說服我！ - 中年級學生議論文寫作

Middle school students love to argue! This class will harness that desire to argue by giving learners the writing skills to develop a well-thought-out, argumentative essay. Learners will examine how to build an argument, while developing an understanding of how to write a claim, how to provide clear reasoning, and how to support the claim with solid evidence. We will progress from a freestyle debate of high-interest topics in the first class to participating in a writer’s workshop to craft a final argument essay in the last class. 

The class atmosphere will be fun and engaging for learners. Learners will collaborate to discuss topic ideas and workshop together to revise and edit writing. We will laugh together as we examine both great argumentative writing examples and not-so-great argumentative writing examples. Class topics will be relevant to learners, and class activities will be varied. This class does need to meet the minimum learner requirement (2) in order to proceed with an atmosphere that is both collaborative and engaging.

This class is appropriate for middle grades learners who want to learn how to write a solid argumentative essay.

Week one: informally debate high-interest topics, read and compare argumentative texts, brainstorm writing topic ideas

Week two: understand the structure of an argumentative essay, distinguish fact from opinion, identify credible sources, begin argument essay draft

Week three: engage in a writer’s workshop to revise and edit argument essay draft, share final, revised argument essays