The aim of this article is to reveal the principles of curriculum and unit organization focusing on teaching for historical writing, with the point of embodying authentic learning in secondary history. In recent studies of teaching and learning history, researchers have focused on reading historical sources to make history learning authentic. However, in consideration of the essence of authentic learning theory, writing historical arguments must be more focused than reading historical sources in history curriculums. This article takes its cue from C. Monte-Sano’s research, which focuses on teaching and learning for argument writing in secondary history. Moreover, she and collaborators developed a resource book titled “Reading, Thinking, and Writing About History”. This book provides learning support tools and lesson plans on U.S. historical topics for 8th graders. This article analyzed Monte-Sano’s research and this resource book reaches the aim mentioned above.

　　This analysis found that learners should write historical arguments to embody authentic learning in secondary history. In addition, the principles of curriculum organization are as follows: 1) historical forms of argument writing should be taught in the first half; 2) teachers should repeatedly promote writing historical arguments independently in the second half. These points are based on cognitive apprenticeship. The principles of unit organization are as follows: 1) reading sources should be positioned as learning experience for writing historical arguments; 2) the process of deliberative judgments about historical sources should be organized before learners construct historical arguments; 3) dialogues with others should be positioned as learning experiences for writing historical arguments independently.

　　Today, social studies must consider how to create “deep learning” in “active” lessons. To cultivate critical thinking, judging the validity of existing societies has centered on social studies’ “deep learning” in preceding research. Recently, there has been a study to cultivate critical thinking through a comparison of existing society with other alternatives. However, such a study is problematic in that students can’t interpret social phenomena freely because only the teacher presents other alternatives. To solve this problem, this study introduces an active social studies lesson with a communication activity to make students be the party concerned, creating various alternatives to compare existing societies through communication. This study proves that such active social studies’ lessons can cultivate critical thinking through practicing the lesson. From this point of view, this study aimed at creating various agreements in class, based on social studies to cultivate the ability to make agreements in preceding research. The study extracted three lesson design points from the Diplomatic Negotiation Game INDEPENDENCE DAY, a “multi-table situation of making agreements”, “visualization-arrangement-comparison” and “distinction between goal in activity and goal in forming recognition”. The practice clarified the following three points. 1)The lesson was very fun for students. 2) Students realized the possibility of variety of agreement at that time. 3) This lesson can cultivate the ability to think critically through comparison with other alternatives.

　　In recent years, such ideas of human rights or international cooperation built in the 20th century have become ambiguous, such as through Brexit or the birth of a new government of the U.S., which seeks its own national interest first. In the present world, it is necessary to think about how to bridge the gap between ideas and facts. This study organized a form of learning that makes students realize the gap and experience the process of actually solving international issues. This study organized a lesson which had students reconstruct the rules of “The Trading Game” as the roles in the game as the party concerned for solving international issues in the virtual world after playing the game. This method, which makes students change the rules of the game, is an original concept developed in social studies.

　　In this lesson, students realized the conflict between national interest and international interest and made new rules. They then thought about compromising the possibilities of new rules made from several roles in the game. Through experiencing the process of solving international issues in the virtual world, students realized that solving international issues bridges the gap between ideas and facts.

　　This study showed that it is effective to have students experience the process of solving international issues as the party concerned in social studies. Additionally, this study also presented a new method of utilizing the game in social studies.