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Grade Level/Subject: 6th Grade ELA Unit: 5 Paragraph Argumentative Essay

Understanding by Design Template


Stage 1 Desired Results
Established Goals (content standards)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
~CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1a Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence
clearly.
~CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1b Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence,
using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
~CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1d Establish and maintain a formal style.
~CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1e Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from
the argument presented.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the
credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding
plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.
Understandings:
~Presenting information in an organized manner is
the most efficient way to convince someone in an
argument
~Arguments need sound evidence, and that evidence
needs to be cited in an essay to avoid plagiarism
~Argumentative essays can serve a variety of
purposes and are used in almost every subject

Essential Questions:
~How can you persuade ______ to ________?
~What would be different in an essay if there was no
thesis statement?
~Why do people disagree about things?
~Why do we choose three body paragraphs as the
standard?
~How should a conclusion further thinking about a
topic?

Students will know . . .


~Standard essays in school follow a 5 paragraph format
~The introduction sets up the argument and introduces the thesis
~The thesis states an argument, and briefly explains why
~Body paragraphs have topic sentences, and the whole paragraph must relate to that topic sentence
~Body paragraphs introduce and then analyze evidence
~A conclusion presents a so what that restates the thesis, brings the body paragraphs together, and furthers
thinking about the argument
Students will be able to
~Come up with coherent thesis statements that are arguable
~Identify major oppositions to their argument and refute them
~Write a 5 paragraph essay on any topic they choose
~Sufficiently research topics online and cite these arguments in a bibliography
~Analyze the evidence they find for their argument
~Organize their body paragraphs into the most reasonable order
~Come up with a so what that goes beyond the basic points of their essay

Stage 2 Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks:

Other Evidence:

DebateStudents will be given a topic with clear pro


and con sides and assigned to take one of the
positions. Students must research their position and
find at least three pieces of evidence in favor of their
position, and three pieces of evidence in favor of the
other position, and debate the topic in front of the
whole class. The rest of the class will assess the
debaters ability to present their argument, as well as
their ability to predict and shut down their opponents
arguments.

QuizzesAt the beginning of each class students will


be quizzed on the parts of an essay: intro, body, and
conclusion.

Final EssayStudents will pick a topic at the


beginning of the unit based on an argument they had
recently with a friend, teacher, or family member.
They will create the building blocks for the essay
throughout the unit, writing the thesis as homework
the day theses are taught, etc, and have a few days
after the last lesson to edit and put their pieces
together in an order that makes sense, then turn in a
final version at the end of the unit.

BibliographyStudents must turn in an annotated


bibliography with all the sources theyve found that
relate to their argument and why these sources are
useful. At least two sources must apply to the
opposition to the argument.

Role Playing ExercisesStudents will participate in


role playing activities to
Mystery SolvingStudents will be given a mystery
and asked to solve the mystery to learn about
identifying and analyzing evidence.

Note: Both of these projects are presented to the class


with a GRASPS template.

Stage 3 Learning Plan


Learning Activities (Based on the WHERETO model):
1. Begin with discussion of recent arguments to evoke emotion and get students engaged with promise of
finally winning an argument. (H)
2. Talk about what a 5 paragraph essay is and how the students will write one. Introduce EQs. (W)
3. Share an essay about why recess should be longer and discuss the different parts of the essay. (E)
4. Think-Pair-Share students individual ideas for final paper, students tell class what they liked about
their partners argument. (E)
5. Solve mysteries by identifying the one piece of evidence that stuck out and analyzing why it solved the
mystery. (E)
6. Go over finding resources and evidence. (E)
7. Introduce bibliographies and proper citations. (E)
8. Discuss the opposition to an argument, and how the writer can predict and disprove the topics the
opposition will bring up. (R)
9. Students participate in role playing activities to learn about identifying the oppositions side. (E, R, T)
10. Class debate, students argue about topics and are evaluated by their peers. (E-2)
11. Go over thesis statements. (E)
12. Students write their own thesis statements for their paper, give feedback in class. (E-2, T)
13. Go over introduction paragraphs, and how they build up to a thesis. (E, R)
14. Quiz on introduction paragraphs, students have to identify the thesis statement and put the authors
argument in their own words. (R)
15. Go over body paragraphs, topic sentences, and properly analyzing evidence. (E)
16. Quiz on body paragraphs, students have to evaluate the authors analysis of the evidence and the
connection between the topic sentence and the rest of the paragraph. (R)
17. Go over conclusion paragraphs and the so what. (E)

18. Quiz on conclusion paragraphs, students have to identify the so what and the restated thesis. (R)
19. Jigsaw activity for homework where students are in groups of five and each read one paragraph of an
essay, then come to class and talk about how their sections fit together. (E, R, T)
20. Students put together their final essays based on pieces they have been compiling the whole unit. Given
time in class to work on them so teacher can be there to help out as needed. (E, R, E-2, T)
21. Students self-evaluate their essays: would they be convinced? (E-2, T)

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