Hello Everyone- I am Laura Paradis. I am part of the Upstate Writing Project in Greenville South Carolina. This is my eleventh year teaching and I have been part of the UWP since 2009. I teach 7th grade reading and love incorporating all kind of strategies into my instruction.
Hello everyone. I am Darla Tresner from Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I teach high school journalism at our high school. I fell in love with all things opinion writing as a student journalist in high school. As a senior at the University of Oklahoma I served as editor of the campus newspaper where I produced a daily page of opinion. Since then I have taught opinion writing to my high school students for 33 years. I have also taught argumentation during 20 years of teaching at the higher education level.
I represent the OSUWP from Oklahoma State University. We have a group of remarkable educators involved in this project, and we are very excited to be a part of the project.
Hi Everyone, I'm Beth Rimer from the Ohio Writing Project and I am excited to be part of the CRWP work as a thinking partner. I think the OLE is amazing so far .. even if it is tricky! This is cool!
Hi! I'm Emily Branch from the South Mississippi Writing Project. I've been teaching K-1 for a number of years but I've recently moved to the high school level. What an experience this change has been! I'm looking forward to learning from all of you tonight and in the future.
Welcome to the world of secondary! Years ago I thought I wanted to teach the younger kids... I subbed for kindergarten for two days and it almost killed me. You are to be commended for your K-1 work: THANK YOU!
Hi Ellen Shelton. I’m the director of the University of Mississippi Writing Project, and I’ve been teaching writing for 23 years. I used to teach AP English Language, and I loved teaching argument to my students. I miss it as I am only teaching Descriptive Grammar online this semester. I’m sorry, but I can’t figure out a way to make that as sexy as teaching writing. However, I usually teach argument to non-majors at the university, so I really enjoy this work.
Hi, All. I'm Robin Atwood, director of the South Mississippi Writing Project. I've been teaching for 26 years. I've only been studying the teaching of argument for the last six years, when I became the inservice coordinator for SMWP. We used the Toulmin Model in our writing assessment inservice. Since CCSS, we've begun to study Hillocks and Wilhelm/Smith (and Rimer, Bear, and Denstaedt. . .)!
Hi, I'm Lauren Skvarla and teach 12th grade English and also developmental writing at the community college here in Tulsa.
I am involved with Oklahoma State University WP (SI in '05 and '10 and a thinking partner in '11 and '12) I went to the '05 SI to get English credits for my doctorate degree. Little did I know I would still be involved and still loving the learning process WP provides.
I loved being a Thinking Partner for the Summer Institutes. Having gone through the experience twice, I think I really gave the teachers a heads up as to what worked and didn't for their presentations. Of course, I got so many good ideas from listening to them also.
Hi,I'm Jacki Barnett from the University of Mississippi Writing Project, and this is my 7th year of teaching high school English. Currently, I teach 9th grade English at Lewisburg High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi. I really love teaching argumentation, specifically because it helps students really think deeply about logically using evidence to support a point. :)
So, this is Amy Salamone and what I love about teaching argument is that it invites close reading, it requires really knowing and understanding text and using text evidence, but I also feel like it really allows for the cultivation of student voice. So, I love all of the aspects of it. I think I often use an anchor text as a point of departure-or some perhaps a narrative piece-that allows students to start where they are in thinking about a topic/theme/issue-for inspiration I use the New York Times ....I forget the name..I am sure someone knows....I also like Upfront magazine for the generation of ideas. I love the text "They Say, I Say-it has really helped me to think about how I teach kids the specific and strategic moves that need to be made in argument writing.
Very cool! I love NY Times Room for Debate! And if you were looking for current events articles, Newsela.com is fabulous. It also allows adjustments for your students' reading levels.
I've visited this site, too, and I am trying to figure out a way to use it in some demo lessons that I want to try out in a classroom....I have to borrow children since I'm at a university now.
Hello friends! I'm Leigh Cliburn, sixth grade teacher, from the South Mississippi Writing Project. I'm excited to learn from each of you and look forward to the OLE.
Jennifer Ringo, University of Mississippi Writing Project. For the last ten years, I taught English I and II at Coahoma Agricultural High School in Clarksdale, where I also live. I loved my job and the students, but this past spring I decided to come out of the classroom to be the full-time TC for the CRWP. (Thanks, Ellen!) My sources of inspiration: • Anything on NPR - my specific interest of late: the Code Switch blog http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/ • Pinterest (seriously!) • NY Times Room for Debate: In Room for Debate, The Times invites knowledgeable outside contributors to discuss news events and other timely issues. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate • My students
Where do I begin? Teaching argument is something I'm learning to love and learning to do better. Most of my recent experiences are with composition students at the university or in PD settings with teachers. I'm learning and getting better at creating that culture of argument that the standards mention, using some strategies we've learned through out study groups. Probably the best resources we've studied have been the "Oh Yeah!" book by Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredrichson (don't hate on me for spelling) and anything by George Hillocks. These authors have made the teaching of argument much more transparent for me, but I'm craving more and hoping to fill my "lamp" (Robin will love that) with more information.
With teachers and with students in composition, I'm finding that the best way to engage folks is to use good text that I love and that they can use to enter a conversation. The text is key to building argument skills.
Hillocks is an argumentation rock star, isn't he? When I first read the first couple of chapters of his book Teaching Argument, I was a bit confused, but when I kept reading, it floored me how awesome the conversations and assignments he came up with were!
So glad you shared the "Oh Yeah!" book! I will have to look that up. :)
Hi, This is Heather Payne from the Ozarks Writing Project at Missouri State University. This is my 15th year teaching. I have taught middle school, high school, and university. I am currently working full time with the OWP as the professional development coordinator for i3.
Hi, I am Marty Rhymes from NSUWP. Half of my work week is spent being the i3 program manager for Red River Parish in Louisiana. The other half of the week I am the Reading Coordinator of Graduate Reading Programs for the College of Education also at NSU. Dare I say my major is not English? I have taught in elementary and middle school classrooms for 27 years and professor for 7.
I have taught a lot of opinion and persuasive writing; however, I am not an expert at argumentative writing! Thus, I am very eager to hear the messages from this class.
I am privileged to direct the Writing Project site at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches Louisiana. I have a joint faculty position in the College of Education and English dept, which allows me to teach freshman composition and English pedagogy classes. I love initiating argument with my students by exploring topics and resources that are deliberately provocative. The most recent success I've had with student engagement was having students disprove urban legends, argue for solutions to what they considered to be a local epidemic (most chose crystal meth epidemic), and challenge their own education. This is going to be such fun!
Hi, This is Flory Simon from the Southern Arizona Writing Project at the University of Arizona. I have taught elementary grades k-3 and am now currently teaching at U of A South in the Elementary Education Division. I am excited to learn all I can about teaching argument to middle and high school students.
Nice to be sharing this new online learning experience with you. I kept up with you all last week. What a wonderful opportunity for everyone. I thought the article in the paper was really nice.
Nice to be sharing this new online learning experience with you. I kept up with you all last week. What a wonderful opportunity for everyone. I thought the article in the paper was really nice.
As for motivating writing ideas, I often pull from the current events and popular culture. Items and articles that I think might be of interest. Choice is the biggest motivator and try to always provide lots of choice within the parameter of the assignment. I recall a SPED kid who never wanted to write until he chose ligers as his topic of research. He wrote and wrote and wrote. I already knew how important choice was, but that validated it once again.
Pulling from popular culture for ideas has helped me to stay more current in the interests of my students. They also like when I asked them to clarify culture that I am not familiar to me.
I am new to teaching argument, but have made Hillock's text my bible. We used it for the first time in our ISI and the teachers were blown away by the easy read, but very informative text for teaching argument.
Hello, everyone. This is Leeanne Bordelon with NSU Writing Project in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I taught high school English for eight years and have taken a break from teaching to work full-time with i3. I miss my classroom terribly, but I am excited about the opportunity to work with all of you and with the enthusiastic teachers in our districts.
This spring I had the opportunity to use Hillocks' Teaching Argument Writing in my classroom. My students (9th, 11th, and 12th graders) loved the lessons - particularly the "Whodunit?" exercises designed to teach warrants and criteria. I found Hillocks' approach to be motivational and fun for my students, and I was able to adapt my instruction to various ability levels.
Ellen Shelton as WordWobble I love using "They Say I Say." That book helped my high school and my college kids so much! They understand how to incorporate other's arguments into their own. Brilliant and easy to use.
Hey Ellen, I agree! At first I dismissed the book because of the idea of "templates" and then I realized it was just what some of my freshman writers needed--a model of how to weave other's arguments into their own writing (responsibly).
My students really blossom when they are writing for a "real" audience and purpose. I like to find issues that are current and relevant to them. It's amazing how much more they give when they are passionate about the topic. We're working on "parents held responsible for student attendance" and it's been interesting.
Hi Carol, yes, they are competitive and very defensive sometimes--especially if the "urban myth" is something they actually bought into themselves. : )
Hello Everyone-
ReplyDeleteI am Laura Paradis. I am part of the Upstate Writing Project in Greenville South Carolina. This is my eleventh year teaching and I have been part of the UWP since 2009. I teach 7th grade reading and love incorporating all kind of strategies into my instruction.
Hello everyone. I am Darla Tresner from Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I teach high school journalism at our high school. I fell in love with all things opinion writing as a student journalist in high school. As a senior at the University of Oklahoma I served as editor of the campus newspaper where I produced a daily page of opinion.
ReplyDeleteSince then I have taught opinion writing to my high school students for 33 years. I have also taught argumentation during 20 years of teaching at the higher education level.
I represent the OSUWP from Oklahoma State University. We have a group of remarkable educators involved in this project, and we are very excited to be a part of the project.
Hi Darla, glad you are here!
DeleteWow. You have a lot of important experience. What is the most exciting part of teaching argument for you and your students?
DeleteSo happy to see you here as well!
DeleteHi Darla and Lauren,
DeleteJoye in Oklahoma City, here. Lauren, you are in Tulsa, yes?
Hi Joye. Yes, I'm in Tulsa.
DeleteHi Darla and Lauren,
DeleteJoye in Oklahoma City, here. Lauren, you are in Tulsa, yes?
Hi Darla and Lauren,
DeleteJoye in Oklahoma City, here. Lauren, you are in Tulsa, yes?
Hi Darla and Lauren,
DeleteJoye in Oklahoma City, here. Lauren, you are in Tulsa, yes?
Hi Darla and Lauren,
DeleteJoye in Oklahoma City, here. Lauren, you are in Tulsa, yes?
Hi Darla and Lauren,
DeleteJoye in Oklahoma City, here. Lauren, you are in Tulsa, yes?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone. This is Stephanie from the Middle Tennessee Writing Project.
ReplyDeleteHI I am Amy Salamone and I am member of the Capital District Writing Project in Albany New York. So happy to be here.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI'm Beth Rimer from the Ohio Writing Project and I am excited to be part of the CRWP work as a thinking partner. I think the OLE is amazing so far .. even if it is tricky! This is cool!
Hi Beth! Yes, I think this is going to be a great learning experience/experiment! : )
DeleteHello,everyone. This is Linda Friedrich from the National Writing Project. What an amazing group of folks on this call and in this blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Linda! This is wonderful.
DeleteI am Carol Forman-Pemberton from CDWP. I am really excited about this project.
ReplyDeleteCarol, Where is the CDWP located?
DeleteAlbany, New York
DeleteHi Carol it's me Amy
DeleteThanks for the pictures, too. It is nice to see faces.
DeleteThis is Debbie Jones with the Wiregrass Writing Project in Alabama
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm Emily Branch from the South Mississippi Writing Project. I've been teaching K-1 for a number of years but I've recently moved to the high school level. What an experience this change has been! I'm looking forward to learning from all of you tonight and in the future.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world of secondary! Years ago I thought I wanted to teach the younger kids... I subbed for kindergarten for two days and it almost killed me. You are to be commended for your K-1 work: THANK YOU!
DeleteHi Ellen Shelton. I’m the director of the University of Mississippi Writing Project, and I’ve been teaching writing for 23 years. I used to teach AP English Language, and I loved teaching argument to my students. I miss it as I am only teaching Descriptive Grammar online this semester. I’m sorry, but I can’t figure out a way to make that as sexy as teaching writing. However, I usually teach argument to non-majors at the university, so I really enjoy this work.
ReplyDeleteHi, Ellen. I'm glad you're here and hope you're feeling better. Your 23 years makes you the "matron of argument" in my opinion. We'll be calling.
DeleteAnd evidently my old blog page name is coming up instead of my name. However, WordWobble is me, Ellen.
DeleteThat's okay. Google hasn't recognized my new married name yet, either. LOL
DeleteHi Ellen! Word Wobble is great! ha Good to "see you"!
DeleteHi, All. I'm Robin Atwood, director of the South Mississippi Writing Project. I've been teaching for 26 years. I've only been studying the teaching of argument for the last six years, when I became the inservice coordinator for SMWP. We used the Toulmin Model in our writing assessment inservice. Since CCSS, we've begun to study Hillocks and Wilhelm/Smith (and Rimer, Bear, and Denstaedt. . .)!
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned Toulmin...how could I forget him?
DeleteHi, I'm Lauren Skvarla and teach 12th grade English and also developmental writing at the community college here in Tulsa.
ReplyDeleteI am involved with Oklahoma State University WP (SI in '05 and '10 and a thinking partner in '11 and '12)
I went to the '05 SI to get English credits for my doctorate degree. Little did I know I would still be involved and still loving the learning process WP provides.
Lauren, I'm interested in hearing about your thinking partner work. Are you a thinking partner to ISI fellows?
DeleteI loved being a Thinking Partner for the Summer Institutes. Having gone through the experience twice, I think I really gave the teachers a heads up as to what worked and didn't for their presentations. Of course, I got so many good ideas from listening to them also.
DeleteHi,I'm Jacki Barnett from the University of Mississippi Writing Project, and this is my 7th year of teaching high school English. Currently, I teach 9th grade English at Lewisburg High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi. I really love teaching argumentation, specifically because it helps students really think deeply about logically using evidence to support a point. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, this is Amy Salamone and what I love about teaching argument is that it invites close reading, it requires really knowing and understanding text and using text evidence, but I also feel like it really allows for the cultivation of student voice. So, I love all of the aspects of it. I think I often use an anchor text as a point of departure-or some perhaps a narrative piece-that allows students to start where they are in thinking about a topic/theme/issue-for inspiration I use the New York Times ....I forget the name..I am sure someone knows....I also like Upfront magazine for the generation of ideas. I love the text "They Say, I Say-it has really helped me to think about how I teach kids the specific and strategic moves that need to be made in argument writing.
ReplyDeleteIs it the NY Times Room for Debate? I use that for issues and ideas.
Deleteyes thanks
DeleteVery cool! I love NY Times Room for Debate! And if you were looking for current events articles, Newsela.com is fabulous. It also allows adjustments for your students' reading levels.
DeleteI've visited this site, too, and I am trying to figure out a way to use it in some demo lessons that I want to try out in a classroom....I have to borrow children since I'm at a university now.
DeleteI totally agree with your view of argument. I think for students it's often one of the most engaging activities.
DeleteI totally agree with your view of argument. I think for students it's often one of the most engaging activities.
DeleteThanks for sharing the New York Times Room for Debate resource - I just looked it up - very cool!
DeleteHello friends! I'm Leigh Cliburn, sixth grade teacher, from the South Mississippi Writing Project. I'm excited to learn from each of you and look forward to the OLE.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Ringo, University of Mississippi Writing Project.
ReplyDeleteFor the last ten years, I taught English I and II at Coahoma Agricultural High School in Clarksdale, where I also live. I loved my job and the students, but this past spring I decided to come out of the classroom to be the full-time TC for the CRWP. (Thanks, Ellen!)
My sources of inspiration:
• Anything on NPR - my specific interest of late: the Code Switch blog http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/
• Pinterest (seriously!)
• NY Times Room for Debate: In Room for Debate, The Times invites knowledgeable outside contributors to discuss news events and other timely issues. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate
• My students
yes room for debate- I could not remember thanks!!!
DeleteJennifer, thanks for those links. I've visited the NY Times Room for Debate several times but never visited the Code Switch blog.
DeleteThanks for the links Jennifer. This has already made my time here worthwhile. I'm going to share them with my department.
DeleteCode Switch Blog= awesome! Thanks for sharing, Jennifer. :)
DeleteAnything remotely controversial keeps them interested!
DeleteI teach grades 9, 10, 12 English ranging from special education students to AP Lit/Comp
ReplyDeleteWhere do I begin? Teaching argument is something I'm learning to love and learning to do better. Most of my recent experiences are with composition students at the university or in PD settings with teachers. I'm learning and getting better at creating that culture of argument that the standards mention, using some strategies we've learned through out study groups. Probably the best resources we've studied have been the "Oh Yeah!" book by Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredrichson (don't hate on me for spelling) and anything by George Hillocks. These authors have made the teaching of argument much more transparent for me, but I'm craving more and hoping to fill my "lamp" (Robin will love that) with more information.
ReplyDeleteWith teachers and with students in composition, I'm finding that the best way to engage folks is to use good text that I love and that they can use to enter a conversation. The text is key to building argument skills.
Hillocks is an argumentation rock star, isn't he? When I first read the first couple of chapters of his book Teaching Argument, I was a bit confused, but when I kept reading, it floored me how awesome the conversations and assignments he came up with were!
DeleteSo glad you shared the "Oh Yeah!" book! I will have to look that up. :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi, This is Heather Payne from the Ozarks Writing Project at Missouri State University. This is my 15th year teaching. I have taught middle school, high school, and university. I am currently working full time with the OWP as the professional development coordinator for i3.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather,
DeleteI talked to Keri today and I am really excited about seeing everyone on Wednesday when Jean and I come to Springfield. It will be great to catch up.
Hi Heather,
DeleteI talked to Keri today and I am really excited about seeing everyone on Wednesday when Jean and I come to Springfield. It will be great to catch up.
Hi Heather,
DeleteI talked to Keri today and I am really excited about seeing everyone on Wednesday when Jean and I come to Springfield. It will be great to catch up.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am Marty Rhymes from NSUWP. Half of my work week is spent being the i3 program manager for Red River Parish in Louisiana. The other half of the week I am the Reading Coordinator of Graduate Reading Programs for the College of Education also at NSU. Dare I say my major is not English? I have taught in elementary and middle school classrooms for 27 years and professor for 7.
I have taught a lot of opinion and persuasive writing; however, I am not an expert at argumentative writing! Thus, I am very eager to hear the messages from this class.
I am privileged to direct the Writing Project site at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches Louisiana. I have a joint faculty position in the College of Education and English dept, which allows me to teach freshman composition and English pedagogy classes. I love initiating argument with my students by exploring topics and resources that are deliberately provocative. The most recent success I've had with student engagement was having students disprove urban legends, argue for solutions to what they considered to be a local epidemic (most chose crystal meth epidemic), and challenge their own education. This is going to be such fun!
ReplyDeleteHi, This is Flory Simon from the Southern Arizona Writing Project at the University of Arizona. I have taught elementary grades k-3 and am now currently teaching at U of A South in the Elementary Education Division. I am excited to learn all I can about teaching argument to middle and high school students.
ReplyDeleteHi Flory,
DeleteNice to be sharing this new online learning experience with you. I kept up with you all last week. What a wonderful opportunity for everyone. I thought the article in the paper was really nice.
Hi Flory,
DeleteNice to be sharing this new online learning experience with you. I kept up with you all last week. What a wonderful opportunity for everyone. I thought the article in the paper was really nice.
As for motivating writing ideas, I often pull from the current events and popular culture. Items and articles that I think might be of interest. Choice is the biggest motivator and try to always provide lots of choice within the parameter of the assignment. I recall a SPED kid who never wanted to write until he chose ligers as his topic of research. He wrote and wrote and wrote. I already knew how important choice was, but that validated it once again.
ReplyDeletePulling from popular culture for ideas has helped me to stay more current in the interests of my students. They also like when I asked them to clarify culture that I am not familiar to me.
DeleteI am new to teaching argument, but have made Hillock's text my bible. We used it for the first time in our ISI and the teachers were blown away by the easy read, but very informative text for teaching argument.
ReplyDeleteI love Hillocks, too! My student were immediately hooked, and I really played up the CSI connection.
DeleteFunny, I had to watch CSI so I had the background info for my discussions.
DeleteHello, everyone. This is Leeanne Bordelon with NSU Writing Project in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I taught high school English for eight years and have taken a break from teaching to work full-time with i3. I miss my classroom terribly, but I am excited about the opportunity to work with all of you and with the enthusiastic teachers in our districts.
ReplyDeleteThis spring I had the opportunity to use Hillocks' Teaching Argument Writing in my classroom. My students (9th, 11th, and 12th graders) loved the lessons - particularly the "Whodunit?" exercises designed to teach warrants and criteria. I found Hillocks' approach to be motivational and fun for my students, and I was able to adapt my instruction to various ability levels.
Ellen Shelton as WordWobble
ReplyDeleteI love using "They Say I Say." That book helped my high school and my college kids so much! They understand how to incorporate other's arguments into their own. Brilliant and easy to use.
Hey Ellen,
DeleteI agree! At first I dismissed the book because of the idea of "templates" and then I realized it was just what some of my freshman writers needed--a model of how to weave other's arguments into their own writing (responsibly).
My students really blossom when they are writing for a "real" audience and purpose. I like to find issues that are current and relevant to them. It's amazing how much more they give when they are passionate about the topic. We're working on "parents held responsible for student attendance" and it's been interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of disproving the urban myths...how provacative. Do the students get competitive about the evidence?
ReplyDeleteHi Carol,
Deleteyes, they are competitive and very defensive sometimes--especially if the "urban myth" is something they actually bought into themselves. : )
This is Margaret with Wiregrass.
ReplyDelete