We started an argumentative essay writing project today! As you can tell from our anchor chart, argumentative writing is MEATY. We will be breaking it down into parts so that the students truly understand the steps they need to take to create a powerful argument in writing.
The argument topic: Should school start later for middle school students? Surprisingly, many students picked “con” (which is “no, school SHOULDN’T start later). Interesting…We’ll see which side they firmly decide to argue after they’ve done some research.
This project will prepare students for the argumentative essays they will write and use for the classroom debate concerning the kingdoms of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis in Phantom Tollbooth.
Several students made the comment: “This’ll be good for me. I like to argue.”
Let the fun begin!