Section 5: Overview

Culminating Task

We will use a collaborative, criteria-based writing process to produce a final written argument, or alternatively, an argumentative presentation, that addresses a key subtopic issue and question.

• Lesson 1:

  Based on the planning we have done, we will draft paragraphs that present and explain the positions of our arguments. Then, we will determine where to best place these paragraphs within our arguments.

• Lesson 2:

  For the claims and counterclaims each of us have articulated as the premises of our arguments, we will each draft one or more paragraphs to present, explain, develop, and support each claim, citing evidence from our research or other arguments.

• Lesson 3:

  We will complete first drafts of our final arguments, developing introductions that reveal our topics and positions to our audiences and conclusions that leave our readers with our final thoughts or suggested responses to the issues and problems our essays discuss.

• Lesson 4:

  We will learn more about how to promote unity and coherence in an argument, then we will revise our drafts to improve their organization and logic while making careful connections and transitions among ideas.

• Lesson 5:

  We will complete final revisions of our argumentative essays, considering the expression, grammar, and usage issues that have been a focus for instruction in the unit.

• Lesson 6:

  We will share our arguments with other students, reflect on what we learned, and preview possible connections between this unit and the Grade 12 Application Unit.

• Lesson 7:

  In a culminating activity, we share the knowledge we have gained and the connections we have made by reading our independent reading texts.