Friday, January 8, 2016

Monday/Tuesday, January 11/12, 2016



Announcements and Reminders:
Hand in your unused hall passes today!

    Take care of any retakes still needed for the spelling test or argument vocabulary test -- Tuesday during Cavetime or after school.    

 Let me know if you cannot come those time, and would like to meet me on Tuesday morning the the classroom to make up a test or two. 
   
We will have request day in Cavetime on Tuesday, but you may come in to quietly retake a needed test -- either the overall spelling test or the argument vocabulary test, or both.                                                       

  You can practice your spelling with
Spelling practice:  https://quizlet.com/102626513/learn 
The overall spelling test will be on January 7/8.

If you haven't reached 100% on the Argument Terms test yet,  come in during Cavetime on Friday, or after school Thursday or Friday.
Quizlet for argument vocabulary: https://quizlet.com/_1mpfek
Or see:   

Argument


Targets for Today:

I can recognize and write an effective thesis statement for an argument essay.

I can recognize and write the parts of an effective argument essay. 



Today’s  Agenda:




1. Bell-Ringer: 

  1. Read the article about whether Manners Matter. 

  3. Fill out the chart on the back.

  5. Write a thesis statement  -- in your composition book  under "Note and Quickwrites" for an essay taking one side or the other of the issue. 

 2. 
  1. We will learn about thesis statements. 
  2. You will create a marvelous thesis statement for an essay on this debatable topic, and write that thesis statement in your composition book under "Notes and Quickwrites."  




Writing a thesis statement for argument.

Your thesis sentence (your claim)  needs to be broad enough to cover what you want to talk about, but narrow enough that it doesn't cover things beyond what you want to cover. 
For example, the thesis "Big cars are bad for the environment" is too broad. 
Ask yourself:  How are big cars bad? And why does it matter? 
A more effective thesis statement would be, "Big cars harm society and the environment because they are costly, they are dangerous to smaller vehicles on the road, and they further America's dependency on foreign oil."




Your thesis statement creates an outline for your essay.  Once you've written your thesis statement, your essay practically writes itself as you add evidence and elaboration. 
Copy this into your composition book under "Notes and Quickwrites."

What is a thesis statement? (for an argument essay)

  • It must be a complete sentence. 
  • It can NOT be a question. 
  • It must include the topic of your essay.  (a debatable topic)
  • It must include a claim about the topic of your essay.
  • The claim must take one side or the other of a debatable topic.
  • LEAVE OUT the words "I think" or "I believe." 
  • It should give two or three REASONS why your claim is true.
  • It should not include evidence or elaboration. (You will provide that in your body paragraphs.)

Writing a Thesis Statement

Creating a Thesis Sentence for Manners Matter

Check the thesis statement our wrote for "Manners Matter." 



Write and check your own thesis statement.

3.  Check the thesis statement for your graphic organizer essay.  
Then continue working on our essay. 



If You Were Absent:

Here is a copy of the article read in class today:   


Here is another resource for learning about building argument essays:  https://awc.ashford.edu/writing-tools-thesis-generator.html

And more information about whether manners matter:

The Benefits of Being Kind Last From Kindergarten to Adulthood

Kindness matters. Kindergarten students who share, help others, and show empathy are more likely to have personal, educational, and career success as adults, finds this study that tracked 753 children from 1991 to 2010.



So sad!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDkp7GysvbY
If you've never seen Labyrinth, you should!

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