Teaching Writing: Opinion and Argument Success. Every Student. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Teaching Writing: Opinion and Argument

• Success. Every Student. Every teacher.

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Generating Questions:

• Take a moment to write questions you have about teaching students

to write opinion pieces or arguments.

• At the end of the session, we will return to these questions.

Objectives:

• Participants will analyze the standards to better understand key ideas

linked to teaching students to craft opinion and argument pieces.

• Participants will develop a stronger understanding and practice using

techniques to support the teaching of opinion and argument writing.

• Participants will be able to state the difference between persuasive

writing and argument.

• Participants will have criteria for selecting grade appropriate texts to

support the teaching of opinion and argument.

What features characterize opinion and argument writing?

Review writing standard 1. What do you notice are key elements?

What features characterize opinion and argument writing?

Opinion—Grades K-5

• A statement of belief or values (often

called an opinion statement). May be preferential.

• Ideas to support the opinion statement

(may include details, examples, reasons and/or quotes—see W1, RL1, RI 1, and SL 1)

• Use of linking words and phrases to

connect the opinion statement and the ideas supporting it

• Includes an introduction and a conclusion
• Usually organized either inductively or

deductively.

Argument—Grades 6-12

• Includes a claim (a hypothesis)
• Ideas to support the claim (will

include details, examples, reasons, and quotes, and may include addressing of counterclaims)

• Use of linking words and phrases to

clarify relationships between claims and ideas supporting those claims

• Usually organized either inductively
• r deductively

Read the text provided.

Opinion: Developing Ideas

• 1. Play the Believing and Doubting Game:
• a. Believe something is true, right, likable. What will you say?
• b. Doubt something is true, right, likable. What will you say?
• 2. Try it out:
• a. Believe that the Giant Panda is worth saving. What will you say?
• b. Doubt that the Giant Panda is worth saving. What will you say?

Opinion: Developing Ideas: Ideas to support the opinion

statement (may include details, examples, reasons and/or quotes—see RL1, RI 1, and SL 1)

• 1. Choose a grade (K-5).
• 2. Review standards RL1, RI 1, and/or SL 1 for the selected grade.
• 3. Discuss: If students must demonstrate the selected standard, what

ideas would they need to share in supporting the opinion statement?

• Be prepared to share what you have learned with others
• 4. Reflect and Write: After hearing the requirements for grades K-5,

take a moment to jot a summary statement to describe what key concepts students must acquire across the grades to support the

• pinion statement.

Strategies for Capturing Ideas to Support Opinions:

• Discussion
• Note taking
• Highlighting using different colors
• Sentence Starters

Try It Out:

• In your group, select one strategy for teaching students to capture

ideas to support opinions that would work best for students in one grade (K? 1? 2? 3? 4? 5?)

• Compose the directions for students in the grade selected to get the

students to try out the strategy selected.

Organizing the Opinion Writing: Inductive or Deductive

Inductive

• Share the supporting ideas to

lead the reader to the same conclusion as the author.

Deductive

• Share the conclusion of the

author and the supporting ideas that support that conclusion.

Try It Out: Should we save the Giant Panda?

• Left side of room—Craft an
• pinion piece that inductively

shares your opinion.

• Right side of the room—Craft an
• pinion piece that deductively

shares your opinion.

Try It Out: Selecting Linking Words

• How are linking words and phrases used in inductive vs. deductive
• pinion pieces?
• Where do linking words and phrases appear in inductive vs. deductive
• pinion pieces?
• What are the linking words and phrases we should include in a word

bank to help support students as they write inductive or deductive

• pinion pieces?

Persuasion vs. Argument

• Logos—logic (reasons, evidence, text support)—what arguments are

made of

• Ethos—convincing someone by highlighting the ethical connection

between the reader and the idea. An argument can be strengthened with ethical evidence (use of quotation is valuable), but only if it is evidence and not just “transference” of admiration.

• Pathos—reasoning through emotion.

When is persuasion the focus?

• Sales materials
• Marketing
• Political speeches

Developing Writing in an Argument Piece:

• What is a claim? How is it different from an opinion statement?
• -A claim is a statement that can be argued and proven with evidence.
• -A claim is a hypothesis.
• -A claim is not personal (I think… I believe…) or clearly preferential

(pepperoni pizza tastes better than mushroom pizza).

Teaching students to write an argument:

1. Start with an opinion statement (use what you learned about the believing and doubting game). 2. Collect ideas that will support that argument (use the strategies discussed for writing opinions). 3. Determine whether the argument will be written inductively or deductively and sketch the argument by sketching out both choices and selecting the strongest option. 4. Refine the claim statement (thesis statement). 5. Determine if “counterclaims are needed.” If so, use the believing or doubting ideas to sketch the counterclaim ideas. 6. Find additional evidence by going back to the text and add that evidence to the written piece. 7. Copyedit

Try It Out:

• Select one opinion piece written previously. As a group, work on

steps 4- 6.

• Based on your experience, what supports will students need to be

able to complete steps 4-6?

Gathering and including evidence:

• Teach students to find one strong piece of evidence for each

paragraph in their “sketched” argument. Searching for specific ideas to support a claim or counterclaim is easier than collecting ideas in general.

• Teach students to use quotes if a specific piece of language supports

the key ideas in a single paragraph. “Pop” the quote in. Smooth out language later.

• Teach students to paraphrase ideas when the evidence is spread out
• ver multiple paragraphs. “Pop the paraphrased idea in. Smooth out

language later.

Analyzing an Argument: Standard RI 8

• Review RI 8 through the grades. How do the expectations shift through the

grades?

• Grade 3--Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and

paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

• Grade 8--Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting

information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.

• Grade 11--Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts,

including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).

How can RI 8 and W 1 work support student literacy learning?

• RI 8 is focused on analyzing how an author structured a deductive

argument.

• Students can practice using what they learned from a model text and

applying it to their own deductive opinion or argument pieces. Immediately following a lesson where RI 8 has been of focus, pull out a writing piece structured as a deductive opinion or argument piece and have students practice use of the new learning. Use a piece from the student’s portfolio for application practice.

Try It Out:

• What is the connection between paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 in the panda

article?

• Go back to your argument on pandas. Rewrite the introduction using

the model provided in the panda article.

• What else would you change if the introduction shifted using this

model?

Selecting Texts to Support Opinion or Argument Writing

• Select one text for which both belief and doubt are equally viable

alternatives OR two texts, where each one provides the viable

• ptions.
• Select texts that provide a model for how to craft an argument

relevant to the writing standards and RI 8 standards for the applicable grade.

Coaching Others: Try It Out

• Work with others from your school or region. What are the key

concepts you will teach them based on today’s session?

Questions? Comments?

• Review the questions you wrote at the start of the session. If your

question remains, ask the question.

• If the question has been addressed, consider how you will share what

you have learned with others.

• Dr. Bonnie A.Hain, CAO

bhain@cpeducation.org @centerpointed centerpointeducation.org

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