1. Opening the Door to Argument: Short Sequences that Engage Students Jean Wolph, Louisville Writing Project and i3 College Ready Writers Leadership Team

2. Where you'll find these mini-units https://sites.google.com/site/1516nwp crwp/home

3. “Argument Highway” Mini-Unit at a Glance Forwarding – Illustrating – Authorizing – Extending Countering Understanding the purposes for using source material to support a claim

4. “Fast Food” Mini-Unit at a Glance Excerpt from Chew On This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food by Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson “Healthy Fast Food: Tips for Making Healthier Fast Food Choices” “America's Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants” Source: WasteFreeLunches.org Evidence from research (This is the evidence that we will use or forward, to advance our argument.) Claim : Our school should increase its recycling efforts. Outcome: (What we can expect to happen if we do this.) “Lunch foods cause a big trash problem. In fact, on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equals 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average- size elementary school.” How could we connect this piece of evidence to our purpose, to convince readers that we should increase our recycling efforts? Drafting Tool: Connecting Evidence to Claim Alternate text set: Recycling

5. “Nutrition” Mini-Unit at a Glance “A Tale of Two Meals” infographic Jigsaw Readings (multiple perspectives) & Note-Catcher “It's not just fast food making U.S. kids obese, study says” “Nutrition Plate Unveiled, Replacing Food Pyramid” “‘Yes’ to Pop-Tarts! Panel Approves Bake-Sale Rules” “Schools find stricter federal nutrition standards hard to swallow” “First lady decries plan to lower school lunch nutrition standards” “NYC public school swaps chicken nuggets for tofu, becomes first all- vegetarian cafeteria” “USDA Replacing Junk Food in Schools with ‘Smart Snacks’” “USDA school lunch changes: What's on the menu?” Teacher Notes Scaffolded practice in evaluating the quality and relevance of evidence used for supporting claims Evidence Ranking (4 pieces that support your claim) Quick draft of a mini- argument (claim, evidence, analysis) feedback/revision Process analysis Alternate text set: Technology google community

6. “Op-Eds” Mini-Unit at a Glance Op-Ed writers consider the social implications of the topics they argue. As a result, this unit does not push writers to think about agreeing or disagreeing on a topic or prompt. Instead, it urges them to consider what they know, the multiple angles on a topic, where they stand in the public arguments on the topic, and eventually, to identify evidence that supports their angle/stand. Focus: Structure and Line of Reasoning Issue: SUGAR Articles and Op- Eds Ads Strategic readings to identify and code “possible claims: and use of sources Loop Writing/Now I’m Thinking… T-Chart Collection, Coding Evidence Bernabei’s Kernel Essays (non- 5P options for structuring an essay) Be both a reader and writer while drafting: Plan, Write, Pause Reread, Rethink & Revise while drafting

7. “Reality TV” Mini-Unit at a Glance “Why Reality TV is the New Family TV” Coding text / Tracing a writer’s thinking Adding another layer to Quick- Write Girl Scout Study Choice of articles Coding text Quick-Write/ Layering Sentence stems (I hadn’t considered; another way of looking at this is…) Quick-Write and Layering to connect texts Identifying possible evidence (facts and examples) Working claim, Star, Stop n Jot, Fill the Page, Bernabei’s Kernel Essays

8. “Teen Brains” Mini-Unit at a Glance “The Teenage Brain” by Amanda Leigh Mascarelli / October 17, 2012. Highlight new information about the teen brain. Mark ideas you have something to say about. “The Amazing Brain” Video “ As Dr. Turgulen-Todd says, …“ “The video “The Amazing Brain” explains …” “ According to …” Journal entry Attributing info to a source Identifying evidence

9. “ON-LINE PRIVACY” Mini-Unit at a Glance Watching with a Quote in Hand Partner Notes Save the Last Word—adapted Agree, Disagree, Undecided Purpose/Audience statement Forwarding / Using Sources Effectively Self-Evaluation and Draft (in progress) Peer Review and Draft (“for now”) A Brief History of Online Privacy (NPR) "Your Computer Is WATCHING You." Scholastic Scope. Multiple text excerpts Identifying Compelling Evidence Should the government protect of its citizens in their use of technology?

10. “School Start Time” Mini-Unit at a Glance DAY 1 Read and annotate Article 1, “The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade” Mark the main claim. Write a response. DAY 3 Read and annotate Article 3, “High Schools with Late Start Times Help Teens, but…” Draw a graphic that shows the relationship among the 3 texts. Write an explanation of it. DAY 2 Read and annotate Article 2, “Should School Stay Early?” by teen writer. Mark the main claim. Add to Day 1 response. DAY 4 Mark your own position on the graphic. Write a short argument that makes a claim and cites evidence from the three readings to support your argument Drafting Tool: Connecting Evidence to Claim Alternate text set: Ability Grouping