The holiday season is officially here, and I want to make sure that teachers are laughing all the way to winter break. To help make these next few weeks go by quickly, I’m participating in a holiday blog hop and raffle giveaway hosted by The Language Arts Classroom. Keep reading this post for more great ideas and for a chance to win some gift cards!
My entire store will also be on sale on Monday, November 28 and Tuesday, November 29 to help teachers make it until the end of the semester.
As the end of the semester nears, students begin daydreaming about winter vacation, no school, presents, no school, time with family and friends, and no school. It can be very difficult to keep their focus and concentration during this time of year, so I give students some choice with real-life topics that matter to them while maintaining the rigor that my administrators expect!
One thing I like to do at the end of the semester is engage students with a high-interest argument essay. Even though they write a complete argument essay with researched information and supporting evidence, students enjoy this assignment because I give them a variety of highly engaging topics to choose from. Plus, this assignment fits perfectly in the instructional time we have between Thanksgiving and winter break!
Students can choose between anything from cell phones in the classroom, to college tuition prices, to school uniforms, and more. To expedite this process, I include all of the articles for my students so that they do not waste any time sifting through unreliable information. My Argument Essay Unit – Student Choice MEGA Bundle will be 28% off during the sale!
To help breathe some life into this assignment during this time of year, students can work on the assignment in teams of four. Two students on each team write either the pro or the con together. Then, once both sides are written, each team presents their essays in a debate format. Another fun way to add some excitement to an argument essay at the end of the year is to have students present their research with a campaign poster supporting their claim. Since I have access to Chromebooks in the classroom, I like to have students create digital posters and post them to a padlet!
Enter to win a giftcard!
Check out the rest of the blogs in the hop.
6 Comments
Giving students choice always seems to help! Thanks for the ideas!
Working with a teams on an essay would definitely make my students' day! Thanks for a great idea!
Awesome idea! Thanks for joining Lauralee and me on the hop!
~Julie
I like the idea of collaborative writing to make argument essays more interesting. Thanks for sharing!
I love that you gave them the articles to give them a "break" in that regard and focus on the writing. Thank you!
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