Practice ELA Writing Task January 13, 2014

How the Essay will be scored Statement of purpose/focus – how well you clearly state your claim on the topic, maintain your focus, and address alternate and opposing claims. Organization – how well your ideas logically flow from the introduction to the conclusion using effective transitions and how well you stay on topic throughout the essay.

How the essay will be scored Elaboration of evidence – how well you provide evidence from sources about your opinions and elaborate with specific information. Language and vocabulary – how well you effectively express ideas using precise language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose.

How the essay will be scored Conventions – how well you follow the rules of usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

Claim Think of this as the main idea of your paper. In this case, it includes the topic and what your position on it is. Ex: Although there are many sports, I believe soccer is an ideal sport for children.

Evidence You have to back up your claim with evidence. The strength of your evidence, and your use of it, can make or break your argument. Includes facts, statistics, personal experiences, possible scenarios, quotes/interviews, current events, real-world examples, etc. Ex: One reason is that soccer teaches teamwork. Each position has a specific job. Forwards have the responsibility of scoring goals. The fullbacks’ job is defense, and the halfbacks assist both forwards and fullbacks. Defense of the goal is the duty of the goalie. In order to win all must do their jobs well and rely on each other for help.

Counterargument By considering what someone who disagrees with your position might have to say about your argument, you show that you have thought things through, and you dispose of some of the reasons your audience might have for not accepting your argument. Ask yourself how someone who disagrees with you might respond to each of the points you’ve made or your position as a whole. Ex: Certainly, team sports can intimidate children. Some children may be physically smaller than others. Age group teams are meant to solve this problem, but it is not unusual to see large differences of height and weight in children of the same age.

Rebuttal How you respond to the counterarguments. Will you agree that your opponent has a point but explain why your audience should nonetheless accept your argument? Will you reject the counterargument completely and explain why it is mistaken? Either way, you want to leave your reader with a sense that your argument is stronger than your opponents’ argument.

Rebuttal (cont.) Ex: However, learning to work as part of a team is essential to success in many other areas. Children have to learn to cooperate both at school and home. In school students are expected to work together without conflict.

The prompt Choosing one of the topics we discussed on Friday (school uniforms, smart phones, random searches, or school start time), think about whether or not incorporating them into our school is a good idea and why. Write an argumentative essay that defends or challenges this issue. Please provide specific details and relevant evidence from what you know or from personal experiences to support your claim.