Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• RI.6.1 – Opening A: Students complete an entrance ticket in which they examine the Model Argument Evidence: Dorothy note-catcher and the Model Argument Essay: “Dorothy” and compare and contrast the content of the two resources, including the textual evidence presented to support a claim.
• W.6.1 – Opening A: As part of the entrance ticket, students note the way in which the model essay has been written to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence, which were also captured on the note-catcher.
• W.6.1 – Work Time A: Students analyze the Model Argument Essay: “Dorothy.” They note the reasons and evidence used to support the essay’s main claim.
• RI.6.1 – Work Time B: Students continue to conduct research on their focus figure. They add textual evidence from their research to their Independent Argument Evidence note-catchers.
• W.6.1 – Work Time B: Students collect evidence to support claims about their focus figures in their independent essays.
• W.6.7 – Work Time B: Students conduct research about their focus figures, drawing on several sources and refocusing their inquiries as needed.
• W.6.8 – Work Time B: Students gather relevant information about their focus figures from multiple sources.
• W.6.9b – Work Time B: Students gather textual evidence to support the claims and reasons they will offer in their independent argument essays.
• W.6.7 – Closing and Assessment A: Students participate in a debrief about their focus figure research.
• In this lesson, students work to become ethical people, exhibiting integrity as they participate in the Meet My Match activity and as they research their focus figure.
• The Meet My Match activity is designed to be a grapple for students. Students have participated in the activity in Module 3. The red, green, yellow, and blue index cards correspond to the painted sections of an introduction paragraph of an argument essay. In the lesson, the Painted Essay® template is displayed as a reference for students, but no direct instruction is given to students based on the Painted Essay®. Consider whether to further scaffold the activity or to allow students to independently make the connection to the Painted Essay®. The examples presented in the Meet My Match Instructions should also provide a strong hint to students that the activity is tied to the Painted Essay®.
• Each student will receive an index card or a chunk of the introduction paragraph. There should be no student left without a manipulative. If the class has an odd number, designate one student to be a monitor for the activity. This monitor will ensure that students are following the habit of character of integrity during the activity.
• The last part of the activity asks students to gather with other students to create a full paragraph if there is time. There should be no partial paragraphs, so be sure that the number of students in class corresponds with the number of index cards and introduction paragraph chunks created.
• Consider using other manipulatives instead of index cards, such as flags or colored balls. Be sure to use the standard Painted Essay® colors if other manipulatives are used.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• An optional Mini Language Dive, intended for use after students analyze the Model Argument Essay in Work Time A, is available in the Teacher’s Guide for English Language Learners. ▲
• Students may examine more samples of argument essays. Providing multiple sample essays for students to color-code and analyze will support their understanding of genre and the subtleties of using reasoning effectively.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• Students have worked with the Painted Essay® structure in the previous modules. In this unit, they use the same structure but evaluate how it changes when applied to writing an argument, similar to their work in Module 3 with literary argument writing. Students began research on their focus figure at the end of Unit 2. In this lesson, students continue that research.

Support All Students

• Note that there is a differentiated version of the entrance ticket used in Opening A in the Teacher’s Guide for English Language Learners.
• Be very deliberate with the introduction chunks given to ELL students. The background information chunk or main claim chunk have more context available that would be easier to understand and match. ▲
• Analyzing the model may be more challenging for students with limited language proficiency. Scaffold and support student learning through strategic grouping, ensuring that ELLs with lower language ability work with stronger readers and writers. To maintain equity in participation within groups, and to give students the opportunity to specialize with specific components of the task, use a jigsaw approach to adapt the model analysis exercise. In this adaptation, students are assigned specific roles (e.g., write the gist, determine the purpose and/or audience, show connections to prompt), given a chance to work first with other students who have the same role, and then placed in other groups to present their findings. ▲
• Before students can be expected to produce an essay that imitates the structure of a model, it is critical that they understand the content of the model as deeply as possible. Although the Argument Essay model has been written with careful attention to students’ expected reading levels, do not assume that all students comprehend it after one read. Use a protocol to support students’ idea development during Work Time A. ▲
• Annotating the model essay with small pictures or glossed keywords may support student understanding of content and structure. ▲

Assessment Guidance

• Throughout Work Time A, frequently review student work to ensure they are color-coding accurately. Use common issues as whole group teaching points. Throughout Work Time B, monitor student documentation on the Independent Argument Evidence note-catcher. Keep notes on any students whose notes seem to be off base for the purpose of their research. Plan to confer with those students and possibly further scaffold the research process for them.

Down the Road

• In Lessons 2–4, students continue to deconstruct the model and complete a collaborative practice argument essay. In each lesson, students look at a discrete aspect of the argument essay model and practice using it in their own writing. In Lesson 5, students participate in a peer review of their collaborative essays in which they will trace the argument of a peer pair’s essay.