Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
This lesson, which is a glimpse of the bookends of a unit on argument, aims to use writing to first engage students
by allowing them to collect their thoughts through notetaking, then to have them expand on their notes as they participate in
the drafting process, and ultimately demonstrate how writing can help solve everyday, real world experiences. When I teach
argument, inevitably I have students who say that they are good at arguing. I joke that they are good at being disagreeable,
and that argumentation requires a few extra steps many are not willing to follow in their everyday debates. By requiring them
to write an email or a letter to the editor, I am both exposing them to the process of identifying issues that can be debated but
requiring them to be judicious as they go beyond a research essay and reduce their in depth work into a precise, cohesive,
substantiated and considerate claim as is called for by the state standards.
While the supporting research is embedded in the accompanying slide presentation, essentially my method relies
on striving for a classroom community that contains all of the identifiable elements provided by Tompkins, Gail, et. al (2014).
By bringing games into the classroom and incorporating playing cards into my assessment, management, and accountability
protocol, I can provide students with a safe environment where they will risk putting forth their ideas and at the same time
require them to take ownership of their learning experience. With the skill that is argumentation, I have distilled the problem
identifying strategy delineated by Flower (1989) into a process more accessible to my students. The idea, however, is to
understand that we must first look to the world around us to provide the data that will help us shape our claims (Hillcock
2010). Too often today, people run with the noise of TV and social media without sifting through the data to help generate an
informed stance. Even worse, rarely do we see people willing to accept, let alone concede, an opposing viewpoint. It simply
does not seem to be the American way to admit that you might be wrong. My goal is to produce critical questioners who are
not afraid to wrestle with the complicated situations that arise everyday, many of which do not have one clear, right answer.
Top Ten
Things Employers Look for in New College Graduates
1. The ability to work well in teams
2. Understanding of science and technology and how these subjects
are used in real-world settings
3. The ability to write and speak well
4. The ability to think clearly about complex problems
5. The ability to analyze a problem to develop workable solutions
6. An understanding of global context in which work is now done
7. The ability to be creative and innovative in solving problems
8. The ability to apply knowledge and skills in new settings
9. The ability to understand numbers and statistics
10. A strong sense of ethics and integrity
Association of American Colleges & Universities (www.aacu.org)
RI 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
SL 1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grades 9
10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
c)
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader
themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas
and conclusions.
d)
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and,
when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of
the evidence and reasoning presented.
L3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective
choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
W1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
a) Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create
an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons and
evidence.
b) Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the
strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audiences knowledge level
and concerns.
c) Use words, phrases, and clauses to like major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify
the relationships between claims(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between
claims(s) and counterclaims.
d) Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
e) Provide a concluding statement of section that follows from and supports the argument
presented.
Friday, May
th
27
Objectives - SWBAT:
Agenda
A classroom community, as
defined by Tompkins,
Campbell, Green, and Smith
(15-16), has identifiable
characteristics such as
Responsibility,
Opportunity, Engagement,
Demonstration, Risk-Taking,
Instruction, Response,
Choice, Time, and
Assessment.
A
is anything
intentionally created that
can be internalized and
processed, to which we will
produce a response.
Sentence frames:
I believe we should (not) _________________________.
I feel that ________________ is ___________________.
I agree/disagree with ____________________________.
A statement about a
topic that requires
evidence to be proven.
Questions to consider:
Why is your issue important?
Who is your audience and what do you need them to know?
How do the published letters look? (Think tone/diction)
What kind of persona do you want to present?
https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/letter_to_editor.pdf
Works Cited
Flower, Linda. Problem-solving Strategies for Writing. 3rd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. Print.
Hillocks, George, Jr. "Teaching Argument for Critical Thinking and Writing: An Introduction." English Journal July
(2010): 24-32. Web. 16 July 2016.
"Letters to the Editor." Thompson Writing Program. Duke University, n.d. Web. 17 July 2016.
<https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/letter_to_editor.pdf>.
Tompkins, Gail, et al. Literacy for the 21st century. Pearson Australia, 2014.
"Top Ten Things Employers Look for in New College Graduates." Association of American Colleges & Universities.