The Stars Aligned
1/25/2019
It’s not everyday that the stars align, but for the 8th grade class and me last week, they did. Teachers work hard to integrate all that they teach, and that challenge cannot always be met. However, a few weeks ago, I settled in to watch my favorite TV show - 60 Minutes - and they had an amazing story that fit in with everything we’ve been studying in science (energy flow in organisms - cellular respiration and photosynthesis - biofuels - the environment and plastics) and language arts (literary nonfiction, informational and argument writing)! The story was The Unlikely, Eccentric Inventor Turning Inedible Plant Life into Fuel. The news segment is a short story of an eccentric man who sets out to make a significant scientific breakthrough with little to no science experience. I was fascinated by what I saw, and I knew that my students would be too. So, I set up students to watch this 60 Minute segment, annotate it, rewrite and reorganize their notes and ideas, select one central idea, theme, or issue, and write a 500 word essay on what interested them the most. This assignment fit right in with the literary nonfiction unit 8th graders are focused on currently. We learn a bit of his story and we learn about the science involved - just like literary nonfiction. Since so much of our world is brought to us in this “TV magazine” or video format these days, the listening and annotating without pause skills have become even more critical to master. Students have to be able to use these skills to connect, learn, organize, and communicate back their ideas. As their essays come in, I find they each took on different focuses for their essays: the inventor’s life story, plant based plastics, involving ordinary people in science, global warming, plastic pollution, and so on. We have the saying, “the stars aligned”. But what we really have done is more easily seen the connections there are between us and the world. Finding and making these connections, whether the process is “aligned” or not, is the foundation of understanding and thus the driving force behind our purpose. Science in Action - Making ConnectionsThe Art of Argument, Part 2
1/20/2019
While the 8th grade students have been approaching argument writing through the lens of a world social issue, the 6th/7th grade class has been learning the place of argument in their study of literature. The first part of this unit had students analyzing character traits. After reading 10-12 short stories, students chose one story to read more closely and to write about. Students wrote multiple times, both informally in their readers’/writers’ notebooks and formally in essays, to explore their thinking about the text.
To prepare to write their essays, students first learned the basic structure of an argument essay using a familiar text, “The Three Little Pigs.” They were then able to apply this learning to the short story they chose, focusing on an overall character trait that encompasses the entire text. This week they finished a first draft and began revision stations. In groups of three, students rotated to stations where they critically examined their drafts and looked for ways to improve their introductions, quotes, evidence, and organization. They also conferenced with peers. Next week they will have a teacher conference and finish their revisions to finalize a second draft. They will then take the next step of writing a literary analysis essay about a text’s theme. As students make their way through this more formal way of presenting their thinking, they are wrestling with critical learning that will serve them in their classes to come. They are learning to establish a claim, support that claim with textual evidence, and provide clear and coherent reasoning to prove how their evidence supports their claim. While we are doing this work with literature, the skills they learn will apply in their writing about social studies, science, and even math. We look forward to sharing final drafts with you soon! The Art of Argument
1/12/2019
One of our primary language arts goals is to develop competent, passionate, eloquent writers, and thus we intentionally ask students to write often throughout the school day. We focus on three major types of writing: narrative, informative, and argument, but argument holds a special place in our writing curriculum.
“While all three text types are important, the standards put particular emphasis on students’ ability to write sound arguments on substantive topics and issues, as this ability is critical to college and career readiness. English and education professor Gerald Graff (2003) writes that “argument literacy” is fundamental to being educated. The university is largely an “argument culture,” Graff contends; therefore, K–12 schools should “teach the conflicts” so that students are adept at understanding and engaging in argument (both oral and written) when they enter college. Theorist and critic Neil Postman (1997) calls argument the soul of an education because argument forces a writer to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of multiple perspectives. When teachers ask students to consider two or more perspectives on a topic or issue, something far beyond surface knowledge is required: students must think critically and deeply, assess the validity of their own thinking, and anticipate counterclaims in opposition to their own assertions.” —National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts: Appendix A. Both middle school classes have been working on argument in writing class. Eighth graders have just completed their unit. Their final piece was about whether or not child soldiers should be given amnesty. Students had to watch interviews and read a variety of documents, articles, and stories to fully understand the scope of the issue. Then they formulated their own answers and argued their reasoning in a formal essay. These essays have been converted to letter format and will be sent to the United Nations and Amnesty International. When introduced to the topic of child soldiers, students asked, “Is that even a thing?” Then charismatic Ishmael Beah, former child soldier and author of A Long Way Gone, broke open the topic for students. Everyone was hooked: fascinated that this was “a thing” and wanting to learn more. The topic sparked debate within the classroom as students learned more and more. They thought about the topic in isolated ways and slowly began to connect this “thing” to their own world - the more adult world they are all moving into. While this unit focused on writing skills, students debated with one another to help them understand all the nuances of the topic. They read differing perspectives, they wrote, they revised, they debated some more, revised, and learned. This topic that actually is “a thing” has produced the most organized, evidenced, essay writing we have seen from this group yet. Eighth graders should feel proud of their work! We have two examples of their excellent work: a pro amnesty stance and a no amnesty stance. Next week: argument in the form of literary analysis with 6th/7th grade... |
Sarah Mariner
Ms. Mariner earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science from Colorado State University, and was awarded a teaching certificate through the University of Alaska, Southeast. Her varied background includes being an environmental education field instructor in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Baja, Mexico. She also served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. Archives
April 2021
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