While the 8th  grade students have been approaching argument writing through the lens of a world social issue, the 6th/7th grade class has been learning the place of argument in their study of literature. The first part of this unit had students analyzing character traits. After reading 10-12 short stories, students chose one story to read more closely and to write about. Students wrote multiple times, both informally in their readers’/writers’ notebooks and formally in essays, to explore their thinking about the text.

To prepare to write their essays, students first learned the basic structure of an argument essay using a familiar text, “The Three Little Pigs.” They were then able to apply this learning to the short story they chose, focusing on an overall character trait that encompasses the entire text. This week they finished a first draft and began revision stations. In groups of three, students rotated to stations where they critically examined their drafts and looked for ways to improve their introductions, quotes, evidence, and organization. They also conferenced with peers.  Next week they will have a teacher conference and finish their revisions to finalize a second draft. They will then take the next step of writing a literary analysis essay about a text’s theme.

As students make their way through this more formal way of presenting their thinking, they are wrestling with critical learning that will serve them in their classes to come. They are learning to establish a claim, support that claim with textual evidence, and provide clear and coherent reasoning to prove how their evidence supports their claim. While we are doing this work with literature, the skills they learn will apply in their writing about social studies, science, and even math.

We look forward to sharing final drafts with you soon!

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