Five Goals Reading to infer/interpret/draw conclusions Support arguments with evidence Resolve conflicting views Solve complex problems with no easy answer Use oral and written language skillfully

Partner Up

Previewing the Text What’s the title? When and where was this article published? What do you notice about the structure of the text (the way it’s organized)? Can you tell what the purpose of the article is? (To convince, to inform, to explore an idea…?) What are your first thoughts on this issue?

Annotate as you read “+” Reasons for Lowering the Drinking Age “-” Reasons for Not lowering it “B” for Balanced Approach Purpose for reading: You should be prepared to argue either side, so read both carefully.

We should lower the drinking age. Debate Topic: We should lower the drinking age. Pro (agree) Con (disagree)

Preparing for Argument… Partners, get your assigned position from me: pro or con. With your partner, prepare to argue your position, based on the info you’ve marked in the article. Prepare your best arguments. We’ll debate for one minute.

Concluding Steps 5. Synthesize (putting it all together): Drop your assigned positions and either… Create a new solution that incorporates the best points and ideas from both sides OR b) Come up with a completely new solution