Final Argumentative Essay

Students chose a topic last week about what they believe is worth fighting for. They discussed these topics with their peers, outlined three claims and one counterclaim to base their research on, and are now ready to start finding evidence to back up their claims.

We have a computer cart on Monday, Feb. 29 and Tuesday, March 1. Students will have these days to research their claims and find at least one piece of relevant evidence to support each idea. If your child misses any of these days of school, we will not have computers available for them to make up the work, as another content is using the Chromebooks after Tuesday. This means it is imperative that students use their time at home, before/after school, or during lunch, to make up any time missed caused by an absence.

Here are some resources to help if students are working from home. They should have their outline that was completed in class last week (example). This helps them to know what exactly they are researching.

Example essay
Rubric
Research Notecatcher
Research Tips
Day 1, Day 2 Goals for Success

What Is Worth Fighting For?

Students are narrowing down their final argumentative topic by thinking about What Is Worth Fighting For? They will be narrowing down their topic by filling out this half-sheet for homework. This is due Wednesday, February 24.

1. What are you most passionate about? Students should think about what matters to them in their day to day lives. It can be "big" or "small."

2. Connect your passion with the question What Is Worth Fighting For?  Basically, explain your topic in a more specific sense.  How is this a bigger issue that can affect others?

3. Select one idea for your argumentative research paper. Which one that you brainstormed is the MOST important to you? 

Here is an example: Example 
Blank sheet: PDF

Completing Argumentative Essays

Students needed to complete their argumentative essays in class today or it has been sent home as homework. In case your child is working at home, I wanted to make the resources we are using in class available to them from home.

Random Acts of Kindness Argumentative Essay
FORMAT
MODEL (EXAMPLE)
RUBRIC

Random Acts of Kindness

National Random Acts of Kindness week is Feb. 14-20. As part of our argumentative unit, students will be choosing a random act of kindness and researching its benefits for their first argumentative paper. The topic of the paper will be: "How will my random act of kindness benefit others?"

Today, students brainstormed ideas for random acts of kindness, trying to pair the idea with something they are passionate about. They also decided when they would complete their random act of kindness and brainstormed some of the logistics behind completing it. Please know that it is not required that they/you spend money on any random act of kindness. We encouraged kids to think about acts of kindness they could complete without having to spend money or be taken anywhere by their parents.

I have attached some of the resources we used in class when discussing the importance of random acts of kindness to make a difference in our world. Feel free to check them out!

Can Random Acts of Kindness Make a Difference? (Article)
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation Kindness Ideas
29 Ways to Carry out Random Acts of Kindness Every Day

For my 20th birthday, I did 20 Random Acts of Kindness.

Target employees help boy prepare for his first job interview.

Random Acts of Kindness - Kid Quest 2012 on Vimeo.

The Blessing Bag Project from Melinda Nouth on Vimeo.

The Nice Project from Emily Roper on Vimeo.