Reading and Writing Argument

Articles used:

Michael Smith, Jeffrey Wilhelm, and James Fredricksen - Oh Yeah?! Putting Argument to Work Both in and Out

Say:

I love that there is a book on argument and teaching argument in high school English classrooms.  High school students love to argue, especially with each other, over hot button issues stemming from politics to pop culture.  Why not put their passion of arguing to good use in the classroom?  Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredericksen have several great ideas on how to best implement our students' love for debate.  While they may not see it this way, the simple fact of pointing out their strengths is a great way to get them excited and anxious to begin a new unit since they know from the beginning that they have the skills and talent necessary to succeed.  While our students may like to debate each other and can be quite skilled at pointing out different issues and which side they agree with, their biggest weakness is creating the strong argument which is so vital in the art of debate especially in academics.  We encounter argument and debate in our everyday lives and students need to understand this.  By pointing out different ways in which these occur, students will get a better grasp on argument and how to best present their viewpoints in their academic writing.  Smith, Wilhelm and Fredericksen suggest using advertisements to show students different ways in which argument in present in our everyday lives.  By analyzing these ads, students will have a deeper understanding of how argument works and the best way in which to present claims.  

Do:

In order to implement argument in my classroom I would show clips of presidential debates from the present and the past.  Then, I would have my students analyze a specific candidate's argument and the points they are making using a particular hot button issue.  By having students look at presidential debates, they will see how debate and argument is present in our everyday lives and they will understand the importance of having good debate skills.