Argumentative Reasoning Explain your evidence

Learning Target When writing, elaborating on/explaining the evidence you have found you will reason in such a way that you deepen the reader’s understanding of the point you are making. Success Criteria After choosing evidence I feel is best for a topic, I will reason/explain/elaborate on that evidence.

Reasoning that doesn’t work Claim: School vacations are built in so kids don’t have to miss school for out of town trips. Evidence: “56% of students on Spring Break went out of town for at least two days,” explained Dr. Watts. Poor reasoning: Dr. Watts said most kids on break took some time to go out of town. Reason: simply repeats the evidence

Reasoning that doesn’t work Claim: School vacations are built in so kids don’t have to miss school for out of town trips. Evidence: “56% of students on Spring Break went out of town for at least two days,” explained Dr. Watts. Poor reasoning: It’s not fair that most kids got to go out of town. Some of us were stuck at home. Reason: uses emotion rather than logic

Reasoning that doesn’t work Claim: School vacations are built in so kids don’t have to miss school for out of town trips. Evidence: “56% of students on Spring Break went out of town for at least two days,” explained Dr. Watts. Poor reasoning: The weather in Kent was warm and sunny most days, although it did rain on Tuesday. Reason: off topic

Reasoning that DOES work Will explain how the evidence relates to the argument. How do I do that? Define words Remember your Patriot’s Pen essay? Many of you defined the word ‘Patriot’ as you explained what it means to you. This form of elaboration clarified for your reader the point you were making.

Reasoning that DOES work Will explain how the evidence relates to the argument. How do I do that? Extrapolate #’s – do the math for the reader Claim – Edgar Martinez belongs in the MLB Hall of Fame. Evidence – With a .350 batting average, pitchers must be at their best to get him out. Your reasoning/elaboration can show what that .350 means: Reasoning - A baseball player's batting average is calculated by dividing the number of hits by the number of at bats. In Major League Baseball, a .330 career batting average is relatively rare; only 30 players in MLB history have batted .330 for their careers, with a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances. All but three finished their careers before 1946. Baseball historians consider .330 to be an outstanding batting average.

Reasoning that DOES work Will explain how the evidence relates to the argument. How do I do that? Analogy - An analogy, like metaphors and similes, shows how two different things are similar. But, it’s a bit more complex, rather than a figure of speech, an analogy is more of a logical argument. It will demonstrate how two things are alike by pointing out shared characteristics, with the goal of showing that if two things are similar in some ways, they are similar in other ways as well.

Reasoning that DOES work Analogy - An analogy, like metaphors and similes, shows how two different things are similar. Claim – Learning to improve your writing can be a difficult skill to master. Evidence - According to Harvard Professor Tom Jones, “The only way to become a better writer is to write!” Reasoning - Learning to write an essay is like learning to drive. Inexperienced drivers are often too timid to pull into the stream of traffic, even when it is safe to do so. Young drivers lack the finesse, know-how and confidence they will gain as they gain experience. You don't jump on the expressway before you are comfortable driving at a high speed, do you? Writing works the same way. You have your permit as a beginning writer. Follow the rules and practice the techniques until you are comfortable.

Reasoning that DOES work Will explain how the evidence relates to the argument. How do I do that? If – Then – These statements take the reader step-by-step where you want them to go. Claim - Homework should be banned because it takes up too much time. Evidence - A 2002 study found a direct relationship between time spent on homework and levels of anxiety, depression, anger and other mood disorders. Take a look at your evidence and ask yourself “So what?” So What? Homework is supposed to help prepare students to be successful in life, but clearly there are times when it does more harm than good… Reasoning - Try using an “If…then” statement. If students are ending up with mood disorders like stress and depression because of homework, then maybe we need to reconsider if all this work is really in their best interest…

Ask Yourself Questions Schools in the United States should switch to the year-round school model because it can improve academic achievement. According to data collected by the California Department of Education, students at a year-round schools outscored students at a traditional-calendar schools by 2.24 points in year end math gain and 1.61 points in year end reading gain. What do these scores have to do with academic achievement. What are they scoring on? Is this a test? GPA? What are these “points” measured on? Why do we care about year end math and reading gains? Why should I care about what the California Department of Education has to say?

Schools in the United States should switch to the year-round school model because it can improve academic achievement. According to data collected by the California Department of Education, students at a year-round schools outscored students at a traditional-calendar schools by 2.24 points in year end math gain and 1.61 points in year end reading gain. Standardized test scores are one of the only ways we can measure large groups of students objectively. So even though the increases are small, the numbers show that students at year-round schools have stronger academic achievement. One or two point might not seem like a lot, but even small changes in a students GPA can be the difference between being accepted to a college or not. If students are making gains on standardize tests, then that learning is also helping them achieve in the classroom. This puts students at a competitive advantage in college or the workforce because they will have a better grasp on the reading and math skills then need to be successful after high school.

Reasoning that DOES work Will explain how the evidence relates to the argument. How do I do that? Define words (Patriot’s Pen example) Extrapolate #’s – do the math for the reader (baseball example) Analogy - An analogy, like metaphors and similes, shows how two different things are similar. (driving compared to writing example) If – Then – Ask so what, put your answer into an if-then statement. Ask Yourself Questions

Transitions This evidence shows… The author says this because… This proves that… This confirms, demonstrates, describes, explains, illustrates, suggests…