Our work has centered around reading challenging texts, sharing our questions and confusions, then writing in response to the text. We read two texts about humans traveling to Mars, then we read about the use of meditation instead of punishment in some schools. The writing gave us practice with making a strong and clear claim, then supporting that claim with ideas and evidence from the text(s). We read a mentor text (from the Boston Globe) so we would have a vision of writing that makes and supports a strong claim.
After looking back at all the writing done on these two topics so far, students were asked to choose one to take to completion. This choice was made by thinking about which topic one felt more passionate about, which topic one felt inspired to communicate some truth about.
In drafting, students were encouraged to make a strong, clear claim and to write with a voice of authority, avoiding language like "seems" and "I think." Students will be encouraged to refer back to the mentor text, trying to include things like common expressions, cultural references, subtle humor, an image or two, and good quotes.
