a day long workshop of elements of argument, building a culture of argument in the classroom, task and learning progressions and effective argument task design

1.
The
Art
of
Teaching
Argument
arto1eachingargument.wikispaces.com/
Delia
DeCourcy
Susan
Wilson-­‐Golab
Oakland
Schools
ELA
-­‐
Social
Studies
-­‐
Science

2. Today’s Workshop Goals
• To review the foundational moves of
•
•
•
argument.
To experience how to build a culture of
argument in your classroom.
To explore a possible argument task
progression for your students.
To experiment with effective argument task
design.

4. Argument vs. Persuasion
Argument
Persuasion
Argument is about making a
case in support of a claim in
everyday affairs – in
science, policy making, in
courtrooms, and so forth.
In a persuasive essay, you
can select the most
favorable evidence, appeal
to emotions, and use style
to persuade your readers.
Your single purpose is to be
convincing.
- George Hillocks, Jr., Teaching
Argument Writing
-- Kinneavy and Warriner 1993
logical appeals
advertising, propaganda

5. Argument in the CCSS
Reading Anchor Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the
relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
Writing Anchor Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an
analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant
and sufficient evidence.
History, Science & Technical Subjects:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on disciplinespecific content.

6. Your Goals for Your Teaching
Practice?
Identify an open-ended question or
two about teaching argument
writing that you would like to
explore during this 2-day
workshop.
pair & share
post to the wall

7. Arguments Surround Us

8. Arguments Surround Us
arto1eachingargument.wikispaces.com/

9. Unpack the Argument
INFORMAL WRITE
1. Select one visual argument from the page.
2. Identify a possible argument that is implied
by this image/text. (claim)
3. Name evidence to support your claim.
(details from the image, anecdotal, etc.)
4. Explain your reasoning.

10. Share & Analyze
1. Share your flash draft with a partner.
2. Partner say back. What was the
claim
evidence
reasoning (connection between claim &
evidence)
•
•
•

11. Share & Analyze
HAVE A CONVERSATION: FEEDBACK
• What was the strongest part of the argument
and why?
• What could the writer add or subtract to
improve the argument?

12. Arguments in the Real World

13. Students’ Concept of Argument/
Writing
What high schoolers sometimes come to us with (and what can get in
the way of their college writing/thinking):
* a tendency to see writing and research as report
rather than discovery; not seeing or believing that
you can write to find and hone your ideas, and that
some of this comes from the richly complex
relationships that evolve between ideas that may
take sentences and paragraphs (i.e., not just a
"However") to explain and unpack; in conjunction
with this, not always knowing or believing how
thoughtful responses from readers (including
themselves) can really help along a writer's process
of discovery.
- MSU Writing Instructors

14. Foundational Concepts of Argument
• Claim
• Evidence (standards and nature of evidence
•
•
•
differs by subject area)
Reasoning/Analysis/Warrant - an
explanation of how the evidence supports
the claim
Counterargument/Rebuttals - refute
competing claims
Consideration of audience

15. Toulmin Model

16. Argument as a Habit of Mind
• In your teaching
• In your students’
o
o
o
thinking
discussion
writing
• Teach across the year
• Consistently use rhetorical language to build
students’ academic vocabulary

17. Instructional Strategies to
Build Argument Culture & Habits of Mind
annotation
talk to the text
text in the middle
informal writing
first thoughts
respond to a
prompt
visual thinking
routines
flash drafts
discourse
Socratic seminar
structured small
groups - test ideas
talk protocol
debates
think alouds
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

18. BREAK
Join the Art of Teaching Argument
Community
• Log in to your Google account
• Visit: plus.google.com/communities
• search for The Art of Teaching Argument
• Click Join Community
• We will accept your invitation
• Once you’re a member, click on the cog (settings) to
•
turn your notifications on.
Share your current interests, curiosities, and challenges
with teaching argument writing.

19. BUILDING REASONING MUSCLES
ARGUMENT TALK PROTOCOL

21. LUNCH!

22. Coding Activity

23. Shifting Our
Language
Curriculum and Assessment

24. List
of
Events
Learning
Progression

25. Working
at
the
“Edge”
of
Learning
Progressions
invite
a
developmental
view
of
learning
because
they
lay
out
how
exper>se
develops
over
a
more
or
less
extended
period
of
>me,
beginning
with
rudimentary
forms
of
learning
and
moving
through
progressively
more
sophis>cated
states.
-­‐Margaret
Heritage,
p.
37
Forma>ve
Assessment
in
Prac>ce

26. What’s
a
Learning
Progression?
What
it
is…
What
it
isn’t…
Sequence
set
of
subskills
and
bodies
of
enabling
knowledge
Composed
of
step-­‐by-­‐step
building
blocks
needed
to
aMain
target
curricular
aim
Flawless
Un-­‐changing
One
size
fits
all
Transforma)ve
Assessment,
W.
James
Popham

27. Building Blocks of Argument
Enabling Knowledge
claim
evidence
counterargument
audience
•
•
•
•
Subskill
reasoning
analysis
angling evidence
for audience
•
•
•

28. Example
Today’s Task
Progression
• video analysis
• visual argument
• argument talk
•
protocol
coding activity
What has our
learning skill
progression
been today?
TURN & TALK

29. Today’s Learning Progression
1. video analysis: notice pattern of argument
2. visual argument: make a claim, identify
argument traits and give feedback
3. talk protocol: gather evidence, make a claim,
argue with an opponent, angle evidence for
a particular audience
4. coding activity: identify argument traits, norm
across content areas

30. GRADES
3-­‐5
LUCY
CALKINS:
BOXES
&
BULLETS
Thesis Statement
·∙
Parallel Topic Sentence #1
·∙
Parallel Topic Sentence #2
·∙
Parallel Topic Sentence #3
Concluding Statement

31. THESIS
PARAGRAPH
Thesis
Statement
(Stance,
Position,
Claim)
May
require
sentence
order
or
sentence
#.
BODY
PARAGRAPH
#1
Topic
Sentence
(Least
important
point
or
reason)
Include
evidence,
explanation,
and
concluding
sentence
BODY
PARAGRAPH
#2
Topic
Sentence
(2nd
most
important
point
or
reason)
Include
evidence,
explanation,
and
concluding
sentence
BODY
PARAGRAPH
#3
Topic
Sentence
(Most
Important
Point
or
Reason)
Include
evidence,
explanation,
and
concluding
sentence
CONCLUDING
PARAGRAPH
Restate
Thesis
Include
summary
and/or
comment

32. KEYHOLE
ESSAY
Thesis
Paragraph
General:
Grabber
Specific:
Thesis
(Claim)
Body
Paragraph
#1
Topic
Sentence
(Specific
Point)
Evidence,
explanaeon,
transieonal
conclusion
Body
Paragraph
#2
Topic
Sentence
(Specific
Point)
Evidence,
explanaeon,
transieonal
conclusion
Body
Paragraph
#3
Topic
Sentence
(Specific
Point)
Evidence,
explanaeon,
transieonal
conclusion
Concluding
Paragraph
Rephrase
Thesis
(Claim)
Summarize
Points

33. Students & Structures/Reasoning
What high schoolers sometimes come to us with (and what can get in
the way of their college writing/thinking):
* a relentless search for / use of formulas (3- to 5paragraph essays) and "rules" (i.e., Never use "I" in
an essay; Never begin a sentence with "But," etc.)
rather than focusing on audiences, purposes,
contexts, etc. In other words, not recognizing, as a
friend of mine says, that there are "different spokes
for different folks," and that different contexts invite
different kinds of writing.
- MSU Writing Instructors

34. Arguments: encouraging complexity
COMPLEXITY
consider alternatives, evaluate evidence, and think critically
Teacher provided
question/problem
Teacher provided
topic
WHO DECIDES?
control of question/problem
control of data/evidence
Student generated
response
Student generated
question/problem +
response

37. Developing
Task
Trajectories
Nominaeons
Best
in
Show
Wrieng
to
make
the
world
different(fixable
problem
in
community)
Elevating the quality of argument: create a trajectory across a year
and grade levels that develops cognitive complexity.
-Mary Ehrenworth

38. Developing
Task
Trajectories
Social
issues
with
meaning
for
writer
Research
items
having
a
direct
impact
on
writer
TURN & TALK: How does each task layer more
complexity than the previous task?

39. Task Trajectory - Brainstorm!
- pairs/trios
- Google Community:
Task Trajectories
Subject
Grade Level
- Question/problem
for each task
•
•
1. Best in Show
2. Nominations
3. Writing to make the
world different
(community
problem)
4. Social issues with
meaning for writing
5. Research on topic
directly impacting

40. Designing Argument Tasks

41. More & Shorter Tasks
• Assign more writing tasks of shorter length or smaller
•
•
scope rather than fewer tasks of great length or large
scope.
Students get more opportunity to practice basic skills
and can refine their approach from assignment to
assignment based on feedback they receive.
BENEFIT: frees you to think beyond the large paper and
be more creative in the type of writing you assign

42. Big Picture
• Place the task outcomes in the larger frame of the
learning progression for the class:
o How is this particular task a piece of the “big picture”
§ for the writing task
§
for the unit
§
for the your year-long class?

43. Purpose
• What do you want students to show you in this
•
assignment?
What is the purpose of the task/assignment?
o to find evidence?
o to develop a claim?
o to put forth an original ideas?
o to create a more nuanced argument?
o to synthesize research to examine a new
hypothesis?
• Making the purpose(s) of the assignment explicit helps
students complete the task and/or write the kind of

44. Audience
• Who is the audience the writer is addressing?
o
o
o
classmates?
an imagined audience? (the EPA, Congress, literary
experts, the NY Times Editorial Board)
an authentic audience?
• Specificity of audience affects
o
o
o
o
evidence selection
evidence angling
counterargument
writing style

45. Learning Outcomes
Specify learning outcomes:
• What should students learn from doing the
assignment?
• What should the experience of it DO for them?
• Consider your task and skills progression here.
Does the assignment build on what they learned
previously and demand more of them?

46. Clarity of Process
• Include expectations for process steps/activities:
o
Are there multiple steps?
o
How will you support the writing process?
o
At what point will you check in to formatively
assess?
o
What intermediate steps and procedures would be
useful for a longer piece?

47. Let’s Evaluate
• Read and evaluate the tasks provided based
•
•
on the the provided criteria
Discuss as a table - find consensus?
Share scores with the larger group.

48. Design a Task
• Works with your curriculum before March 11
•
•
based on where your students are on task
trajectory
Can collect and share exemplar
Consider where you are in the argument
learning progression
o
o
preceding skill & content development
where will you go after this task to continue to build
skills

49. Design a Task
o
Before March 11: Post to Google
Community before March 11
§ Google Drive folder (Argument Writing
Tasks)
o On March 11: Bring student artifact exemplar

50. Share Your Task
• Provide context
• Share thinking
• Discuss challenges & concerns with
implementation

51. Reflection on the Day
• How has your thinking about teaching
argument writing shifted today?
• Reflect on the question you generated at the
beginning of the day.