Teaching Well-Reasoned and Well-Argued Writing on Demand

1. Teaching Well-Reasoned and Well-Argued Writing on Demand Lesley A. Rex, Ebony Thomas & Miah Daughtery National Council of Teachers of English November 18, 2007  Rex

2. Monty Python’s Argument Sketch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM  Rex

3. 1. Overview of Context (10 min.) Teacher Perspective – Miah Daughtery Facilitator Perspective – Ebony E. Thomas & Lesley Rex 2. On-demand vs. Considered Writing (40 min.) Interactive Classroom Demonstration – Lesley & Ebony On-demand vs. considered writing and reasoning as a means of preparing students to reason and write arguments in real-world contexts Examples of real-world contexts Stance, evidence, and warrant Teachers writing and sharing 3. Samples of Student Work (15 min.) Records of Practice – Miah Question and Answer Period (10 min.)  Rex

4. On-demand & Considered Writing Focusing onreasoning Structure follows reasoning Purpose Audience Intention  Rex

5. Stance • Point of view - How the writer sees things • Claim - How things are or should be • Request - How the writer would like them to be • Evidence • From texts • From experience • Warrant • An explanation that links a piece of evidence to the stance so it is persuasive. • The persuasive impact of all the evidence and warrants.  Rex

6. Stance Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, should be central to high school English curriculum in urban public schools.  Rex

7. Stance + Evidence(Or is it?) Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, should be central to high school English curriculum in urban public schools. (1) In a recent media survey of students attending two urban high schools, rap was rated as the favorite musical choice. (2) We know from researchers such as Dierdre Paul that rap can be used as a valid literary genre alongside traditional poetry.(3)In my teaching experience, I have found that rap can be used to synthesize more complex academic texts in ways that are meaningful for students.I argue that rap could also be used alongside canonical texts in other genres.  Rex

8. Elaborated evidence(Is it yet?) Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, should be central to high school English curriculum in urban public schools. In the past, I taught a very successful rap unit in my creative writing class at Downtown High School, which is demographically similar to the two high schools in Midtown. I got the idea from my seventh grade language arts teacher at Urban Academy, who allowed us to summarize Shakespeare in rap form. Rex

9. Elaborated evidence (cont.) I still remember my friend Helena beat-boxing as I rapped: Homeboys and girls, we’re gonna rap about Macbeth And also about King Duncan’s death So listen up and listen good, You know you oughta and you know you should Hear the story of Macbeth… The witches plotted Macbeth’s downfall, Knowin’ that he was ambitious and all… I can remember the plot of Shakespeare’s tragedy nearly twenty years after the lesson. Rex

10. Stance + evidence… • Rap, otherwise known as the music associated with hip hop culture, should be central to the high school English curriculum in urban public schools. • In a recent media survey of students attending the two midtown high schools, rap was rated as the favorite musical choice. Education researcher, Dierdre Paul, promotes rap as a valid literary genre alongside traditional poetry as a means of cultural synchronization, or establishing harmony between the cultural systems of schools, diverse groups of learners, and the communities from which those learners come.  Rex

11. …warrant If students in urban high schools love rap so much, then those who typically would not engage in studying canon texts, such as Shakespeare, might find rap lyrics a powerful source of statements about life. If a major reason we ask them to read canon literature is to consider the life themes that seem ageless and universal across cultures and social groups, why not consider the same themes in rap music? Students’ passion for the music will draw them into considering the themes. Of course, we need to avoid rap lyrics that are unsuitable for school. We don’t want to affirm antisocial, misogynistic or illegal points of view. However, there are many rap songs that present social tensions, raise issues about the role of women, love, money, and life and death. There are rap tunes that question what it means to be a man, to be in a relationship, to be a “brother” or “sister.” These are all themes that we could find in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Within culturally diverse urban schools, using rap alongside canonical texts can aid in the analysis and synthesis of complex academic texts in ways that students find meaningful.  Rex

12. Resources Lundsford’s: Everything’s an Argument Monty Python's: Argument sketch Toulmin 's: The Uses of Argument  Rex