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   Rationale:

 

• Students face increasing expectations from teachers around writing competencies as they move through the middle years of education, transition to high school and in turn prepare for college and career.

 

• This process often leaves families wondering how to best support their children's writing as they navigate the best course through these formative and critical years.

 

• The research paper and the analytical, evidence-based argumentative essay is a literary form often assigned by English and History teachers in High School.

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• Many students are not explicitly taught the skills necessary to write strong research papers or cogent argumentative essays until well into their high school years. This is too late. It is better to introduce the complex skill set at an earlier age, so that students have time to improve these skills before they count heavily for their grades.

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   Purpose:

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• I determine each student's current set of research and analytical writing competencies.

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• I equip students with an advanced and comprehensive skill-set related to research papers and argumentative essay writing. This skill-set enables students to experience success when asked to write in either of these modes.

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• Each student practices using this skill-set while creating a series of short research papers. They also share these papers and deconstruct the strengths and areas for improvement with classmates who have answered the same prompts.

  

• Specific skills include: formulating an interesting topic, creating effective research, drafting effective orientations and thesis statements, developing detailed outlines, using evidence and sources effectively to support key ideas, writing effective conclusions and writing correct bibliographies.