Argument Writing Units

and other MAISA Units

Thursday, January 26,
2012
Day Two
Facilitator: Pam Rickli, Allegan Area ESA
ELA Consultant

Introductions
Please introduce yourself to a partner at
your table
With your partner, please share effective
advice youve received or given about good
writing
Be ready to share one piece of advice with
the group.

Agenda: Part 2
-Welcome and Grounding
-Immersion
-Model Lesson & Writing Invitation
-Conferring: Notice and Name
-Walk Through Lessons
-Organize and Integrate

Outcomes: Part 1
Establish baseline knowledge of
Common Core State Standard and
text type of the units
Interact with a Michigan-created
Argument Unit
Have awareness of upcoming Units

Anchor the Standard of

Focus

Text Types and Purposes

1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and
relevant
and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and
convey complex ideas and information clearly and
accurately
through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of
content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences
or events using effective technique, well-chosen details,
and well-structured event sequences.

Production and distribution of

Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a
new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce and publish writing and to interact and
collaborate with others.

Research to Build and Present

Knowledge
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research
projects based on focused questions, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and
digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of
each
source, and integrate the information while avoiding
plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts
to support analysis, reflection, and research.
range of Writing

Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time
frames (time for research, reflection,
and revision) and shorter time frames (a
single sitting or a day or two) for a range
of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Opinion/Argument
Writing
K-5 Opinion
6-12 Argument

Reading like
a Detective
&
Writing like
an
Investigative
Reporter

Its all about

Evidence
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/argument/home
http://www.theopedproject.org/

Purposes of Argument
In contrast to the
traditional
Western
concept of
argument as
being about
disputation or
combat

Communication
theorists describe
an invitational
argument, the kind
that aims not to
defeat another
person or group
but to invite others
to enter a space of
mutual regard and
exploration.
(Everything is an Argument, p. 5)

Quote from CCSS Appendix A, p. 25

The proper context for thinking about
argument is one in which the goal is
not victory but a good decision, one in
which all arguers are at risk of
needing to alter their views, one in
which a participant takes seriously
and fairly the views different from his
or her own
Such capacities are broadly important for
the literate, educated person living in the
diverse, information-rich environment of
the twenty first century.

Argument as Critical Thinking

Argument is not simply a dispute, as when
people disagree with one another or yell at
each other.
Argument is about making a case in support
of a claim in everyday affairs in science, in
policy making, in courtrooms, and so forth.

Persuasive Writing vs.

Argument
In persuasive essay, you can select the most
favorable evidence, appeal to emotions, and use
style to persuade your readers. Your single
purpose is to be convincing (Kinneavy and
Warriner, 305)
Argument, on the other hand, is mainly about
logical appeals and involves claims, evidence,
warrants, backing, and rebuttals. (Hillocks, xvii)
From Page 24 of Appendix A of ELA Common Core State
Standards Document

Elements of Argument
Toulmins concept

A claim
Qualifications
and rebuttals
refute
competing
claims

Based on
evidence

Argument
Backing
supports
the
warrants

A warrant
explains how
evidence
supports the
claim

They Say I Say

Moves that matter in Academic Writing
Begins
Begins
Not with an act
of assertion, but
an act of
listening,
of putting
ourselves in the
shoes of those
who think
differently from
us.

As
As aa Result
Result

We advise
writers to
begin not with
what they
themselves
think about
their subject
(I say) but
with what
others think
(They say)

This
This Practice
Practice

Adds
urgency to
writing,
helping it
become
more
authentically
motivated.
(Graff &
Berkenstein,
xiii)

Immersion

Immersion Work:
It is recommended that immersion
work take place during reading, a week
or more prior to beginning the writing
unit of focus. It is also suggested that
text selection should include published
reviews as well as student authored
work.

Modeling Mini
Lesson

What, Why, and How

of Writing Through
Mini Lesson

What?
Write through the mini
lesson with two
perspectives
Teacher eyes
Writer eyes

Why write through a mini

lesson?
Teachers should write so they
understand the process of writing from
within.

Excerpt from Donald Murray,

A Writer Teaches Writing 2003

Why?
Teachers should write, first of all, because it is fun. It is a
satisfying activity that extends both the brain and the soul.
It stimulates the intellect, deepens the experience of
living, and is good therapy. Teachers should write so they
understand the process of writing from within. They should
know the territory intellectually and emotionally: how you
have to think to write, how you feel when writing.
Teachers of writing do not have to be great writers, but
they should have frequent and recent experience in
writing. If you experience the despair, the joy, the failure,
the success, the work, the fun, the drudgery, the surprise
of writing you will be able to understand the composing
experiences of your students and therefore help them
understand how they are learning to write.
Donald Murray,
A Writer Teaches Writing 2003

Ink Your Think

Take a moment and write
a notebook response to
Donald Murrays quote

Write through session 2

Well write through this session
just as your students will
Please hold your teacher
questions until after the mini
lesson has been completely
modeled.

Reflection
Turn to a partner and respond to
these prompts:

What did you notice about this

mini lesson as a writer?

What did you notice about this

mini lesson as a teacher?

Debrief the Architecture

of a Mini Lesson

CONNECTION:
Yesterday we were working on

Today I am going to teach you

Because

TEACHING POINT:
Let me show you how I

HmmmIm thinking

Did you see how I

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT:
Now you are going to have a try. You
are going to

LINK:
Today and everyday when you are
writing, you can

CONNECTION:

TEACHING POINT:

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT:

LINK:

Turn and Talk

With an elbow partner, turn
and talk about what you
noticed regarding the flow of
the minilesson segments.
Be ready to share with the
whole group.

Conferring
Notice
Name
Nudge

Notice
Notice what the writer is doing that
you taught or what works for you as a
reader.
What are you trying to do as a
writer in this piece?
What have you done so far?
Listen!

Name
Name something you noticed in a way
thats general so the writer can use
this strategy in other situations.
I can see that you used. . . (name
the strategy) that will be useful any
time you

This part where you . . . works for

me as a reader. . . because....

Nudge
Nudge the writer to do some part of this work even
better, maybe reiterate a teaching point, maybe help
him/her try another way to get to the same goal,
another strategy related to the same skill.
Theres

a strategy writers use that may be

helpful to you as you are _______.
May I give you a tip?
As the conference is coming to a close...
So,

tell me what you are going to do now

as a writer on this piece?

Teleprompter

Purpose of Teleprompter:
Overview the entire unit
Become familiar with the
lesson plan format and
translate the lesson into a
teaching format

On Chart Paper:
Write the session number
For the Teaching and Active
Engagement portions of your
lesson:
words, phrases
bulleted lists
sketches

Progression of K-5 Skills

for Opinion Writing

Organize and Integrate

Road Map to the

Next
Do-able Level
Star En Criteria for Accountabi
Goals
Goal #1

Goal #2

Goal #3

Success

lity

Making it Real
With a partner, talk about your doable
goals
Write your goals
Stand up and share your goals with an
eye partner

Happy Writing and

Teaching