Social Justice and
Argument Writing
Using words to promote awareness, social change, equality, and
empathy
Journal:
• To the best of your ability, write a detailed account of eating a
delicious chocolate chip cookie. Take your time! Remember what
it is like to bite into on of those delicious morsels, and translate
that experience to paper.
Using Technology to Research and Write
• Feel free to browse this wiki site. This is the actual site that
we’ve used with our students as they researched their topics.
• You will see the kinds of assignments that students had, as well as
their research and products.
• Our wiki:
• http://westhighsocialjusticeproject.pbworks.com/w/page/696930
81/FrontPage
What is Social Justice?
• “Social Justice" is generally used to refer to a set of institutions
which will enable people to lead a fulfilling life and be active
contributors to their community.
• We use the question “What is our responsibility to others?” to get
the discussion started. Students generally agree that we, as a
society, do have some level of responsibility to those in need.
• The Goal is to create EMPATHY in our students!
Overview of the Process
• Students choose one issue related to Social Justice that they are
most interested in.
• Students chose topics like sex trafficking, Alzheimer's and
Dementia, Resources for Children and Parents in Need, Resources
for People Struggling with Addiction, Resources for the Homeless,
Immigration, and Support for Veterans.
• Students perform preliminary research on their topics.
• Prepare interview questions that will help them gather facts from
a PRIMARY SOURCE.
• Students conduct follow up research.
The Products
• A Research Proposal – Students write an argument that explains why they
should be allowed to go on their field trip. They use their preliminary
research to help them with this task.
• An Experience Essay – this essay simply asks students to react to their
field trip and to use sensory details to describe the impact the trip made
on them.
• A Photo Essay of the field trip
• An Argument of Policy – What should be done to help those in need?
• An Argument of Judgment – Which organization is worthy of Ms. Coleman
and Ms. Mitchell’s time?
• For Enrichment: A Fundraiser that benefits the organization of choice.
Social Justice Statistics:
• In 2009, 17 percent of white children, 35 percent of black children
and 32 percent of Hispanic children lived below the poverty level.
(U.S. Census Bureau)
• The recession will force 1.5 million more people into homelessness
over the next two years, according to estimates by The National
Alliance to End Homelessness. In a 2008 report, the U.S.
Conference of Mayors cited a major increase in the number of
homeless in 19 out of the 25 cities surveyed. On average, cities
reported a 12 percent increase of homelessness since 2007.
Statistics Continued
• Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation,
exacting over $600 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost
work productivity and healthcare (http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trendsstatistics).
• 244,000 – Number of American children and youth estimated to be
at risk of child sexual exploitation, including commercial sexual
exploitation, in 2000
(http://www.cicatelli.org/titlex/downloadable/human%20trafficking%20statistics.pdf).
The Role of Traditional Research Papers
• According to educational researcher Ken Macrorie,
• “Most research papers written in high school and college are bad
jokes. They’re funny because they pretend to be so much and
actually are so little.”
• They are
• Often an exercise in badly done bibliography
• An introduction to the art of plagiarism
• A triumph of meaninglessness for the writer and the reader.
Journal
• What is our responsibility to others? Explain, in as much detail as
you can, why you feel that way.
• Do these statistics matter?
• What is your emotional reaction to hearing statistics like these?
• To what extent to do you agree or disagree with researcher Ken
Macrorie?
• How does it make you feel that someone has made this claim
about research skills in high school?
• Pair/share after writing!
Organizations We’ve Worked With
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International Crisis Aid
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Gardenview Care Center
Goodwill
St. Patrick’s Center
St. Louis Crisis Nursery
Local Chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous
• Watch ICA’s video: Could we embed the video here?
Guidestar
• Guidestar is a great source to check on the financial efficacy of
non profit organizations. Students can use it to create logos in
their papers.
• http://www.guidestar.org/
Approaching Social Justice with a Plan
• Conduct preliminary research – What do you know? What do you
think you know? What do you want to know?
• Develop interview questions – Marquez’s power point here.
• Find a primary source!
• Conduct follow up research with an awareness of potential BIAS in
sources.
• Write an ARGUMENT not a persuasive piece.
Argument Vs. Persuasion
• What is the difference between Argument and Persuasion, anyway?
• See our wiki for a helpful document!
Writing for Different Purposes
• It is important that students practice different TYPES of writing.
This project asks students to:
Write an argument of judgment (field trip proposal)
Write an emotional reaction
Compose a photo essay
Write an argument of judgment (which organization is worth your teacher’s
or your class’s time)
• Write an argument of policy (what should be done about this issue)
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Writing Intentionally
• It is important that students write with an intentional purpose.
• Students should identify a tone that suits their purpose BEFORE
they compose their arguments.
• Students will use the same body of work to compose writing that
is different in nature and varied in purpose. Therefore, WORDS
and phrases should be selected intentionally, not incidentally.
Practice!
• In small groups, read the articles that have been given to you.
• As you read:
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Identify the author’s purpose.
Identify the bias, if any, of each piece.
Identify the words or phrases that create bias (if applicable).
Identify words that are effective in achieving the author’s purpose.
Identify the ethos, pathos, and logos the author employs.
Final Thought
• The goal of this assignment is, among other things, to create
empathy in a largely homogenous group of students.
• We hope to open students eyes to the larger community and help
them avoid a “This doesn’t effect me, so why would I care about
it” mentality.
• Student testimonials here!
Final Journal
• Please enjoy a chocolate chip cookie!
• Which made a larger impact, writing about the experience of
eating a chocolate cookie or eating a chocolate cookie?
• Which was more memorable? More enjoyable? More engaging?