A. Introduce the Practice Essay Prompt - W.8.4 (5 minutes)

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

"I can annotate and determine the gist of a practice essay prompt."

• Explain to students that they will work in pairs to practice writing an argument essay and will write another essay independently for the end of unit assessment.
• Display and distribute Practice Argument Essay directions. Explain that this handout describes background on the essay topic, what their essay should include, and the resources they need to complete the task in the upcoming lessons.
• Read each section of the handout aloud, and instruct students to read along silently. Then, direct students to read the Practice Argument Essay directions once more, on their own.
• Think-Pair-Share:

"What is the gist of the Practice Argument Essay directions?" (Students should identify that their practice essay refers back to their anchor text, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and examines one food choice that consumers can make, eating grass-fed beef. The directions for the practice essay ask students to write an essay that explains a recommendation being made to a health council that consumers should make every effort to purchase grass-fed beef in order to more positively impact their own health and the health of the environment. They need to give at least two reasons to support the proposal, or claim; use evidence from the text; and explain their reasoning. They should also write and refute a counterclaim.)

• Think-Pair-Share:

"What is the topic of the essay you will write?" (Responses should identify that their job is to write an essay that supports the proposal, or claim, that all consumers should make every effort to purchase grass-fed beef in order to more positively impact their own health and the health of the environment.)

• Explain to students that the main claim of the essay has been provided for them to help them focus their planning and writing on the other aspects of an argument essay. Having everyone support the same claim allows students to collaborate and discuss their writing and thinking more easily on this practice piece.
• Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group. Answer any questions and clear up any misconceptions or concerns students have regarding the task.
• Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

C. Plan Practice Argument Essay – W.8.5 (15 minutes)

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

“I can use my understanding of the elements of an argument essay to create a plan for a practice essay.”

• Display and distribute the Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer.
• Remind students that they used a similar graphic organizer to plan their informative essays in Module 2, Unit 2. As necessary, review each section, asking volunteers to explain what kind of information they will write in each section. For ELLs and students who require additional support, the Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer ▲ can be used to help guide students’ thinking with prefilled information, examples, and sentence frames.
• Display the Characteristics of Argument Writing anchor chart.
• Ask:

“What is the difference between planning an informative essay and an argument essay?” (The focus statement in an argument essay is called a main claim, and the elaboration in the argument essay will connect the evidence to the reasons given for supporting the proposal, so it is called reasoning. Argument essays contain a counterclaim paragraph.)

• Explain to students that they will use the Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer to plan their essay. In this lesson, they will roughly sketch out what will go into each paragraph. In the upcoming lessons, they will have more time to add details to this graphic organizer as they plan and draft their practice argument essay.
• Tell students that, as they plan, they should remember to support their ideas with information from The Omnivore’s Dilemma, going back into the text as needed.
• Draw students’ attention to the focus question section at the top of the Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer. Ask students to copy the focus question from the Practice Argument Essay directions to this space. Refer to the Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer (example for teacher reference) for sample responses.
• Prompt students to Turn and Talk with their partners, allowing time for students to fill in the appropriate sections of their graphic organizers:

“What is the main claim of your argument?” (Responses will vary.)

“What context or background information will you need to give readers so they can understand this claim? Consider terms your readers might need defined.” (Responses will vary.)

• Refer to the Argument Writing Plan graphic organizer (example for teacher reference) for sample responses.
• As students write, circulate and ensure they understand the prompt and the main claim given in the directions.
• Distribute colored pencils, and invite students to use them to underline their main claim with the correct color: green.
• Direct students to the section of their Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer where it asks, “What are the two main reasons/points you will be offering to support this claim?”
• Explain to students that in an argument essay, it is important to identify valid and compelling reasons that support the main claim. If students struggle to understand the concept of reasons, prompt them to consider times in their own lives when they give reasons to support an argument (e.g., when asking a parent or teacher for permission to do something).
• Tell students that a reason basically answers the question “why?” Why is this claim important or true? Often, a reason uses the word because, as in the statement: “this claim is important or true because . . . .” Remind students that they saw examples of this kind of thinking in Model Essay: “Transportation Choices.”
• Ask students to brainstorm with their partner, to generate potential reasons that would emerge from the evidence and support the given claim: “One of the most important things we can do to ensure that our food is healthy and sustainable is to make the choice to buy grass-fed beef.” Give students time to briefly discuss and brainstorm with one another.
• As students discuss, chart or record any ideas they have come up with.
• Tell students that the class will focus on the same two compelling reasons to use in supporting the claim of this essay:
• “Reason/Point 1: First, consumers should purchase grass-fed beef because it is a better choice for their own health.”
• “Reason/Point 2: In addition, eating only grass-fed beef matters because it is better for our farms and environment. It is a more sustainable system.”
• Turn and Talk:

“What is the meaning of the word sustainable?” (Sustainable means causing little or no harm to the environment; being able to continue for a long time. Or, in Pollan’s definition, “a closed loop, recycling fertility and using renewable energy.”)

• Direct students to record the reasons on their planning organizer, and reiterate that the rest of their planning for their essay should be aligned to these reasons.
• Release students to complete the rest of their Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizers in pairs. Remind students that they should use evidence from The Omnivore’s Dilemma for examples to explain their points/reasons. Also, explain that students don’t need to write complete sentences in their graphic organizer; they can just take notes.
• Circulate to support students as they plan. Refer to the Practice Argument Essay Writing Plan graphic organizer (example for teacher reference) as needed. If necessary, prompt by asking questions such as:

“Why does choosing grass-fed beef matter? What does this evidence say about the health or environmental benefits of grass-fed beef?”

“What other choices might a health council recommend? How will you defend the choice of grass-fed beef?”

• Assure students that they will have more time to add detail to this plan as they work to write each paragraph in the piece over the next few lessons.
• 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.