Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• RI.6.8 – Opening A: Students complete an entrance ticket in which they trace the argument and the main claim statement presented in the Model Literary Argument Evidence note-catcher.
• RL.6.1 – Work Time A: Students collect text evidence on their Literary Argument Evidence note-catchers to support their claims in their collaborative literary argument essays.
• W.6.1b – Work Time A: Students develop the main claims in their collaborative essays and locate relevant evidence in the text to support their claims.
• W.6.9a – Work Time A: Students collect textual evidence to inform their analysis of the text and support the reasons presented in their collaborative literary argument essays.
• RL.6.1 – Work Time B: Students incorporate textual evidence into their Literary Argument Writing Plan graphic organizers to support the reasons presented in their essays.
• RL.6.3 – Work Time B: Students use information about the plot of Two Roads and Cal’s character development to help develop their essays.
• W.6.1a – Work Time B: Students plan their collaborative essays, using their Literary Argument Writing Plan graphic organizers to introduce their main claim and organize their reasons and evidence.
• W.6.1b – Work Time B: On their Literary Argument Writing Plan graphic organizers, students support the claims of their collaborative essays with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
• W.6.4 – Work Time B: Students work with their partners to plan a clear and coherent literary argument essay, whose organization is appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• W.6.5 – Work Time B: With support from their partners, students plan and develop their collaborative essays.
• SL.6.1 – Closing and Assessment A: Students participate in a Peer Share discussion, offering stars and steps to support their classmates’ writing.
• In this lesson, students focus on working to contribute to a better world, using their strengths when working with a partner to give and receive feedback on their plans.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• Some students may not need the level of scaffolding provided in this lesson. Release them to work independently if they are ready to begin filling in the evidence note-catcher and writing planner without additional support.
• Challenge students to incorporate evidence from some of the other sources they read during this module, such as the Meriam Report. Guide students to meaningfully tie evidence from these sources into their argument.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• In the previous lesson, students analyzed the structure of the model essay using the Painted Essay® template. In this lesson, students will begin collecting evidence for their own collaborative literary argument essay, then begin filling in a writing planner with their partner.

Support All Students

• Note that there is a differentiated version of the Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 2 used in Opening A in the separate Teacher's Guide for English Language Learners. ▲
• The Collaborative Literary Argument Essay requires a considerable amount of focused pairwork across many lessons. Make strategic grouping choices to ensure that all students, including ELLs, are supported in their pairs. Pairing students with high and low language proficiencies together may be a useful scaffolding approach; however, make sure that differences in language ability are not so stark that one student entirely dominates the evidence-gathering and writing planning process. ▲
• Some students may feel more prepared than others to contribute to the writing planners with a partner. Emphasize that planning writing is a process and collaboration is mutually beneficial. Remind students that they can continue to complete their planners at home if they were unable to complete the entire task during Work Time B.
• Completing the Collaborative Literary Argument Evidence note-catcher could take longer than 20 minutes. Encourage students to adopt good research practices (e.g., always including page numbers, using shorthand, color-coding with markers or highlighters) to make their evidence-gathering more efficient. Additionally, help students with time-management by setting a timer for 10 minutes and reminding students to divide their time evenly between both sides of the note-catcher. Partners could also assign themselves each one side of the note-catcher to complete and then share their responses with each other after several minutes of independent work.
• Encourage students to represent evidence on their note-catchers in a way that works for them. If available, allow students to use materials like markers of different colors or sticky notes to organize their ideas.
• Beyond easing the cognitive load of producing the essay, the writing planner also allows students to plot the structure of their essays and, later, monitor their progress toward writing goals.

Assessment Guidance

• Writing partners will divide the work on the Collaborative Literary Argument Evidence note-catcher, each choosing one position for which they will find reasons and evidence. Students may feel frustrated if, after spending time filling in their note-catcher, their position is not chosen when determining a claim for their collaborative essay. Ensure students that their work has not gone wasted; thinking about all sides of an issue helps a writer to anticipate counterclaims, thus strengthening the reasoning they will need to better defend their claim.
• Ensure that students understand how the note-catcher leads into the writing planner and then the essay. Students should see writing as a process beginning with gathering information, organizing that information, then, finally, presenting the information in a composition.
• Consider using the Grade 6 Writing Process Checklist to assess students’ writing abilities in Work Time B (see Tools page).

Down the Road

• In the next lesson, students will use their completed writing planner to continue working on their collaborative essay, focusing specifically on drafting the introduction.