Using SIRS to support Argumentative Writing

Teachers have expressed a desire to help our students with PBPA and FSA skills.  Here is an idea formulated by Mr. Winer and myself using SIRS Knowledge Source, the most convenient source we have to find lexiled news articles.

Using SIRS Articles to support argumentative writing

Step 1: Click on SIRS tile located in the reference desk page of your portal (or simply click the link in this blog)

Step 2: Find a topic of interest (must be a Pro/Con issue)

Step 3: Choose either a “pro” or “con” article.

Step 4: You may email the article to yourself or save it as a PDF file for future use.

Step 5: Read Article

Step 6: Using RACE, answer the following questions:

1)      What is the claim (the main idea the author is trying to argue)?

2)      Is there a counterclaim (the opposing viewpoint) in the article?  If so, what is it? 

3)      How does the author strengthen their claim and weaken the counterclaim?