Common Core State Standards -Writing

select below for argument
http://bleckblog.org/comp/node/266

This blog title is a bit misleading. When I'd originally been asked to put something together on the Common Core writing standards, I presumed I'd be focused on three areas: narrative, informational, and argumentative.

However, as you'll see, the embedded slide show  focuses mainly on one of the three Common Core writing approaches -argumentative writing; and it is no accident that it happened that way.

The Common Core asks for three areas of writing to be nurtured and developed with students: narrative, informational, and argument writing. The narrative form, which comes under a large umbrella of styles from poetry to narrative non-fiction, is highly familiar to teachers and students alike, precisely why little attention is given to it. The same thinking applies to informational writing, because high-stakes testing has dominated the educational landscape for many years, everyone knows expository writing well.

So, if you haven't guessed by now, that leaves one approach to writing on the outside looking in -argumentative writing. The Common Core wants students and teachers alike to revert to the earlier practice of reading passages with a keen eye, one that spots and collects text evidence then uses logic to draw conclusions or form hard-to-refute claims.

Writing for argument is not about screaming louder than the other guy, as many political debates seem to do, nor is it about writing in the persuasive style, where loaded words and a complete disregard for the other side of the issue is the normal method of expression.

Writing as argument is more gentlemanly -and, if possible, almost entirely sterile. Below is one of the purest forms of written argument and logic.

All humans are mortal.
Aristotle is human.
Therefore, Aristotle is mortal.

Good luck arguing against that conclusion!

Of course, not many arguments are so easy to lay out. Evidence can be interpreted incorrectly and reasonable claims made on each side of an argument, but the model serves to remind educators and students alike as to the type of thinking required when writing to argue. If a pure, logical argument cannot be made, then one steps over a bit and adopts as much reason as possible.

At least, this is my ham-fisted understanding of what to emphasize for the Common Core writing standards.

Common Core State Standards -Writing from RLagana