SESSION 1 HOMEWORK ENTERTAINING CONTRARY VIEWS: SUSPEND CLOSURE AND BE OPEN-MINDED Writers, I talked to you today about choosing the kind of thinker you want to be. Remember I said that when someone with a view that is different than yours approaches you, you can be the kind of person who stands with your arms crossed, your face stern, your back up? We all have people in our lives who listen to our ideas like that, and I think none of us like it very much when we feel as if our listener s mind is made up before we even open our mouths. Tonight I m going to ask you to read an article about chocolate milk that argues the opposite of what you believe, and I m going to ask you to be a respectful, open-minded listener. Even if you really can t for the life of you imagine any view about chocolate milk other than your own, try your very hardest to be an openminded listener. Make yourself say things back to the author like, Good point! and That makes sense, and I see what you mean. This will mean that you end up taking notes on the side of this argument that will probably not be the side you argue. Though who knows, you might even end up finding your thinking gets changed. Tonight take home your folders. You can read the articles you started today, or others. If you have Internet at home, you might watch some of the videos. The links are inside the folders. SESSION 2 HOMEWORK PLANNING FOR NEXT STEPS IN WRITING Tonight, your homework is to give yourself an assignment. Decide on a strategy you think you should use next to take your work another step farther, just as Claire did in class today, and then record that strategy at the top of your notebook page in a self-assignment box or a to-do box. Then get started doing that work! To think about what you need to do next, it will help if you recall what you know about the writing process. Writers say that the writing process is a cycle and that writers are always cycling between rehearsal, drafting, and revision. Think about the stage of the writing process that you re embarking on now, and think about what you know that writers do at that stage. Then get started!
SESSION 3 HOMEWORK PRACTICING IDENTIFYING WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN WRITING MEETS SPECIFIC GOALS Writers, I m going to distribute an essay that meets many sixth-grade goals, and I m also giving you a few pages of the goals checklists that I ve copied onto sticky labels so that you can peel off one goal at a time. Will you find examples of where the text I m giving you matches the sixth-grade goals, and stick the label beside that place? This will allow you to annotate the model text I give you. Later in this unit, I m going to give you this same page of goals (as well as a page of fifth-grade goals) on sticky labels, and I m going to ask you to annotate your own essay. For now, my hope is that practicing this with someone else s writing will help you get a clear goal in mind for the work you aim to do in your letters. SESSION 4 HOMEWORK INTRODUCING INFORMATION AND NAMING SOURCES For homework tonight, take some time to add more information into your letter, including direct quotations as well as other kinds of information. Will you also reread your draft of your letter and make sure that you have inserted identifying information that provides a bit of relevant information on all the sources of your quotations as well as any other information you paraphrased? As you do this, keep in mind that it s not just people who need to be introduced. If you know something about the newspapers or magazines or websites that you are referencing, you can also add in that sort of detail as well.
SESSION 6 HOMEWORK USE QUOTATIONS SPARINGLY Writers, when you were young, you learned to use exclamation marks to show excitement. Chances are good that before long, your writing was full of exclamation points rows of them for some events and big fat bold exclamations for other events. I remember one student telling me he uses one for happiness and a whole row of them for someone s birthday and big bold exclamations when a guy s dying. When I taught little kids, I always knew that on the day after I taught them to use exclamation marks, I d teach them to not use them or more accurately, I d teach them to use them sparingly. So tonight I want to teach you that quotations, too, are often overused. Think of them as like exclamation marks. They spice up a draft. They add energy and voice. But quotes are like special sauces. You don t want to splatter them everywhere, or they won t be special. Your draft will be weakened by excessive use of quotation marks. So look at the amount of your text that is your own writing, and make sure that at least three quarters of your text is your writing, and if that s not the case, eliminate some quotations and instead, paraphrase (which means talking in your own words about what you have learned). To paraphrase a quotation, reread it, think about what you have learned that matters and how that information connects with what you were already saying, and then talk to your reader about your thinking. If your ideas stand on the shoulders of the person you were quoting, reference that person, but you needn t quote. Meanwhile, your writing needs to be almost done, so read it over, thinking about other ways to strengthen it, and be sure that the work you bring to school tomorrow represents your best work.
SESSION 8 HOMEWORK TIME AND INTENSITY MATTER A researcher named Malcolm Gladwell has studied what makes people achieve in whatever they are doing like he studied the Beatles and he said the one magic ingredient that makes people better is time spent working on something. People who are only so-so just put in half an hour of work. People who become excellent put in tons of time. They know how to turn off the TV and the computer games, and get to work. Tonight and for the whole of this week, we re expecting that you will not just put in your dutiful homework time. The research you are doing is for real, and you only have a little more than a week to do something significant. So tonight you ll find your own sources, and you ll mine the bibliography you ve been given. You can read or you can watch videos. But either way, collect. Use every technique in the book to not only take notes, but to take note. Turn your mind on so that as you read and take notes, you make connections, ask questions, notice contradictions. Tomorrow we ll talk about the thinking that you did as you researched. SESSION 9 HOMEWORK WRITERS PREPARE THEIR NOTES SO THAT THEY CAN EFFICIENTLY BEGIN DRAFTING Writers, when you draft tomorrow, you want to spend all of your time and energy writing. That means you ll want all your materials for your position paper, your essay, so you know how it is going to go. You ll want on hand the notes you want to use, and any quotes that are underlined in your article. So tonight can you sort through your materials and get everything absolutely ready, so that tomorrow you ll be able to pick up your pens and write?
SESSION 10 HOMEWORK WRITING A POWERFUL INTRODUCTION Writers, tonight I m going to send you home with a brief list of different things that might go into a powerful introduction. These are things you ve done before in essays, and sometimes in information writing, so I m confident that you ll be able to apply these skills to your argument. Why don t you spend some time writing at least two versions of an introduction, and you can get some feedback tomorrow from your partner. Starting off well will really help bring your readers over to your position and set them up to be convinced by you. Here s a brief list. Powerful introductions often include: Some background information that makes the topic seem important A clear description of the sides of the issue so that the reader understands that there are two sides to this argument A very clear, explicit, BIG, BOLD, claim! (Makes it totally clear what side you support) A summary of your reasons so the reader knows what to expect Something catchy that gets the reader engaged, such as a surprising fact or statistic, or a spicy quote Something about the author (you) and why the author cares about this topic or what kind of research the author has done to become a trusted authority SESSION 11 HOMEWORK THINKING ABOUT AND REBUTTING COUNTERCLAIMS Writers, you ve just learned a few different places you might mention and rebut the counterclaim. Take a minute to reread your essay and create a self-assignment. As you read and think about what you need to do, ask yourself, Where might I acknowledge the counterclaim? If you already have the counterclaim in your essay, you might push yourself to think of other ways or places to rebut it. Remember to take spider legs and extra
SESSION 12 HOMEWORK STAYING ALERT WHEN REASONING SEEMS TO BE COMMON SENSE Writers, during our mystery reading unit, you learned to read mysteries suspiciously, searching for clues about who dun it? Today, will you reread all of the evidence you ve already been reading, only this time, will you reread the texts suspiciously, noticing ways the authors of the articles (and the videos) use flawed logic? Notice little sly moves the authors have used to manipulate you into believing what they want you to believe. Remember, Jack noticed that the children on the pro-chocolate milk video put out by the American Dairy Association look totally healthy. The children are posing as if they are the woman s kids, but they probably are actors. If her kids didn t look healthy and fit, do you think they d be on this video? No way! So read suspiciously, with a lawyer s eyes, looking for holes in the logic in these articles. And if you find yourself questioning some of what people have argued, be sure you insert a passage about that into your essay. You know how to use flaps and added-on half sheets of paper to make your writing grow, right? A couple of tips are: whenever something seems to be presented as common sense or natural, that is time for you to be alert because it s likely the author might be giving flawed reasoning. So, for example, if you read something like As an everyday drink choice, TruMoo has significantly less added sugars than that of soft drinks and popular fruit juice drinks, you might nod your head and think, Yes, right. Well, that makes sense. Two: beware of slippery statistics! One of you suggested it would be worth looking at serving size in Ms. Dobbins s math! Numbers can be manipulated, researchers! Now, tonight, don t just glide along saying, Sure, sure. Instead, stop yourself. Say to yourself, Wait, stop! Is that author just trying to appeal to what everyone thinks is good, to trick you into buying this product? Writers, when authors try to make it seem like something is obvious or just makes sense or everyone just feels this way, that is a time to be on high alert. drafting paper home with you so you can make your revisions or redraft.
SESSION 13 HOMEWORK FOLLOWING THROUGH ON PLANS Writers, tomorrow you are going to share your position papers with your target audience. You want to provide the most convincing argument possible. You ve just made a plan for work you need to do before you go in front of your audience. Tonight your homework is to follow through on your plan. If you just realized you need to know more about your audience, conduct some research, read articles or talk to school or family members. If you need to add research and revise your essay, do so. SESSION 16 HOMEWORK REMEMBER TO INCLUDE SPECIFICS AND REBUTTALS Arguments are like information writing, in many ways. They need to be built with bricks of information. You all have chosen topics you know a lot about, but this doesn t always mean you remember to include precise, specific information. Reread what you wrote today and look to see whether you included bricks of information statistics quotes, facts, lists, details. Locate the places in your draft where you need more specific information. And then, find the necessary information you don t already have. Among other things, you will need to learn about other sides to the topic. If you have a certain view on pit bulls, you need to research views that are different than your own. Strong arguments, as you know, include counterclaims and rebuttals! So, what would those who are against you say? And what would you say back to them? You will certainly want to include the details of that in your writing as well. Once you ve gathered more research, reread your draft to see where that information belongs, and then write a new draft at least of those sections including the information.
SESSION 17 HOMEWORK CONTINUE COLLECTING INFORMATION! Writers, I don t need to tell you your homework. I m sure you were already setting yourself tasks as researchers. Some of you might want to survey teachers or students about your topic. You might design one important question, and use it in a survey with lots of people, keeping track of how many yes or no answers you get, so you can use that data in your writing! Or you might want to call someone to arrange an interview or a visit. Or you might want to interview some friends. The important thing is to get more information and more viewpoints. As you gather this information, try putting it straight into your rough draft. SESSION 20 HOMEWORK ALTERING LANGUAGE AND ADDING DETAIL Writers, in just a few days you will be publishing your essays. You want your arguments to be solid, airtight, without flawed reasoning, and with strong positions. Tonight for homework, recall what you know about composing powerful arguments, and write a new draft of your essay. You ll copy some portions of your existing draft, and change other portions. Think about places where you might change your language to make it more persuasive, more logical and credible. Then, too, think about places where you really need to add a more detailed explanation of your thinking. Above all, think about how best to defend your position.
SESSION 21 HOMEWORK PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION Writers, when you are in school, partners help you. When you are at home, siblings, guardians, or friends help you. As you work on your essays tonight, seek out help. Ask someone, maybe even your neighbor, to read your piece aloud to you, noting your punctuation. Or, sit side by side and underline missing punctuation and misspelled words together. Or call each other and read your pieces. In middle and high school, you might have to find your own study partners or turn your friends into partners. Practice this now! Remember that tomorrow is the celebration so your essays need to be ready for publication. Use all that you know about the writing process, and writing arguments, and helping each other to prepare your essay.