When teaching the counterclaim to my middle school students, there are actually two ways we could go: embed the counterclaim in the body paragraphs OR write a separate counterclaim paragraph.
I taught at one middle school in my district, where they taught the embedded counterclaim, and I am currently at a school that teaches separate counterclaim paragraphs.
Embedded Counterclaim
I have to be honest with you, I think that this is the most
academically sound way to teach counterclaims because I am convinced that this
creates a stronger argument and a stronger essay as a whole. Why?
1. When you write a body paragraph for an argumentative essay, you are already providing evidence for the essay's position, and it makes sense to admit in that paragraph that there is an opposition to the idea. Still, clearly, the evidence that has been provided refutes it. This creates a smooth progression that literally leads the reader
down the path of your argument. It's a very tight organizational
structure.
2. In Florida, this is what is shown as an example of
a perfect "10" paper and is even evident in the papers slightly less than
perfect. In fact, in none of the example essays does one find a separate
counterclaim paragraph.
So what hack did I use to teach the embedded
counterclaim?
1. ARGUE
A - Answer with the claim + one reason from the thesis
R - Respond to opposing claims
G - Give evidence for the essay's position
U - Underscore the evidence with commentary
E - End with a conclusion
This is exact pattern I used to teach my middle school
students in the first middle school I mentioned. Of course, students had to repeat the G and U for a second piece of evidence, but they made a little song/chant to go with it, and it wasn't an issue. And when it came time
for them to take an essay test, they didn't freeze because they had a pattern
on which to rely.
Want to use ARGUE with your own students? I
have a full unit that uses this pattern to teach an argumentative essay complete
with a prompt, texts, foldables, notes, and a PowerPoint.
2. ACE IIT
A - Answer with the claim and one reason from the thesis
C - Cite evidence
E - Explain with commentary
I - Ingeminate (repeat the cycle of cite and explain with
new evidence)
IC - Insert counterclaim (Some say___ but this is not
accurate because_____)
T - Top it off with a conclusion.
The year that the school went to the counterclaim paragraph
idea they allowed me to continue with the embedded counterclaim using ACE IIT
to see if the test scores would prove that embedding counterclaims would score
better or worse than a separate counterclaim paragraph. You know
what? I had the highest scores. And I didn't have all honors
classes. In fact, I had two classes that were only beginning English
Language Learners.
This way to embed a counterclaim was in an effort to
streamline my mnemonics that I use with informative essays and increase
retention and usability by the students. I used to tell them that there
were just 3 key differences between the informative and argumentative -
which is so much easier to remember!
1. Introduction
paragraph bridge has to state both sides
2. The essay must take ONE side
3. Add in an extra I in ACE IT for counterclaim.
(I
teach an ACE IT mnemonic for body paragraphs that do not have counterclaims.)
The idea that the two kinds of essays have the same basic
structure (with the 3 exceptions) actually helps students feel more confident
in their abilities. Of course, it helps to practice by having students
just take out a blank sheet of paper and write our the mnemonics and
what they stand for too. I did this and on the day of the state test,
that's exactly what I saw students do - and they scored better than some of
their "advanced" peers!
Click here to get a FREE planning sheet for embedded counterclaims using the ACE IIT pattern.
So there you have it - 2 hacks for writing an embedded counterclaim in an Argumentative essay! Your students will love having a pattern to follow, and you will love the results!
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