How to Weave Formative Assessment into Your Writing Unit
In this Argumentative Writing Unit, students are set up with everything they need to move through the writing process start to finish. The argumentative writing plan is divided up into stages and tasks so that teachers can collect formative assessment pieces along the way. Students begin by brainstorming and engaging in freewrite activities. They develop an extensive list of topics and begin to narrow down the topic to one they are interested in. Freewriting is a very important part of the writing process. It’s a great way for students to explore argumentative writing topics without feeling tied to them. Once students have narrowed the scope, they can begin pen and paper preparation. Students need to gather enough data to support their thesis. An argumentative writing assignment isn’t complete without supporting facts. Bouncing back and forth between research and a working these is a must before students actually begin drafting their essay. This stage forms most of the argumentative writing work. Once your students have all their points and opposing points and a thesis, they can begin drafting their argumentative writing essay. The argumentative writing unit below is completely student-driven. Students have everything they need to move through the writing process independently.
ROADMAP
Stage 1 - Brainstorming
What is an argumentative essay? It's a piece of writing that takes a stance on an issue. In a good argumentative essay, a writer attempts to persuade readers to understand and support their point of view about a topic by stating their reasoning and providing evidence to back it up. An argumentative essay uses fact-based evidence and unquestionable logic to prove that its thesis is true. Argumentative essays focus more on concrete empirical data, not emotions. Argumentative essays presume one point of view is correct. The idea is that an argumentative essay leaves no doubt that its thesis is accurate, usually by disproving or invalidating opposing theories. That’s why argumentative essays don’t just talk about the writer’s own thesis but discuss other contradicting points of view as well. It’s hard to name one perspective as “true” if you’re ignoring all the others. Your Thesis The thesis, or argument, is the cornerstone of any good essay. The thesis itself should be the one takeaway you want your readers to leave with. What are you trying to convince them of, or what do you want them to remember after reading? Choose a topic you feel strongly about. Your argument should be specific. Choose a thesis with sufficient evidence. Resource https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAmgEa1B1vI
Choose a prompt from this link: https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/200-prompts-for-argumentative-writing/ and freewrite for five minutes (write as fast as you can). Share your work.
Brain dump: List or doodle all of the topics you feel strongly about. Circle topics that are more specific.
Topic Sharing Activity. Share your argument topic in a post to the feed. Comment on each student's thesis statement in the class (whatever comes to mind). Ask a question, add a sub-topic, make an argument etc.
Narrow the scope. (Eg. Students should be vaccinated for school. > Parents should be required to get their children vaccinated before school. > Parents should be required by law to have their children vaccinated before their children are allowed to attend public or private school.) Share your narrow topic.
Share a 5-minute freewrite on your topic of choice. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, or complete sentences. Don’t pause in your writing or stop to think. What do I already know about it? Why is it important to me? Why would it matter to other people? What are other opinions about the topic?
Stage 2 - Pen & Paper Preparation
You now need to gather data to support your thesis. Once you have enough data you can begin the outline of your essay. Does my thesis have a clearly defined argument? _______ Does my thesis contain one main idea? _______ Does my thesis contain specific terms? _______ Is my thesis interesting and engaging? ________ Can my thesis be supported by research? _______ Resources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAmgEa1B1vI https://www.grammarly.com/blog/argumentative-essay-outline/
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAmgEa1B1vI and begin collecting evidence to form the outline of your essay. Post a document or board of all your resources. Continue to upload this resource document as it grows. Do you have enough data to support each of your main points?
Create a working thesis using Opposition-Opinion-Reason method. Eg. Although standardized testing in schools is only one measure of students’ learning (Opposition), it is the fairest way to assess student learning (Opinion) because other methods tend to be subjective. (Reason) Get feedback from peers and revise.
Create and share a document of all the points and opposing points. Support each claim with evidence. (Eg. relevant examples, comparisons, cause-and-effect, definitions, personal experience, primary source (survey/ interview), graphics, data). Comment on 5 peers' lists and leave counterpoints.
Stage 3 - Draft & Peer Edit
Time to create and share your draft essay. It's also time to edit your peers' works. Choose 3 draft argumentative essays from the feed to edit. Is the introduction interesting? Did it make you want to keep reading? Is the author’s opinion clear? Is there a clearly defined argument? Does each paragraph of the essay contain a clear point that supports the main argument? Is there evidence to support each point? Are the opposing points of view addressed sufficiently? Are there rebuttals to the opposing points sufficient and logical? Are there any logical fallacies? Is the paper organized in a logical way? Does the writing flow smoothly? Are there appropriate transitions? Is the conclusion logical? Does the conclusion provide a satisfying ending to the paper? What are three things the author did well? What are three things that need improvement?
Use the attached resource checklist to ensure you have a good introduction & conclusion.
Share all outside sources and cited appropriately (MLA format).
Create and share your draft essay with peers. Choose 3 peers to edit (focus on content, style and structure). Make sure you answer all the questions posted in the stage instructions.
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On Spinndle, teachers can keep track of all formative assessment pieces in one place. Track the student’s writing process start to finish with Spinndle.