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.

• Lesson 1:

  Based on our planning, we will draft a paragraph to explain our positions, considering the audience and purpose for our argument. We will determine where to best place this paragraph within our arguments.

• Lesson 2:

  For each claim and counterclaim, we will draft one or more paragraphs that present and explain the claim and then develop and support it by citing evidence from our research and other arguments.

• Lesson 3:

  We will complete the initial drafts of our final arguments, developing introductions that will pique readers’ interest in our topics and positions, as well as conclusions that will leave those readers with final thoughts about our presented issues or calls to action.

• Lesson 4:

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

• Lesson 5:

  We will do final revisions and edits to our argumentative essays, considering the expression, grammar, and usage issues.

• Lesson 6:

  We will share our arguments with other students in the class, reflect on what we learned, and preview possible connections of this unit to the Grade 9 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.