Writing Opinions and Arguments

A presentation by Teacher Candidates: Heather Dove, Kelly Giambelluca, Kaylee Herbert, Morgan Houston, Domenique Pelagruto, Veronica Turley, Samanth Vail, Professor: Laurie Andes

Salisbury University

laandes@Salisbury.edu

Effective Persuasion?We are all young inside…

Good night mattress: thief

Organ donors save lives

Febreze..

Become one of the freshest smelling places on Earth….

Children are naturally good at persuasion-true or false? (Role Play)

Can you convince me?

Convincing arguments often appeal to the logic (logos), the emotion (pathos), and the morality (ethos) of the reader/listener. (Slide show)

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/convince-developing-persuasive-writing-56.html

Identifying the strategies

Play the game of Persuasion…

1. Use a chart with two columns labeled Agree and Disagree. Put an arguable statement at the top, such as Winter is the best season…or, Maryland is the best state. Have participants place their sticky note on the side they agree with.

2. Divide into groups, taking one side or the other. Use the persuasive strategy definitions to state your reasons. Have someone in the group record your statements.

3. Groups share statements, identifying the strategies that are used.

Tools to Use-Use graphic organizers, charts and notes to collect ideas….

Interactive Persuasion Map:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/

Graphic Organizer:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson56/makepoint.pdf

Role Play Script:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson268/role.pdf

More tools….

Award winning sample essay to be used as a mentor text:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dolphin/conwin1.htm

A pre-writing activity to get students to notice persuasion all around them:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson56/homework1.pdf

A pre-writing activity to get students thinking about strategies: Stating a claim, using big names, Logos, Pathos, Ethos, Kairos, research…

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson56/observation.pdf

Constructing an Argument

State the claim: The idea the writer will argue for

Provide data: Evidence gathered in support

Warrant: Explanation o why or how the data supported the claim

Counterclaim: What would someone say who disagreed with you?

Rebuttal: Evidence that disagrees with counterclaim

Toulmin method (see Weida & Stolley, 2014), cited in Jago, C. (2014), Growing Writers Teaching Argumentative Writing Through Evidence-Based Thinking, in Ganske, K. (2014) Write Now! Empowering Writers in Today’s K-6 Classroom, Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Using graphic organizers, Harris, K.R., Graham, S., Chambers, A.B., Houston, J.D.

Sample Lesson

http://change.thinkport.org/#home.html

Other Presentation Formats for Writing Persuasive Pieces:

Planning presentations that use opinion and argument writing:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson-docs/Five-slide_Planner.pdf

Presentation tool: Brainshark:

http://my.brainshark.com/Quick-Tour-Demo-of-myBrainshark-445639928

Theory to Practice

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Singer, J. & Shagoury, R. (2005). Stirring up justice: Adolescents reading, writing, and changing the world. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(4), 318–339.

Social justice "can be at the forefront of a secondary English curriculum that simultaneously incorporates traditional skill development and critical analysis." �

In a heterogeneous classroom focusing on social activism, the teacher should place student-generated inquiry questions at the forefront.

Students should explore examples of social activism in order to identify the traits of an agent of change before engaging in their own activism.

Students hone reading skills by applying essential nonfiction reading strategies to texts as they explore their topics.

Writing that aims at affecting social change should be shared publicly.

Students should be given the opportunity to choose activism issues that speak to them personally.

Theory to Practice

Buss, K., & Karnowski, L. (2002). Teaching persuasive texts. In Reading and writing nonfiction genres (pp. 76–89). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

The main purpose of persuasive texts is to present an argument or an opinion in an attempt to convince the reader to accept the writer's point of view.

Reading and reacting to the opinions of others helps shape readers' beliefs about important issues, events, people, places, and things.

This chapter highlights various techniques of persuasion through the use of minilessons. The language and format of several subgenres of persuasive writing are included as well.

Theory to Practice

Baker, E.A. (2000). Instructional approaches used to integrate literacy and technology. Reading Online, 4. Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/baker/index.html

The inquiry approach gives students the opportunity to identify topics in which they are interested, research those topics, and present their findings. This approach is designed to be learner-centered as it encourages students to select their own research topics, rather than being told what to study.

Theory to Practice

Powell, R., Cantrell, S.C., & Adams, S. (2001). Saving Black Mountain: The promise of critical literacy in a multicultural democracy. The Reading Teacher, 54, 772–781.

The Saving Black Mountain project highlighted in this article exemplifies critical literacy in action. Students learn that, in a democratic society, their voices can make a difference.

Critical literacy goes beyond providing authentic purposes and audiences for reading and writing, and considers the role of literacy in societal transformation. Students should be learning a great deal more than how to read and write. They should be learning about the power of literacy to make a difference.

Theory to Practice

Petit, A., & Soto, E. (2002). Already experts: Showing students how much they know about writing and reading arguments. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(8), 674–682.

Students can discover for themselves how much they already know about constructing persuasive arguments by participating in an exercise that is not intimidating.

Progressing from spoken to written arguments will help students become better readers of persuasive texts.

Theory to Practice

Strangman, N. (2002/2003). Linking literacy, technology, and the environment: An interview with Joan Goble and René De Vries. Reading Online, 6. Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=voices/goble_devries/index.html

Endangered species and the environment are compelling topics for students of all ages and excellent raw materials for literacy learning.

With only a minimal familiarity with the Internet and computers, students from kindergarten on up to high school can experience the double satisfaction of educating others about the environment and developing better literacy skills.

Sample Lessons…

Sample Lesson…a complete description, step by step of the writing process as it looks with persuasion topics

http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E03395/SMUnit4SampleLesson.pdf

Samples of resources and lessons related to social justice topics

Children’s Literature References and Websites- Women’s History

Anderson, L.H. (2008) Independent Dames, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children.

http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/famous-firsts-in-womens-history

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1551.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/women/notable.htm

http://noceilings.org/home/#stories

Animal Rights

Judge, Lita (2009) Pennies for Elephants, Hyperion Press

Websites used to support:

www.Animalfair.com

www.Pawsweb.org

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/heres-what-will-happen-to-the-ringling-circus-elephants-when-they-retire

Child Labor and Safety

Greenwood, B. (2007) Factory Girl, Kids Can Press Ltd.

Global Child Labor Issues - http://www.unicefusa.org/search/node?search=child%20labor#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=child%20labor&gsc.page=1

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-worst-child-labor-risks-2012-1

Overview - http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/

 

History - https://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.html

 

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/history-child-labor

Equal Rights, Protest and Free Speech

Weatherford, C. B. (2005) Freedom on the Menu: the Greensboro sit-ins, Dial Books

https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-demonstrations-and-protests Demonstrations and Protests: Know Your Rights

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/stephanie-allen/are-protests-still-effect_b_3343141.html? Are Protests Still Effective?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88461838 Do Street Protests Still Work?

Integration and Civil Rights

Levinson, Cynthia (2012)We’ve Got a Job: the 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, Peachtree Publishers

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/top_performers/2014/06/american_schools_back_to_separate_but_equal.html 

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/brown-v-board/timeline.html 

http://study.com/academy/lesson/plessy-v-ferguson-impact-summary-quiz.html 

http://kidsinbirmingham1963.org/ 

http://www.loc.gov/poetry/interviews/levinson.html

Cultural Fusion

Raven, M.T. ( 2004) Circle Unbroken, Macmillan Publishers

Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/12/us/redskins-controversy/

http://www.culturalsavvy.com/understanding_american_culture.htm

Issues of War

Judge, L. ( 2007) One Thousand Tracings-Healing the Wounds of WWII, Hyperion

Bombings in war

http://old.seattletimes.com/special/trinity/supplement/procon.html

http://apecsec.org/pros-and-cons-of-dropping-the-atomic-bomb/

http://waddelland.weebly.com/uploads/8/2/3/9/8239420/a-bombproscons1.pdf

http://www.ushistory.org/us/51g.asp

References

Ganske, K. Ed. (2014). Write Now! Empowering Writers in Today’s K-6 Classroom. Newark:

DE, International Reading Association.

 

Harris, K.R., Graham, S. Chambers, A.B., Houston, J.D. (2014) Turning Broccoli Into Ice Cream

Sundaes Self-Regulated Strategy Development for Persuasive Writing Using Informational

Text, Ch. 6 in Write Now! Empowering Writers in Today’s K-6 Classroom. Newark: DE,

International Reading Association.

 

Jago, C. (2014). Growing Writers Teaching Argumentative Writing Through Evidence-Based

Thinking, Ch. 5 in Write Now! Empowering Writers in Today’s K-6 Classroom. Newark: DE,

International Reading Association.

 

Weida, S., & Stolley, K. (2014). Organizing your argument. Retrieved from

https://owl.english.purdu.edu/owl/resource/588/03/

Children’s Literature References

Anderson, L.H. (2008) Independent Dames, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children.

Greenwood, B. (2007) Factory Girl, Kids Can Press Ltd.

Judge, L. (2007) One Thousand Tracings-Healing the Wounds of WWII, Hyperion

Judge, Lita (2009) Pennies for Elephants, Hyperion Press

Levinson, Cynthia (2012) We’ve Got a Job: the 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, Peachtree Publishers

Raven, M.T. (2004) Circle Unbroken, Macmillan Publishers

Weatherford, C. B. (2005) Freedom on the Menu: the Greensboro sit-ins, Dial Books