In response to recent statistics indicating a 20 percent decline in the ability of the average 17-year-old to analyze, interpret, and express views about written prose, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recommends a number of changes in the elementary school social studies curriculum to provide more opportunities for students to practice writing and analytical skills. Writing can be optimized as a learning tool to sharpen social studies information and concepts; to develop thinking skills such as inference making, classification, and analysis; and to further the development and refinement of writing techniques. Research provides insight into the writing process and suggests that teachers develop appropriate activities to assist students during the prewriting, composing, and rewriting stages of the writing process. An example of a facilitative prewriting activity in social studies would be the gathering of information from older citizens through personal interviews, which can be used as a catalyst for future composing activities. Careful integration of writing and social studies can best maximize the already limited time available for social studies instruction. In order to successfully integrate instruction in writing and social studies in the elementary classroom, effective writing instruction must be part of a coherent, systematic, developmental program of studies in which attention is paid to substance as well as technique. The document lists 11 resources, available through the ERIC system, from which additional information can be obtained. (LH)