Write an Argument Essay: Draft Conclusion | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G7:M4:U2:L11

Write an Argument Essay: Draft Conclusion

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • W.7.1e, L.7.2a

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RL.7.1, RL.7.2, W.7.4, W.7.5, W.7.10, L.7.1c, L.7.6
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can write the conclusion of my argument essay, restating the main claim and an opposing claim and adding a reflection. (W.7.1e)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket, Unit 2, Lesson 11 (L.7.2a)
  • Work Time A: Conclusion Paragraph Strips (W.7.1e)
  • Work Time B: Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Paragraph 4 note-catcher (W.7.1e)
  • Closing and Assessment A: Draft Conclusion of Pair Argument Essay (W.7.1e)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner – L.7.2a (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. The Painted Essay®: Sort and Color-Code the Parts of the Conclusion – W.7.1e (10 minutes) 

B. Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion – W.7.1e (10 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Pairs: Draft Conclusion – W.7.1e (15 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Coordinate Adjectives: Students use commas to separate coordinate adjectives in sentences from the model argument essay to complete Homework: Coordinate Adjectives: Lesson 11.

B. Review Note-Catchers and Texts: To prepare for the end of unit assessment in the following lesson, students reread their note-catchers and texts to find evidence to support their stance on solving plastic pollution.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • L.7.2a – Opening A: On an entrance ticket, students add commas to separate coordinate adjectives in sentences from the module texts as well as their own argument essays.
  • W.7.1e – Work Time A: Students use The Painted Essay® structure to more closely analyze a model conclusion and add to their understanding of an effective conclusion.
  • W.7.1e – Work Time B: Students participate in a Language Dive, analyzing the meaning of a sentence from model argument essay’s conclusion. 
  • W.7.1e – Closing and Assessment A: Students draft the conclusion of their pair essay, ensuring that it follows from and supports the information in their essay.
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners by collaborating and persevering as they write.
  • The Think-Pair-Share and Think-Write-Pair-Share protocols are used in this lesson. Protocols are an important feature of the EL Education curriculum because they are one of the best ways we know to engage students in discussion, inquiry, critical thinking, and sophisticated communication. A protocol consists of agreed-upon, detailed guidelines for reading, recording, discussing, or reporting that ensure equal participation and accountability in learning.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Release those students who are ready to read and analyze the conclusion paragraph independently and then move on to drafting the conclusion to their practice essay with a partner rather than during modeling.
  • Use students’ conclusions from previous years, or find a set of argument conclusions to use. Invite students to participate in a Gallery Walk protocol in which they read a variety of conclusions posted around the room and record their notices about what makes the conclusions strong. Be sure to debrief the protocol with a synthesis discussion of how to write a strong conclusion.
  • Invite students to form pairs. Using a set of argument conclusion paragraphs, have students choose a paragraph which they find particularly strong. Invite students to share their notices with a partner. Have students switch partners and share a few times.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In the second half of this unit, students have been analyzing a model and using their analysis to plan an essay and draft the introduction and Proof Paragraphs. This lesson continues those routines to finish writing the essay.

Support All Students

  • In Lessons 7–11, students work with the same partner on a pair argument essay. Provide differentiated mentors by purposefully preselecting student partnerships. Meet with the mentors in advance to encourage them to share their thought process with their partner. ▲
  • In Work Time A, students should read the model essay paragraph and paragraph sentence strips independently. However, if some or all students need more support, read the paragraph aloud, and then release students to read with their partner. Another option is for students to use technology to read the paragraph aloud using a text-to-speech tool such as http://eled.org/0179 or http://eled.org/0220. ▲
  • In Work Time A, students may require additional support when putting the conclusion paragraph together. If so, pair students heterogeneously for this activity, or group students who may need additional reading and organizing support together and guide them through the activity. ▲
  • In the Closing and Assessment A, students draft their conclusion. Some students may need to talk through their conclusion before writing it. Others may dictate their conclusion and then have a teacher, student, or technology record their dictation. Some students may need a movement break, snack, or drink of water before beginning to write. ▲

Assessment Guidance

  • Circulate to monitor students’ work organizing the sentences in the conclusion. If many made a similar error, teach it whole-group as a learning opportunity and a key element to focus on with conclusion writing.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will complete the end of unit assessment in which they draw on the learning from this and previous lessons to plan, draft, and revise an argument essay independently.

In Advance

  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11 at each student's workspace.
  • Cut apart the conclusion paragraph strips, and organize them using envelopes or paperclips so that each pair will have one set. Or if desired, students can do this preparation at the start of the activity.
  • Determine pairs for work throughout the lesson, grouping students by writing or content proficiency.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 7.I.A.1, 7.I.B.5, 7.I.B.6, 7.I.B.7, 7.I.B.8, 7.I.C.11, 7.I.C.12, 7.II.A.1, 7.II.A.2, 7.II.B.3, 7.II.B.4, 7.II.C.6, and 7.II.C.7.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson includes the use of manipulatives to understand the key structures of a conclusion. Also, the collaboration of writing a pair essay supports students in expressing their ideas. 
  • ELLs may find it challenging to generate language to write their conclusion. In addition to the supports below, encourage students to use the language structures from the Model Argument Essay to guide or as frames for their own writing. 

Vocabulary

  • N/A

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Criteria of an Argument Essay anchor chart (one for display; from Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Work Time A)
  • Academic word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Opening A)
  • Domain-specific word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time B)
  • Pair argument essay (one per pair of students; begun in Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Painted Essay® template (one per student; from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Model Argument Essay: “Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Beginning of Its Life Cycle” (one per student and one for display; from Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Work Time A)
  • Argument Writing checklist (one per student; from Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer (one per student and one for display; from Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer ▲
  • Texts from Module 4, Units 1 and 2: A Plastic Ocean, Trash Vortex, “Five Weird Materials That Could Replace Plastic,” “Five Things You Can Do to End Plastic Pollution,” and “Boyan Slat: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Kid” (one of each per student)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11 (answers for teacher reference)
  • Organize the Model: Conclusion strips (answers for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive Guide: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion (for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion Sentence Chunk Chart (for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion note-catcher (example for teacher reference)
  • Homework: Coordinate Adjectives: Lesson 11 (example for teacher reference) (see Homework Resources)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11 (one per student)
  • Organize the Model: Conclusion strips (one per pair)
  • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion sentence chunk strips (one per pair of students)
  • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion note-catcher (one per student)
  • Lined paper (one piece per student)
  • Homework: Coordinate Adjectives: Lesson 11 (one per student; see Homework Resources)

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningLevels of Support

A. Engage the Learner - L.7.2a (10 minutes)

  • Invite students to retrieve their pair argument essay and work with their partner on the Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11.
  • Once students have completed their entrance tickets, join with another argument essay pair to form groups of four. Ask students to share where to add commas to separate coordinate adjectives in sentences from the module text as well as their own pair argument essays.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.

For Lighter Support

  • As a gradual release for the assessment, encourage students to complete the top portion of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11 without support. Independent work ensures mastery of adding commas between coordinate adjectives.

For Heavier Support

  • As a gradual release for the assessment, challenge students to grapple to complete the top of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11. Ask students to share their responses with their writing partner to check their work. Independent grappling serves as a self assessment and mastery practice of adding commas between coordinate adjectives.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. The Painted Essay®: Sort and Color-Code the Parts of the Conclusion – W.7.1e (10 minutes) 

  • Move students into the same predetermined pairs as in Opening A.
  • Distribute the Organize the Model: Conclusion strips. Tell students that each pair has been given only one part of the conclusion, and later on they will find the other parts to create a complete conclusion paragraph.
  • Invite students to refer to their Painted Essay® template to remember the parts of a conclusion paragraph:
    • Restated main claim
    • Reflection
  • Ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

“What is a main claim?” (A statement of opinion that can be proven or disproven with evidence and reasoning.)

“What does it mean to restate something?” (To say it again in different words.)

“What is a reflection?” (A thought that results from deep or serious thinking.)

“What is different about this conclusion from those you have seen in the past? What part of this conclusion is new?” (It acknowledges an opposing claim.)

“What is an opposing claim? Why would a writer include an opposing claim in the conclusion?” (An opposing claim is a claim that opposes or tells the opposite of the main claim. A writer might include an opposing claim in the conclusion to acknowledge and refute it one last time.)

  • Explain that each pair needs to find two pairs, one with each of the other parts of the conclusion and put the three pieces together in the right order.
  • Tell students that when they have finished, they will check their work against the Model Argument Essay: “Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Beginning of Its Life Cycle.”
  • Invite students to begin, and circulate to support students as they find two pairs each with a different strip that will complete the conclusion. Ask pairs whether they have the restated main claim, the opposing claim, or the reflection and to explain how they know. Support students with the Organize the Model: Conclusion strips (answers for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Refocus the whole group.
  • Invite students to chorally read the introduction and to identify the main claim. Ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

“Which sentence from the introduction is the main claim?” (“These efforts are helpful, but the most effective place to reduce plastic pollution is at the beginning of its life cycle. By inventing and using new materials and banning plastic as much as possible, we can help ensure a future that is free of plastic pollution.”)

  • Then, invite students to chorally read the conclusion and to identify the restated main claim. Ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

“Which sentence from the conclusion restates the main claim you heard in the introduction?” (“These efforts are important, but the most effective place to focus is at the beginning.”)

“How do the sentences in the conclusion support the information or explanation presented throughout the essay?” (They remind the reader of the main claim and refute the opposing claims.)

  • Then focus students on the reflection, and ask them to Think-Pair-Share:

“Which sentence best shows the thinking and reflecting following from the information presented in the essay?” (“After all, how better to reduce plastic pollution than to not make plastic in the first place?”)

“How does this thinking and reflecting follow from the information presented in the essay?” (The reflection explains why the best place to impact change is at the beginning of the plastic life cycle.)

“How are the parts of the conclusion similar?” (All parts stay focused on the main claim.)

  • Invite students to help record the parts of a conclusion on the Criteria of an Effective Argument Essay anchor chart.

For Lighter Support

  • At the end of Work Time A, challenge students to identify comparative adjectives in the conclusion of the Model Argument Essay and share this information with their classmates who need heavier support. Doing so will reinforce their own and their classmates understanding of types of sentences.

For Heavier Support

  • In Work Time A, provide students with already color-coded parts of the conclusion paragraph, so that they can focus on arranging the sentences in the order that makes the most sense.

B. Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion - W.7.1e (10 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to facilitate a Language Dive with the following reflection sentence from the text model essay:
    • "After all, how better to reduce plastic pollution than to create less plastic in the first place?"
  • Use the accompanying materials to facilitate the Language Dive:
    • Language Dive Guide: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion (for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion Sentence Chunk Chart (for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion note-catcher
    • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion note-catcher (example for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive: Model Argument Essay, Conclusion sentence chunk strips

For Lighter Support

  • During the Language Dive of Work Time B, students analyze the reflection statement from the Model Argument Essay conclusion. Before beginning the dive, invite students to remind classmates what a reflection is (offering a new thought or idea about the main claim of the essay). Explaining to others helps students confirm their knowledge of language structures.

For Heavier Support

  • During the Language Dive of Work Time B, students analyze the reflection statement from the Model Argument Essay conclusion. Before beginning the dive, remind students what a reflection is (offering a new thought or idea about the main claim of the essay). Also, some students may need additional support as they complete the sentence frame in the Practice section. If so, display the habits of character anchor charts: Work to Become Effective Learners, Work to Become Ethical People, and Work to Make the World a Better Place. Model creating several sentences (e.g., How better to show empathy than to tell a friend you understand their troubles. How better to use your skills to help others than to help classmates with their projects.)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

A. Pairs: Draft Conclusion – W.7.1e (15 minutes)

  • Review the appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can write the conclusion of my argument essay, restating the main claim and an opposing claim and adding a reflection.”

  • Remind students that as they draft the conclusion of their essay on targeting the end of the plastic life cycle, they should restate the focus statement, acknowledge an opposing claim, and provide a reflection on the information presented in the rest of the essay.
  • Distribute lined paper. Invite students to retrieve the following materials:
    • Argument Writing checklist
    • Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer
    • Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer ▲
    • Pair argument essay
    • Texts from Module 4, Units 1 and 2: A Plastic Ocean, Trash Vortex, “Five Weird Materials That Could Replace Plastic,” “Five Things You Can Do to End Plastic Pollution,” and “Boyan Slat: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Kid”
  • As necessary, guide students through writing their conclusion:

1. Discuss the following characteristic on the Argument Writing checklist, adding to the Characteristics column as needed:

      • “W.7.1e: I have a conclusion that supports my argument and restates my claim.”

2. Invite students to read their Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer, their introductory paragraphs, and their Proof Paragraphs from previous lessons to remind them of their focus statement and their ideas.

3. Ask:

“What should your conclusion do?” (It should restate the main claim and follow from and support the information or explanation presented throughout the essay.) Have students Think-Write-Pair-Share to restate the main claim of their essay, recording their ideas on the Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer. (Responses will vary. Possible response: These efforts are important, but the most effective place to focus is at the beginning.)

4. Invite students to refer to the model essay, the Criteria of an Effective Argument Essay anchor chart, the Argument Writing checklist, and the domain-specific and academic word walls to write the conclusion.

5. Remind students that it is often helpful to orally rehearse the words they will use when they write. Before writing the conclusion, pairs may want to orally rehearse their ideas for their conclusion paragraph—how it will restate, reflect on, and follow from the information presented in the rest of the essay. Circulate to support students as they write.

  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target and the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

For Lighter Support

  • Challenge students to rephrase the W.7.1f criteria on the Argument Writing checklist into simpler language that their peers who need heavier support can understand. Rephrasing the criteria ensures that students comprehend the writing expectations.
  • Encourage students to underline the language structures in the conclusion paragraph of the model essay that can be used in their pair essay. For example, Some argue that, Others say that, and These efforts are important, but the most effective place to focus is. Students can share these examples with their classmates who need heavier support. Then they can modify them for their own pair essay. 
  • Also, challenge students to include at least one modifying phrase and one set of coordinate adjectives in their conclusion paragraph.

For Heavier Support

  • If students are literate in their home language, they can translate the W.1.2f criteria on the Argument Writing checklist that their peers who need lighter support rephrased. Translating or rephrasing the criteria ensures that students comprehend the writing expectations.
  • Encourage students to use the language structures from the model essay to craft their own conclusion paragraph. Students can use the sentences as frames, replacing the stage in the plastic life cycle and main claim with those that fit their pair essay. Ask students who need lighter support to help students identify these language structures. For example, Some argue that, Others say that, and These efforts are important, but the most effective place to focus is. Using the model will give students confidence and success with this complex writing task.

Homework

Homework

A. Coordinate Adjectives

  • Students use commas to separate coordinate adjectives in sentences from the model argument essay to complete Homework: Coordinate Adjectives: Lesson 11.

B. Review Note-Catchers and Texts

  • To prepare for the end of unit assessment in the following lesson, students reread their note-catchers and texts to find evidence to support their stance on solving plastic pollution.

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