The Common Core

and Argument Writing

Write:
What was your best writing experience?
What was your worst writing experience?

Common Core: Anchor
Standards
Text Types and Purposes*
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient
evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective
selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured
event sequences.
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject
under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate
the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a
day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
*These broad types of writing include many subgenres. See Appendix A for definitions of key writing types.
Three Text Types
1. Argument
2. Informational/Explanatory
3. Narrative

Grade-level Standards
What assumptions do the standards pre-
suppose?
What do the standards imply? Consider order,
wording, what is omitted, what is included.
Persuasion vs. Argument
Ethos (author
credibility)
Pathos (emotional
appeals)
Persuasion
Logos (logical
appeals)
Reason
Argument
Persuasion vs. Argument
"With its roots in orality, rhetoric has a bias for
viewing audiences as particular. Aristotle said,
The persuasive is persuasive to someone. In
contrast to rhetoric, writing has a bias for an
abstract audience or generalized conception of
audience. . . . For this reason, a particular
audience can be persuaded, whereas the
universal audience must be convinced; particular
audiences can be approached by way of values,
whereas the universal audience (which
transcends partisan values) must be approached
with facts, truths, and presumptions.
~Miller & Charney

Argument
Common Core: What is
Argument?
To change readers point of view
To bring about some action on the readers part
To ask the reader to accept the writers explanation
or evaluation of a concept, issue, or problem
Is it argument or persuasion?
Is it argument or persuasion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9z71iNrlew

Is it argument or persuasion?
Is it argument or persuasion?
Is it argument or persuasion?
Is it argument or persuasion?
Is it argument or persuasion?
Grade-level samples
Group by number and read associated sample.
1: Grade 12 (Freedom) 2: Grade 12 (Dress
Codes)
3:Grade 10 4: Grade 9
5: Grade 7 6: Grade 6 (Pet Story)
7: Grade 6 (Dear Mr. Sandler)
Discuss what the writing and annotations reveal
about characteristics of argument writing
(according to CCSS).
Group by color and share your sample groups
findings. Generate a list of characteristics across
samples: what are the qualities of argument
writing, as revealed by these samples (in
connection to standards)? Be prepared to share
your groups list.
Elements of Argument
Claim
Evidence: relevant and verifiable
Warrant: explanation of how the evidence
supports the claim; often common sense rules,
laws, scientific principles or research, and well-
considered definitions.
Backing: support for the warrant (often extended
definitions)
Qualifications and Counter-arguments:
acknowledgement of differing claims
Arguing Both Sides
What can students learn?
Arguments across disciplines
Although arguments in different fields use the
same elements (claims, warrants, etc.), fields
have different goals for argumentation, degrees of
formality and precision, and modes of resolution,
with the consequence that evaluative judgments
should be made within fields, not between fields."
Also. . .
There are "multiple differences between
academic argument and public argument."
~Miller & Charney
Modes and Genres
Good writers know what kind of thing they are
making with writing. They can answer the
question, should someone ask, what have I read
in the world that is like what you are trying to
write? No one I know would answer that question
with words like narrative or persuasive or
expository. These words simply arent operational
for people who write. They arent the terms
writers use to talk about or think about the writing
they are producing. . . . Mode words dont
actually name the kinds of things people make
with writing, so by themselves they dont give
anyone a vision for writing. Genre words do that
work much better. ~Katie Wood Ray
Audience
How do writers assumptions about audience affect
production of a text?
1. How much to elaborate based on what they anticipate
readers know
2. How much to tailor the development of claims
3. How much to care, since writers concerns are bigger
when audience matters
4. How to accommodate audiences if writers don't identify
with them

Considering the audience, therefore, is not simply a matter
of selecting the information that readers need to
understand the argument. Instead, writers must anticipate
objections and questions and develop persuasive appeals,
including building on common ground, refuting opposing
claims, offering an acceptable reader-writer relationship,
and presuming upon appropriate beliefs and values."
~Miller & Charney

Building a Topic Bank
School
issues
Local Issues State Issues National
Issues
Global
Issues










Choosing an arguable issue
Arguments need. . .
An issue
An arguer
An audience
Common ground
A forum
Audience outcomes



Arguments fail with. . .
No disagreement or
reason to argue
Risky or trivial issues
Difficulty establishing
common ground
Standoffs or fights
that result in negative
outcomes
Narrowing a topic
Preventing Bullying
Name calling
Texting
bad names
What about your class/grade?
Genre
Topic
Topic
PSA
Recycling
in our
school
Preventing
bullying
Common Core: What is
Argument?
To change readers point of view
To bring about some action on the readers part
To ask the reader to accept the writers explanation
or evaluation of a concept, issue, or problem
Creating an argument
C
l
a
i
m

A Miner would be a
good mascot
selection for our
school.
E
v
i
d
e
n
c
e

Mascots should be
strong or tough and
represent the area.
They should be
something people
would be proud to be.
E
x
p
l
a
n
a
t
i
o
n

Our area has mining
as one of its primary
industries, so the
choice would
represent our area. In
addition, miners need
to be tough because
they do strenuous
workand dangerous
work. They work hard
to fill a need for
people everywhere.
Thats something to
be proud of.
Four corners
The Supreme Court was right this week to
reverse the ban on the sale of violent video
games to children.
Strongly Agree? Agree? Disagree? Strongly
Disagree? Write for 3 minutes on your opinion.
Go to corner of room matching your response. In
your groups, you have several minutes to create
an argument: claim, convincing evidence (yes,
you can use your laptops), and explanation to
present a two-minute argument to the rest of the
groups.
Point of View Annotation
You will be reading this piece as one of the
following people:
Teenager
Parent
Police Officer
Insurance Executive
President of DriveCam
Underline information that is important, surprising,
puzzling or thought-provoking. For each time you
underline information, jot a sentence or two about
why you chose that bit to underline. The goal is to
explain your roles thoughts, opinions or
questions.
What is courage?
One day while Superman is flying around the
skies of Chicago, he lands atop the Sears Tower.
Using his super-telescopic vision, he sees a
woman tied to a railroad track in the distant south.
Squinting, he sees that it is Lois Lane. Beyond
her, perhaps only fifty yards away, is a rushing
freight train, which, in seconds, will cut her fragile
body to pieces. Superman leaps from the Sears
Tower and flies toward the train with the speed of
light. He screeches to a halt on the tracks facing
the train. The train smashes into his outstretched
arms, and Superman stops it dead. He turns to
Lois and asks, Gee, are you all right?
Defining Courage
Write a full definition of the term:
Include criteria
Provide examples that meet and do not meet each
criteria
Avoid when after a linking verb
Instead, use constructions like this: A courageous
act is one. . .
Courageous action involves the control of fear in the face of grave
danger. For an act to be truly courageous, it must meet several
criteria.
First, because courage is considered to be a virtue, any courageous act
must be a noble or virtuous act, such as saving a life or preventing
harm to another person. Robbing a bank, no matter how dangerous
and no matter how steadfast the actor, is not a noble or selfless act.
Because it is not a virtuous act, it cannot be considered courageous.
~ Hillocks, 170
Locavore Movement
A locavore is a person who has committed to
eating locally grown or produced food.
Read the materials youve been provided.
Discuss the ideas in your groups.
Create a v-chart of pros and cons of the
movement
V-chart as pre-write
To Locavore or Not?
A member of your city council agrees with the
perspectives of the locavore movement. He has
proposed encouraging the movement through a
series of ordinances and financial incentives.
Using what you know from the sources youve
studied, write a statement expressing your
position on the subject that will be read in front of
the city council when it has hearings on the
matter.
Drawing as prewriting
Read the article. Then sketch some of the key points
from the article.
Get into groups of three. Share your sketches: each
person share the thinking behind the sketch.
Groups make a poster that may integrate the ideas
from the individual sketches or something that came
up in discussion. All group members must contribute
to the drawing of the poster.
Gallery walk: In groups, use your post-its to comment
or respond to the other posters. Comments should be
about the ideas, not the drawing. Sign all names to
your comment and move on when the time signal is
given. As you move, also read the other comments
and factor them into your comments.
Scaffolding instruction
Day 1: explore the genre. Read samples and analyze parts. Do
fact/opinion work with essays.
Day 2: Read and analyze more letters to the editor. Rank them in
order of effectiveness. Begin list of criteria for this writing. Begin
to generate possible topics.
Day 3: Read and analyze some argument essays. Consider
claims, evidence, organization, tone (snarl words and purr
words). How do these apply to letters to editor? Homework:
What do you want to write to editor about? Write your claim,why
you hold the opinion and why someone might disagree with you.
Day 4: Choosing newspaper and identifying audience. Look at
more letters in your target newspaper. What topics? What
language? How long? How organized? What do these things tell
about the anticipated audience? Note to leave class: Which
newspaper? Describe audience.
Day 4: Inquirytime in library for finding evidence. Homework,
too?

Scaffolding instruction
Day 5: Fill in graphic organizer; evaluate quality of evidence.
Take one piece of evidence and explain how it supports claim
(teacher modeling). Turn in.




Day 6: Logic and organization, transitions
Day 7: Drafting, returning to models
Day 8: Peer evaluation
Day 9: Revision and further inquiry if necessary
Day 10: Polishing; sentence combining and word choice
Day 11: Due with addressed envelope
Evidence


Type of evidence


Level of importance
to audience


Developing Curriculum
Statements
What do students need to know how to do? What
understandings do they need to write this genre?
Take one of the genres you developed at the end
of yesterday and write some of the curriculum
statements that might come from that genre.
EX: Movie review for a website:
Writer will state opinion of quality of movie.
Writer will give short summary of movie.
Writer will give evidence from movie (filming, story, actors
credibility, etc.) to support claim.
General qualities of effective
writing
Grouping ideas into sentences and paragraphs
that carry meaning efficiently and move ideas
forward
Creating an effective thesis
Introducing an idea effectively
Connecting ideas (between sentences and
paragraphs)
Punctuating correctly
Creating and maintaining an appropriate tone
Concluding meaningfully
Using words eloquently

The structures and language of
argument
Incorporating others words or ideas
Subordinating opposing views
Organizing for greatest effect
Maintaining an academic tone
Analyzing and explaining data/sources
adequately
Recognizing the difference between reasons and
evidence
Evaluating quality of evidence/research

Connecting ideas effectively
Why? To establish clear relations between ideas
The best compositions establish a sense of
momentum and direction by making explicit
connections among their different parts, so that
what is said in one sentence (or paragraph) not
only sets up what is to come but is clearly
informed by what has already been said. When
you write a sentence, you create an expectation
in the readers mind that the next sentence will in
some way echo and be an extension of the first,
even ifespecially ifthe second one takes your
argument in a new direction. ~Graff &
Birkenstein
Ways to make connections
Transitions
Pointing words
Repetition of key words and phrases
Synonyms
Idea hooks
Example
The only thing more dangerous than being on
the back of a racehorse was being thrown from
one. Some jockeys took two hundred or more
falls in their careers. Some were shot into the air
when horses would prop, or plant their front
hooves and slow abruptly. Others went down
when their mounts would bolt, crashing into the
rails or even the grandstand. A common accident
was clipping heels, in which trailing horses
tripped over leading horses hind hooves, usually
sending the trailing horse and rider into a
somersault. Finally, horses could break down,
racings euphemism for incurring leg injuries.
Seabiscuit, Hillenbrand
Transitions
EXAMPLES: Also, besides, furthermore, in
addition, similarly, in other words, for example, for
instance, although, but, despite the fact that,
however, as a result, since, so, therefore,
admittedly, as a result, consequently, yet
Spot is a good dog. He has fleas.
Spot is a good dog, even though he has fleas.

Courage is resistance to fear.
Courage is mastery of fear.
Courage is not absence of fear.
Pointing words
EXAMPLES: this, these, that, those, their, such,
her, it, etc.
Children wanted their kiddy-cars to go faster. First, the
animal design was done away with. Then off went a couple
of the wheels. The two remaining wheels were greatly
enlarged and then aligned down the center of the vehicle.
Finally, handlebars and footrests were added. These
primitive two-wheelers went much faster than the four-
wheeled kiddy-cars. ~ Toys! Wulffson
Riders didnt even have to leave the saddle to be badly hurt.
Their hands and shins were smashed and their knee
ligaments ripped when horses twisted beneath them or
banged into the rails and walls. Their ankles were crushed
when their feet became caught in the starters webbing.
~ Seabiscuit, Hillenbrand
Repetition of key words or
phrases
She sighed as she realized she was tired. Not
tired from work but tired of putting white people
first. Tired of stepping off sidewalks to let white
people pass, tired of eating at separate lunch
counters and learning at separate schools. She
was tired of Colored entrances, Colored drinking
fountains, and Colored taxis. She was tired of
getting somewhere first and being waited on last.
Tired of separate, and definitely tired of not
equal. ~ Rosa, Giovanni
Synonyms and pronouns
Candy is almost pure sugar. It is empty of
nutritional value. It is an extravagance. It
dissolves in water. It melts in your mouth, not in
your hands. Its the icing on the cake. Candy is so
impossibly sweet and good that eating it should
be the simplest thing in the world. So how can
there be anything of substance to say about it?
~ Candy and Me, Liftin
Religion was central to Egyptian life from the
beginning, and the pharaoh played a key role in
its rituals. In life, the ruler was thought to be the
son of Ra, the all-powerful sun god.
~ Secrets of the Sphinx, Giblin

Idea hooks
Mark Twain is established in the minds of most
Americans as a kindly humorist, a gentle and
delightful funny man. No doubt his photographs
have helped promote this image. Everybody is
familiar with the Twain face. He looks like every
childs ideal grandfather, a dear old white-
thatched gentleman who embodies the very spirit
of loving-kindness.
Such a view of Twain would probably have been
a source of high amusement to the author
himself. ~ Lively Art of Writing, Payne
In combination
Jebel Musa in the morning is like a tiger at dawn, a cat
curled up in the shadows, its coat the color of pumpkin
pie, its demeanor a misleading message: tame. As we
arrived at the small plateau where climbers prep for the
hike to come, the mountain seemed almost inert, waiting.
At 7,455 feet, its not a particularly tall mountain: half as
high as the tallest mountain in the Colorado Rockies;
roughly as tall as the highest peak in the Appalachians.
But it is impressive, completely dominating the landscape
around it like a mother elephant dwarfing her babies. A
mixture of red and gray granite fused together in an
imposing, almost threatening mass, Mount Moses rises
straight from the ground and softens slightly at the top
like a drip castle. Though not as angular as Mount Ararat,
nor as tall as nearby Mount Katarina, it still seems like a
particularly imposing backdrop, waiting for some
particularly majestic drama to take place in front of it.
~ Walking the Bible, Feiler
Using others ideas appropriately
Quoting: using the exact words of another.
Words must be placed in quotation marks and the
author cited.
Summarizing: putting the ideas of another in
your own words and condensing them. Author
must be identified.
Paraphrasing: putting someone elses ideas
in your words but keeping approximately the
same length as the original. Paraphrase must be
original in both structure and wording, and
accurate in representing authors intent. It can not
just be switching out synonyms in the original
sentence. Author must be identified.
Quoting
Why use quotations?
when the speakers name and reputation add
credibility
when the phrasing of the quotation is interesting or
revealing and cannot be stated another way as
effectively
How effective are these examples?
Many students improve their reading ability by
looking at a text closely and by giving their first
reactions to it (Burke 46).
Mem Fox contests, worksheets are the dead-end
streets of literacy: theres a non-message on each
line, going nowhere, for no reason (69).
Hints: cut quotes to the core and use them like
spice, sparingly
Summarizing
Summaries
Should be shorter than original text
Should include the main ideas of the original
Should reflect the structure of the original text
somewhat
Should include important details
Is this an effective summary of Source B?
At the moment of harvest, food begins to lose
vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals important
for fighting disease and maintaining health.
Because the decrease is negligible, however, even
if food is days or weeks from harvest, its still
possible to derive nutrition from it and be healthy by
making smart food choices.
Paraphrasing
Source: People of African descent in the
Diaspora do not speak languages of Africa as
their mother tongue.
Inappropriate Paraphrase: People of African
descent no longer speak the languages of Africa
as their first language.
Appropriate Paraphrase: Painter contends that
cultural factors like language and religion divide
African Americans from their ancestors. Black
Americans speak a wide variety of languages, but
usually these are not African.
Introducing others ideas
Put source names either before the idea [Painter
insists that the hula hoop can help fight diabetes]
or after the idea in parentheses [Others find the
idea ridiculous (Smith, Wilson)].
Use vivid and precise verb signals more than
says or believes to show how an author feels
or how an idea might relate to other ideas:
agrees, recommends, insists, explains
Make sure the idea adds to the point you are
making. Dropping in unrelated quotes or names
diminishes your credibility. SHOW how the idea
contributes to YOUR argument.
Practice
Write a paragraph expressing your opinion about
the locavore movement using either a quote,
paraphrase, or summary statement from one of
the sources.
Be prepared to explain your choice: why you
chose the option you did and how you
incorporated it (either with appropriate
punctuation and citation or by shortening or
restating).
Creating lessons
Determine what students need to know how to do
Find examples and models to show the skill
Talk through the findings
Give students chances to practice in low-risk
situations
Have them talk to each other about the practices
Apply the new skill to writing currently being
completed
Decide on appropriate timing: when would be the
best in the learning process?
Writing Next
1. Writing strategies
2. Summarizing
3. Collaborative writing
4. Specific product goals
5. Word processing
6. Sentence combining
7. Prewriting
8. Inquiry activities
9. Process writing approach
10. Study of models
11. Writing for content learning
And so. . .

"Findings from this study suggest that teachers
needn't teach to the test in a narrow, evaluation-
focused manner; rather, they can develop tools
that move students toward test-readiness while
keeping writing process principles in focus.
~ Wolman-Bonilla

Sources
Caine, Karen. Writing to Persuade: Mini-lessons to Help Students Plan,
Draft, and Revise. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2008.
Daniels, Harvey Smokey, and Nancy Steineke. Texts and Lessons for
Content-Area Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011.
Dean, Deborah. Strategic Writing: The Writing Process and Beyond in
Secondary Schools. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2006.
---. What Works in Writing Instruction: Research and Practices. Urbana,
IL: NCTE, 2010.
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say, I Say: The Moves that
Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Norton, 2006.
Hillocks, George, Jr. Teaching Argument Writing. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 2011.
Miller, Carolyn R., and Davida Charney. Persuasion, Audience, and
Argument. Handbook of Research on Writing. Ed. Charles
Bazerman. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2008. 583-598.
Smagorinsky, Peter, et al. The Dynamics of Writing Instruction: A
Structured Process Approach for Middle and High School. Portsmouth,
NH: 2010.