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Essential Lessons to Accelerate Student Writing

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PERSUADE & ARGUE

PART 3-A | PART 3-B

Follow the what and why

PRIMARY & ELL | Expect multiple reasons to support each opinion.

Identify the two essential parts—the what and why.

Generate whole-class lists of reasons to support different opinions.

Transition from interactive writing to independent writing.

UPPER GRADES | Clarify the relationship among claims, reasons, & evidence.

Return to the table analogy to add the overall claim—the table cloth.

Confirm students have background knowledge on the purpose of a table cloth. | Graphic JPEG | Party JPEG | Picnic JPEG

Generate single paragraph persuasives, before expecting multiple reasons.

Claim + 1 Reason & Evidence
PDF  | Jamboard

Claim + 3 Reasons & Evidence
PDF  | Jamboard

Claim + 3 reasons + Counterclaim
PDF  | Jamboard

Collect facts to infer reasons.

Connect the Reading Voice and Thinking Voice to generate arguments based on texts.

Reading Voice and Thinking Voice comprehension signs
Organize and Argument anchor chart

“Vulgar Language” resources

PROMPT | Argue whether the use of vulgar language is a big deal or no biggie.

“School Uniform” resources

PROMPT | Write a persuasive as to why schools should have uniforms.

“ShamWow!” resources

PROMPT | Persuade the viewer to purchase a ShamWow.

“Christopher Columbus” resources

PROMPT | Argue whether Christopher Columbus should/should not be celebrated with a national holiday.

Video of MS social studies class inferring reasons.

Cut up text details and group them to infer possible reasons.

“Genetic Engineering” resources

PROMPT | Argue whether genetic engineering should/should not be legal.

Cut apart the list of pro and con details collected from several articles. Group them to infer reasons. (Original passages are not available.)

View the original whole-class mini-lesson and follow-up small-group activity executed in a MS science class.

Order reasons intentionally

Save the best for last.

Present reasons to maximize reader impact.

Convert one-sided persuasives into two-sided arguments.

Transition between claims and counterarguments.

Move beyond a summary of reasons.

Dry-erase puzzle pieces demonstrate how different types of information can comprise argumentative conclusions.

Clinch it with a clever statement.

Download student writing samples with strong beginnings and endings.

K-1

2-4

5-6

7-8

9-10

11-12