
rules, eligibility, rubrics, timelines, resources, and the
year’s topic, please visit https://www.newyorkfed.org/
outreach-and-education/high-school/high-school-fed-
challenge
5. If your school is not eligible to participate in the New
York Fed competition, consider having your own
between teams at your school or publish your own
Journal of Future Economists with the podcast scripts
produced by teams in your class, using the competition
rubric or other criteria. If you publish your own Journal
or have an in-school competition, we would love to
hear from you at nyeconed@ny.frb.org.
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Page 8 of 20
Handouts
Materials
• Worksheet 1: Types of Writing
• Worksheet 2: Compelling and Supporting Questions
• Worksheet 3: Analyzing a Research Blog
• Worksheet 4: A Research Framework
• Worksheet 5: Brainstorming a Public Issues Project
• Worksheet 6: Evaluating a Student Podcast Script
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by educators and may not be reproduced for sale. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson
in its entirety for educational purposes, provided the user credits the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
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Page 9 of 20
Worksheet 1: Types of Writing
In the box below list as many types of writing as you can.
Audience (who is it for?):
Type of writing:
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
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Page 10 of 20
Worksheet 1: Types of Writing (cont'd)
Audience (who is it for?):
Type of writing:
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
Audience (who is it for?):
Type of writing:
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
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by educators and may not be reproduced for sale. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson
in its entirety for educational purposes, provided the user credits the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
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Page 11 of 20
Worksheet 2: Compelling and Supporting Questions
Compelling Question: How can you write to communicate clearly about public issues?
Audience (who is it for?):
Type of writing:
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
Prediction: What is the appropriate Audience, Tone, and Purpose when writing about public issues?
Supporting Question 1: What are the components of good research?
Supporting Question 2: How does asking and answering questions guide the research process?
Supporting Question 3: What are the different ways you can present an argument?
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Page 12 of 20
Worksheet 3: Analyzing a Research Blog
Audience (who is it for?):
Type of writing:
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
Thesis/question the authors are trying to answer:
Data the authors use:
Authors' conclusions:
Question: How might the elements of the writing change if this were written for the general public? (For example, an article
in the school newspaper or for a general interest internet site?)
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by educators and may not be reproduced for sale. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson
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Page 13 of 20
Questions and Inquiry
1. Why is a question important?
2. What are the elements of a good question?
3. What is the difference between a compelling and supporting question?
Social Studies Subjects
What are the four major social studies subjects or
disciplines?
Why is using multiple subjects important in research?
How have you as a student used different subjects in
the past?
Evaluating Sources
Why is the use of data important?
What are the three things a scholar should analyze when
determining the usefulness of a source?
What types of data sources have you used in the past?
Summarize the research process:
How does a writer combine the social studies subjects and sources to answer a question?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Worksheet 4: A Research Framework
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Page 14 of 20
Worksheet 5: Brainstorming a Public Issues Project
Research Topic 1
What is my research question?
What subjects will I use?
What are some examples of types and sources of data that I will need?
Research Topic 2
What is my research question?
What subjects will I use?
What are some examples of types and sources of data that I will need?
Research Topic 3
What is my research question?
What subjects will I use?
What are some examples of types and sources of data that I will need?
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Page 15 of 20
Worksheet 5: Brainstorming a Public Issues Project (cont'd)
PEER FEEDBACK
Is the research question clear?
Can the research question be answered?
Are there any other subjects that can be used?
Are there disciplines outside the social studies that might be useful?
Can the data be gathered?
Do I have the skills and expertise to interpret the data effectively?
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Page 16 of 20
Worksheet 6: Evaluating a Student Podcast Script (page 1)
Audience (who is it for?):
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
Thesis/question the students are trying to answer:
Data the students use:
Students' conclusions:
What did I like about this podcast script? __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What would I improve about this podcast script? ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Name of Student Article: __________________________________________________
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Page 17 of 20
Worksheet 6: Evaluating a Student Podcast Script (page 2)
Audience (who is it for?):
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
Thesis/question the students are trying to answer:
Data the students use:
Students' conclusions:
What did I like about this podcast script? __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What would I improve about this podcast script? ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Name of Student Article: __________________________________________________
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by educators and may not be reproduced for sale. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson
in its entirety for educational purposes, provided the user credits the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
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Page 18 of 20
Worksheet 3: Analyzing a Research Blog [Answer Key]
Audience (who is it for?):
Possible answers include but not limited to: written for the
public; written for an audience familiar with basic economics;
written for people who are curious
Type of writing: Research blog (teacher note:
unless another type of reading material is chosen;
see Step 1 of lesson plan)
Tone (what is the attitude conveyed by the author
through their writing?):
Possible answers include but not limited to: challenging,
but understandable; conversational; formal but not “too
formal” or difcult to read
Purpose (what is the writing trying to convey?):
Possible answers include but not limited to: to prove a
point; to analyze a problem; to present original research;
to encourage further study
Thesis/question the authors are trying to answer:
Answers will vary based on article chosen
Data the authors use:
Answers will vary based on article chosen
Authors' conclusions:
Answers will vary based on article chosen
Question: How might the elements of the writing change if this were written for the general public? (For example, an article
in the school newspaper or for a general interest internet site?)
Possible answers include but not limited to: the article may use different, more accessible language; article may explain
basic concepts more because the audience is unfamiliar with academic terms; the article may spend more time in the
introduction rather than in the data section because a general audience may not have the data skills
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Page 19 of 20
Questions and Inquiry
1. Why is a question important?
Questions give life to inquiry and force the researcher to probe deeper into a topic. They reect enduring issues and drive the
expansion of knowledge.
2. What are the elements of a good question?
Includes elements students nd engaging, and reect an enduring issue in the social studies that is interesting.
3. What is the difference between a compelling and supporting question?
A compelling question focus on curiosities about how things work and ‘big issues.’ Supporting questions focus on descriptions, deni-
tions, and processes.
Social Studies Subjects
What are the four major social studies subjects or
disciplines?
Government/civics; economics; history; geography
Why is using multiple subjects important in research?
Almost all issues in life deal with multiple disciplines.
For example, historical events impact the way that
governments in the present make laws, and those
laws can inuence the economy. Understanding all of
the disciplines helps piece together the puzzle more
completely.
How have you as a student used different subjects in
the past?
Answers will vary
Evaluating Sources
Why is the use of data important?
Data is important because it strengthens a claim. Being
able to cite some sort of data that explains real-world
phenomenon helps to provide answers to one’s question
What are the three things a scholar should analyze when
determining the usefulness of a source?
Author’s purpose, main idea, and point of view
What types of data sources have you used in the past?
Answers will vary
Summarize the research process:
How does a writer combine the social studies subjects and sources to answer a question
In the research process, you formulate a compelling question that addresses an enduring social studies issue. Then you develop
supporting questions whose answers will help you answer the compelling one. Using the social studies disciplines, the researcher
gathers the appropriate data and uses that to answer the question.
Worksheet 4: A Research Framework [Answer Key]
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Page 20 of 20
New York
Grades 11 – 12 Social Studies Writing Standards
1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specic content.
a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claims, establish the
signicance of the claims, distinguish the claims from alternate
or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically
sequences the claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
b. Develop claims and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly,
supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while
pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claims and
counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates
the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible
biases.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied
syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and
clarify the relationships between claims and reasons, between
reasons and evidence, and between claims and counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone
while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in
which the work is written.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows
from and supports the argument presented.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects
to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or
solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate;
synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative
print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively;
assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of
the specic task, purpose, and audience; integrate information
into the text selectively to maintain the ow of ideas, avoiding
plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a
standard format for citation.
9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis,
reection, and research.
New Jersey
Social Studies Disciplinary Practices
• Developing Questions and Planning Inquiry
Developing insightful questions and planning effective
inquiry involves identifying the purposes of different questions to
understand the human experience, which requires addressing real
world issues. Inquiries incorporating questions from various social
science disciplines build understanding of the past, present and
future; these inquiries investigate the complexity and diversity of
individuals, groups, and societies.
• Gathering and Evaluating Sources
Finding, evaluating and organizing information and
evidence from multiple sources and perspectives are the core
of inquiry. Effective practice requires evaluating the credibility
of primary and secondary sources, assessing the reliability
of information, analyzing the context of information, and
corroborating evidence across sources. Discerning opinion from
fact and interpreting the signicance of information requires
thinking critically about ourselves and the world.
• Presenting Arguments and Explanations
Using a variety of formats designed for a purpose and
an authentic audience forms the basis for clear communication.
Strong arguments contain claims with organized evidence and
valid reasoning that respects the diversity of the world and the
dignity of each person. Writing ndings and engaging in civil
discussion with an audience provides a key step in the process of
thinking critically about conclusions and continued inquiry..
Connecticut
Social Studies Frameworks: Inquiry in the Social Studies
• DIMENSION 1: DEVELOPING QUESTIONS AND
PLANNING INQUIRY Central to a rich social studies
experience is the capability for developing questions that can
frame and advance inquiry. Those questions come in two
forms: compelling and supporting questions.
• DIMENSION 3: EVALUATING SOURCES AND USING
EVIDENCE Students need to analyze information and come
to conclusions in an inquiry. These skills focus on gathering
and evaluating sources, and then developing claims and
using evidence to support these claims.
State Curriculum Standards
