How would you teach fourth grade students how to write an argumentative essay using and citing evidence?

What is a good assessment for a standard about ways people improve communities for kindergarten social studies?

How would you plan a lesson for a standard about comparing and contrasting key points from 2 different mediums for older students?

To find ways to make learning history more appealing to the students, I try to find things that they find familiar and learn the history behind it. Whether it is a celebration, observance, sport, word, or food. This one was particularly interesting because of the fable and the movie Shrek. The history of the Gingerbread Man is a fun way to guide students in asking the question, "Why?".

How would you plan a lesson for having students evaluate the significance of key individuals leading to the Civil War? (eg Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln)