Make Way for the DWA!

As we know, the District Writing Assessment happens every year in early spring. This year, to align with Common Core Standards, we are writing Argumentative Essays rather than persuasive essays.
We have been working to discover how argument essays are different from persuasive essays.

We have practiced Close Reading Strategies so that we can use evidence from articles to support our positions.

We practiced finding more than one side of an argument so that we can present a clear argument that addresses a counter-argument.
We read a well-written argument essay about whether pets should be required to be "fixed."
We read several articles about the proposal to put cameras in classrooms to help observe and evaluate teachers. Together as a class, we wrote an argument essay about whether or not we should have cameras in classrooms here in the NVUSD.
Today, students are practicing writing for 55 minutes after reading and annotating three articles about technology's effects on children. They are writing to either support or disagree with a proposal to have a "Shut Down Your Screen Week" at our school.

Writing an argument is a challenging process for students who have never done it before. But I know you can do it!

Adriana cites sources to write a convincing argument