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Gerald Graff, in Education Week, said, "Knowing a lot of stuff won’t do you much good unless you can do something with what you know by turning it into an argument." My school district is putting new emphasis on teaching argumentative writing so that students can do something with all of the "stuff" they know! Our goal is that students should be able to: share opinions and give clear reasons for thinking; support arguments with facts, not just thoughts, feelings, or experiences; research a topic, formulate reasons from evidence, and be able to communicate clearly. While most 5th graders don't need help arguing, they do require specific, quality instruction about building and supporting a persuasive argument! The resources I have requested will serve as mentor texts for good argument writing. They will also be a springboard for argument writing ideas. The Split History and Perspectives Flip Books will be the basis for lessons on identifying authors' perspectives in informational texts. (Since I think my students will really love these books, I am requesting the whole series!) Voices in the Park will anchor a lesson reminding students that sometimes there are more than two sides of a story. The Big Book of Details will help students support their logical reasons with sufficient proof,. Finally, Crime and Puzzlement will bring some fun to argument writing by showing how it can parallel the work of a detective!
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