Argument Writing Introduction
Experiencing and Scaffolding the Cognitive
Writing Demands in Module 9.4
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Session Objectives
• By the end of this session, participants will
be able to:



Describe the cognitive demands of and recursive
relationship between close reading and
argumentative writing.
Explain how Module 9.4 supports adolescent
development of argumentative writing.
Adapt lessons based on the analysis of sample
student writing in Module 9.4.
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Materials in this Session
•
•
•
•
9.4 Module Overview
Sugar Changed The World excerpt
9.4.1 Lesson 14
9.4.1 Lesson 16
You can download all of the modules on
EngageNY.org:
http://www.engageny.org/english-language-arts
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Overview of Module 9.4:
Design Considerations
• Students closely read the supplementary texts
as examples of argument writing, learning the
skills and components necessary for strong
argument writing.
• Lessons build towards written performance
tasks, providing students with the tools to
evaluate and synthesize arguments,
culminating in a student’s own argument.
• Instruction should respond to the immediate
writing needs of students.
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Overview of Module 9.4: Focus
• In Module 9.4, students read, analyze, and
evaluate informational and argument writing and
build, through focused instruction, the skills
required to craft strong and well-supported
argument writing of their own.
• Through the study of a variety of texts, students
learn to think of the products they use and
consume everyday as part of a complex web of
global production and trade that extends not only
to distant lands but to the past as well.
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Overview of Module 9.4: Texts
• Central Text:

Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice,
Slavery, Freedom and Science
• Supplementary Texts:
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
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“Globalization: The Growing Integration of Economies
and Societies Around the World” (World Bank)
“How Your Addiction to Fast Fashion Kills”
(law.fordham.edu)
“Where Sweatshops Are a Dream” (The New York
Times)
“Bangladesh Factory Collapse: Who Really Pays for
Our Cheap Clothes?” (CNN)
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Overview of Module 9.4:
Mid-Unit Assessment
• Student complete an Argument Outline Tool in
response to the following prompt: “Who bears
the most responsibility for ensuring that
clothes are ethically manufactured?”
• Students are assessed on their ability to
introduce a precise central claim and clearly
organize and develop a relationship between
two supporting claims and counterclaims,
including one piece of evidence to support each
supporting claim and counterclaim.
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Overview of Module 9.4:
Ongoing & End-of-Unit Assessments
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Overview of Module 9.4:
Module Performance Assessment
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You Are Here
Part 1: Experiencing the Cognitive
Demands of Argumentative Writing
Part 2: Analyze How Module 9.4
Lessons Scaffold The Tools to
Evaluate and Synthesize Arguments.
Part 3: Adapt Lessons Based on
Student Writing Needs
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Reading to Support A Written Argument
Task #1: Independently, read p. 70 from Sugar Changed
the World and “How Your Addiction to Fashion Kills” to
build an argument about how low cost fashion relies on
harsh labor practices. Annotate the author’s claims and
evidence. Use the Argument Outline Tool to organize your
planning for an individual response.
Prompt: “Who bears the most responsibility for
ensuring that clothes are ethically manufactured?”
Time: 15 minutes
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Quick Write
• Jot down your reflections on completing this task.



What reading skills did you find yourself using?
What did you find most challenging about the
thinking involved in the reading of these excerpts?
What does your experience suggest about the
relationship between reading and writing?
• Use the “Quick Write” section in your packet.
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Reading to Support A Written Argument
Task #2: With a partner, discuss your argument, sharing
your Argument Outline Tool. Use the following questions
to guide the conversation:


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What arguments does the author make about who
bears the most responsibility for ensuring clothes
are ethically manufactured?
What claims does the author use to support the
argument?
What possible counter-claims could challenge the
author’s point of view?
Time: 10 minutes
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“Bottlenecks”
• Points where the learning of a significant number of
students is interrupted (Anderson, 1996).
• The predictably complex phases of writing can be
impediments to developing the desired close reading
and argumentative writing skills.
• Can be seen as cognitive, affective, or motivational
“obstacles” (Pace & Middendorf, 1994).
• Underscores the necessity of ongoing and authentic
formative assessment.
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Deconstructing Our Literate Thinking
Task #3: At your table, discuss how you closely read the
two text excerpts and created your Argument Outline Tool.
Use the Grade 9 standards (CCRA.R.9, RI.9-10.2, RI.910.3, RI.9-10-8, and W.9-10.1.a-e) and the following
questions to guide the conversation:


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
How did your thinking with the text align to the Grade 9
writing standards?
What skills did you employ to closely read the text
excerpts?
What questions about the topic did the text evoke?
What “bottlenecks” did you encounter with the text and
how might these be similar or different than those
“bottlenecks” experienced by your students?
Time: 15 minutes
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Bon Appétit
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Session Objectives
• By the end of this session, participants will be
able to:



Describe the cognitive demands of and recursive
relationship between close reading and
argumentative writing.
Explain how Module 9.4 supports adolescent
development of argumentative writing.
Adapt lessons based on the analysis of sample
student writing in Module 9.4.
EngageNY.org
17
You Are Here
Part 1: Experiencing the Cognitive
Demands of Argumentative Writing
Part 2: Analyze How Module 9.4
Lessons Scaffold The Tools to
Evaluate and Synthesize Arguments.
Part 3: Adapt Lessons Based on
Student Writing Needs
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Analyze the Scaffolding and Sequencing
of Module 9.4 Lessons 1-14
Task #4: Annotate the Module/Unit at a Glance Calendar
(p. 8-11). Use the following questions to guide your
annotations and explore relationships between text
excerpts, standards, tools, and the mid-unit assessment:




What text excerpts are used and how are they
sequenced?
What writing and reading standards are addressed in
lessons 1-13?
What tools are introduced and scaffolded for students
in lessons 1-13?
How do the lessons prepare students for the mid-unit
assessment?
Time: 10 minutes
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Meet Ani Rosario
• 3rd year English teacher at Dansville High School
• Teaches both 9th grade Honors English and 9th grade
regular English courses
• Piloted ten lessons of Module 9.4 during April-May
• Used Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, leading to MidUnit Assessment
• Had previously taught the Odell Close Reading Unit with
these same students
• Has met with fellow English teaching colleagues (crossdistrict) since September to unpack modules
• Dansville High School: 575 students, rural, 65% low income
• 83% of students at/above a “3” on State English
Accountability
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Analyze the Writing of Ani’s Students
Task #5: You have been provided with writing samples for
two of Ani’s students. For each student, you have been
provided an initial quick write, a close reading annotation,
and the mid-unit assessment. Annotate the student writing
samples using the following standards:





CCRA.R.9
RI.9-10.2
RI.9-10.3
RI.9-10-8
W.9-10.1.a-e
Time: 15 minutes
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Comparison of Annotations
• Join a set of partners who reviewed a different
student’s writing.
• Share evidence of students meeting the standards.
• Discuss evidence of standards not seen in the writing
standards.
• Identify the top two/three writing needs of each
student using the standards below as a guide.





CCRA.R.9
RI.9-10.2
RI.9-10.3
RI.9-10-8
W.9-10.1.a-e
Time: 10 minutes
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Looking Ahead:
End-of-Unit Assessment
What skills must these spotlight students master in order
to be successful on the End-of-Unit Assessment?
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Backward Design:
Begin with the End in Mind
Stage 1: What do we want students
to understand, know, and be able to
do?
Stage 2: What will be the evidence
that they have accomplished this?
Stage 3: What learning activities
will lead to the desired outcomes?
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Stage 1 – Learning Goals
• Common Core Standards, Content Standards,
and Other Established Goals
• Transfer Goals (CCR)
• Meaning Goals (Understandings and Essential
Questions)
• Acquisition Goals (Knowledge and Skills)
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Stage 2 – Evidence
• Directly reflects goals identified in Stage 1
• Elicits evidence to validate that the targeted
learning has been achieved
• Sharpens and focuses teaching
• Performance tasks: Students apply learning to
a new and authentic situation to assess their
understanding and ability to transfer their
learning
• Other evidence: Assessments of discrete
knowledge and skills
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Stage 3 – Instructional Activities
• Instructional activities are designed after
identifying desired knowledge, skills, and
understanding, and determining acceptable
evidence toward those goals.
• Formative assessment practices are part of
lesson design to check for student
understanding and progress toward desired
goals.
• Activities are differentiated to ensure that all
students will reach the desired outcomes.
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Analyze the Writing of Ani’s Students
Task #6: Choose one of the lessons (15-18) following the
Mid-Unit Assessment. Annotate the lesson by identifying
evidence of each stage of Backwards Design. Then,
adapt the lesson according to the previously identified
writing need of at least one spotlight student. Consider
the following:



How might an additional standard need to be
addressed in the lesson?
How might formative assessment provide a richer
understanding of the writing growth and ongoing
needs of students?
How might the planned activities be adapted to provide
more focused and explicit writing instruction for the
spotlight students?
Time: 10 minutes
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Closing Discussion
• What “bottlenecks” did the spotlight students
encounter?
• How do the current lessons in Module 9.4
account for these “bottlenecks?”
• What adaptations could help address these
“bottlenecks?”
• What do we want our fellow teachers to
understand about supporting adolescent
argumentative writing in Module 9.4?
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Online Parking Lot
Please go to
http://www.engageny.org/resource/network-teaminstitute-materials-may-13-16-2014
and select “Online Parking Lot” for any NYSED
related questions.
Thank You!
CONFIDENTIAL – DO NOT CIRCULATE
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