CCRA.W.1: Writing Arguments with Valid Reasoning and Sufficient Evidence

Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-60 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "A classmate tells the principal: 'Our school should start a chess club, because chess is fun.' Write one question the principal might ask in reply, and one piece of evidence that would answer that question."

   Take four or five answers. Students usually ask about cost, space, a faculty sponsor or whether enough students would join. Point out that each question names something the claim needs and the classmate did not give: a reason the principal cares about, and evidence for it. "Chess is fun" is a reason, but it does not answer the questions a decision maker asks. That gap is what CCRA.W.1 is about.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Define the parts of an argument with Diagram 1. A claim is a statement a reasonable person could dispute. A reason says why the claim should be accepted, and evidence (facts, data, quotations, examples) shows that the reason is true. Reasoning is the link: it explains why the evidence supports the reason and the reason supports the claim. Then give the two tests the anchor names:

   • Valid reasoning: the conclusion follows from the reasons. Reasoning is not valid when it rests on a hidden assumption that is false, or when it uses a flaw such as these: a hasty generalization (one case treated as proof about all cases), a false either-or (only two choices offered when there are more), a slippery slope (one step is said to lead to extreme results with no evidence for the chain), an appeal to popularity (a claim is called true because many people believe it), an appeal to tradition (a practice is called right because it is old) and a false cause (two things that happen together are assumed to be cause and effect).
   • Relevant and sufficient evidence: relevant evidence bears directly on the reason it supports; sufficient evidence is enough, and representative enough, to convince a careful reader. One vivid story can be relevant and still not be sufficient.

   Show the progression table so students see that the same moves run from grade 6 to grade 12, while the demands rise.

   Progression of CCRA.W.1 in grades 6-12 (short paraphrases of the grade-level standards)

   Grade-level standard	Band	What this band adds
   W.6.1	Grade 6	A clear claim supported by clear reasons and relevant evidence from credible sources, organized clearly, in a formal style, with a conclusion that follows
   W.7.1	Grade 7	Acknowledge alternate or opposing claims; logical reasoning; accurate sources; words that create cohesion
   W.8.1	Grade 8	Distinguish the claim from opposing claims and show how claims, counterclaims, reasons and evidence relate
   W.9-10.1	Grades 9-10	Precise claims about substantive topics or texts; claims and counterclaims developed fairly, with the strengths and limitations of each; valid reasoning and relevant, sufficient evidence; objective tone
   W.11-12.1	Grades 11-12	Knowledgeable claims whose significance is established; claims and counterclaims developed thoroughly with the most relevant evidence, anticipating the audience's values and possible biases; varied syntax
   WHST.6-8.1	Grades 6-8, history, science and technical subjects	Arguments on discipline-specific content, supported by relevant, accurate data and evidence
   WHST.9-10.1	Grades 9-10, history, science and technical subjects	Data and evidence supplied for both claims and counterclaims, following the conventions of the discipline
   WHST.11-12.1	Grades 11-12, history, science and technical subjects	The most relevant data and evidence for each claim and counterclaim, with their strengths and limitations

   Work through the five examples below. They use a separate small question, "Should the school library open at 7:15 a.m.?", so that the source packet stays fresh for the activities.

   • Writing an arguable claim

     Draft claim: Mornings are important for students. Nobody would dispute it, and it does not say what should happen.

     Result: Revision: The school library should open at 7:15 a.m. on school days, because students who arrive on early buses need a quiet place to work before class.

   • Relevant or not relevant

     Two facts offered for the claim: (a) the library owns about 9,000 books; (b) 42 students arrive on buses that drop off at 7:10, and the building doors open at 7:45.

     Result: Fact (b) is relevant: it shows that a group of students waits about 35 minutes with nowhere to go. Fact (a) is true but irrelevant, since the size of the collection says nothing about the morning wait.

   • Sufficient or not sufficient

     Evidence 1: one student says, "I would definitely go." Evidence 2: during a two-week trial, the librarian logged how many students signed in before 7:45 each morning.

     Result: Evidence 1 is relevant but not sufficient: one person's prediction may not represent the 42 riders. Evidence 2 is sufficient for a first decision, because it records what many students actually did on ten school days.

   • Valid reasoning and its hidden assumption

     Reasoning: "Early-bus students have nowhere to go, so they would use the library."

     Result: The conclusion depends on an assumption: that students would choose the library over the gym or the cafeteria if those also opened. The writer either supports the assumption (with the trial sign-ins) or narrows the claim.

   • Answering a counterclaim fairly

     Opposing claim: opening early costs staff time the school cannot spare.

     Result: Fair response: "Opening at 7:15 does add 30 minutes to a librarian's day, a real cost. The cost can be met by shifting the librarian's schedule 30 minutes earlier, so the library would close at 3:00 instead of 3:30, when the trial showed few students use it." Grades 9-12 writers name the strength of the opposing claim before they limit it.

   Hand out the source packet and the model argument. Read the packet once together. Explain that every source is invented for this lesson, and that writers treat invented sources the way they would treat real ones: by asking who is speaking, what the source can know and how much it shows.

   1Background (invented for this lesson). The Pinecrest Public Library board will vote in March on whether to start a tool library: a collection of about 150 tools, such as drills, ladders, sewing machines and a pressure washer, that card holders could borrow for one week at a time, just as they borrow books. Startup would cost an estimated $18,000 for tools, shelving and staff training. The money would come from a one-time state library grant that must be spent on "new services."

   2Source A: Library survey, October. The library asked 400 card holders whether they would borrow tools if the library offered them. Of the 400, 236 said yes, 104 said maybe and 60 said no. The tools people named most often were ladders, drills and a carpet cleaner.

   3Source B: Report from the Ridgeway Library, a library in a nearby town that opened a tool library of 120 tools two years ago. In its first year, the tools were checked out 1,440 times, an average of 12 checkouts per tool. Eleven tools were returned damaged, and three were never returned. The library spent $1,150 on repairs and replacements that year.

   4Source C: Statement from Dana Ruiz, owner of Ruiz Hardware on Main Street. "I rent out a few big machines, like floor sanders, and those rentals pay for themselves. If the library lends drills for free, I worry that some customers will stop buying them. On the other hand, people who borrow a tool for a first project often come back to buy the supplies."

   5Source D: Note from the head librarian, Marcus Webb. "Each tool would need a safety check when it comes back, about five minutes per checkout. At Ridgeway's rate of 12 checkouts per tool per year, our 150 tools would mean about 1,800 checkouts and 150 hours of checking a year. We would need to shift part of one staff member's time, or ask trained volunteers to help."

   6Source E: Comment at a public meeting from a resident, Ellen Park. "My neighbor borrowed my ladder and kept it for a month. People do not take care of things that are not theirs. A tool library will be empty in a year."

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read the model argument aloud. On the second reading, students highlight the claim in one color, reasons and evidence in a second color, and the counterclaims and responses in a third. Then walk through the steps below.

   1A ladder that a family needs twice a year spends the rest of the year in a garage. The Pinecrest Public Library has a chance to change that. The library board should start a tool library, because residents want one, a similar library has made one work, and the costs can be managed.

   2First, Pinecrest residents have said they would use it. In the library's October survey, 236 of 400 card holders, or 59 percent, said they would borrow tools, and another 104 said maybe (Source A). That is strong evidence of interest, although people do not always do what they say on a survey.

   3Second, a nearby library shows that a tool collection gets used and survives. Ridgeway's 120 tools were checked out 1,440 times in their first year, an average of 12 times each, while only 14 tools were damaged or lost (Source B). In other words, about 99 out of every 100 checkouts came back in good shape.

   4Third, the costs are real but manageable. The $18,000 startup cost would come from a one-time grant that can be spent only on new services, so the tool library would not take money away from books (Background). Repairs at Ridgeway cost $1,150 in a year, less than $1 per checkout. The staff time Mr. Webb describes, about 150 hours a year, could be shared with trained volunteers (Source D).

   5Some residents argue that borrowers will not care for tools that are not theirs, and one resident predicts that the collection "will be empty in a year" (Source E). Her worry is understandable, but it rests on a single borrowed ladder. Ridgeway's records cover 1,440 checkouts, and they show only three tools that never came back. A local business owner raises a different concern: free drills could cut into her sales (Source C). Yet the same owner notes that borrowers "often come back to buy the supplies," so a tool library could bring customers to Main Street as well as take some away.

   6A tool library would let Pinecrest share what many garages store and seldom use. The board should approve it in March, start with the tools residents asked for, such as ladders and drills, and review the damage and use records after one year.

   1. Find the claim and the plan. Ask: "Which sentence states the claim, and which words preview the three reasons?" Teacher note: the last sentence of paragraph 1 states the claim and previews all three reasons, which paragraphs 2-4 take up in order.
   2. Trace one reason to its evidence. Ask: "In paragraph 2, what is the reason and what is the evidence?" Teacher note: the reason is that residents would use the tool library; the evidence is the survey count, with its source named in parentheses.
   3. Check the reasoning, not only the facts. Ask: "Paragraph 2 ends with a limit the writer admits. Why would a writer weaken their own evidence on purpose?" Teacher note: admitting a limit makes the reader trust the rest of the argument, and it keeps the claim from going further than the evidence does.
   4. Test for sufficiency. Ask students to look at paragraph 4 and decide whether one library's repair bill is enough evidence about Pinecrest's future costs. Accept either answer when it is supported; the point is to ask the question.
   5. Look at the conclusion. Ask: "Does paragraph 6 only repeat the claim, or does it add something?" Teacher note: it adds a concrete next step and a one-year review, which follows from the admitted uncertainty about survey answers.

   Grades 6-8 focus: claim, reasons, evidence and a counterclaim that is answered. Grades 9-12 focus: whether the counterclaims in paragraph 5 are presented at full strength, and what an audience of library board members would still want to know.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read the weak letter below, written for this page as an example of poor reasoning. It is flagged on purpose: it states a claim but supports it badly. Each student writes a short argument that answers the question Does this letter prove its claim? The answer is itself an argument about a text: it needs a claim about the letter, reasons and quoted evidence from the letter, with paragraph numbers. Grades 6-8 write one paragraph and use at least two of the flaws defined in Direct Instruction; grades 9-12 write two paragraphs and also say what the letter's writer would need, from the source packet, to make the case properly.

   1To the editor: The library board wants to lend drills and ladders. This is a terrible idea. Libraries have lent books for hundreds of years, and that is what they should keep doing.

   2My cousin in another state borrowed a sander from a library there, and it broke the first time he used it. That proves these tools are junk.

   3If the library starts lending tools today, it will be lending cars and boats in ten years. Where does it stop?

   4The library has to choose: either it lends books or it turns into a hardware store. Pinecrest has always been a reading town. Everyone I know agrees with me, so the board should listen. Signed, A Longtime Reader

   Look for: a claim about the letter (not about tool libraries in general), quotations from at least two paragraphs, and reasoning that names why each quoted move fails. The quiz questions on this letter serve as the key; do not hand it out before students write.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name one reasoning flaw from today and write a one-sentence example of it that is not on the Activity 2 cards. (2) Write a one-sentence claim for or against the tool library that a reader could dispute. Look for a claim that takes a side and is specific enough to argue.

   Teacher note: all four texts are original. The weak letter is meant to be criticized and is labeled on the page, so students do not mistake it for a model. Keep the debate on the evidence: the rubric scores reasoning and evidence, never the side a student chooses.

   For homework: students use the invented source set below. Its paragraphs are numbered 1-6.

   1Background (invented for this lesson). Each June, Birchwood Middle School holds Field Day, a day of relay races and team games on the school field. The student council has proposed replacing it with a Service Day, when classes would spend the day on projects such as cleaning up the trail in Alder Creek Park, sorting donations at the town food pantry and planting the school garden. The school has 600 students. The principal will decide in April after hearing from students.

   2Source A: Student council poll. The council asked 300 students which day they prefer. Of the 300, 129 chose Field Day, 117 chose Service Day and 54 chose a day split between the two.

   3Source B: Statement from the director of Alder Creek Park. "Last spring, 40 adult volunteers cleared two tons of trash from the park in one morning. With help from a whole school, we could finally finish the trail cleanup we have postponed for three years."

   4Source C: Statement from a physical education teacher. "Field Day is the one day when some students who struggle in class get to shine. It also takes very little planning. A Service Day would need permission slips, buses and adult supervisors at every site."

   5Source D: Note from the food pantry manager. "We are glad to host students, but our sorting room holds 30 students at a time, for a two-hour shift."

   6Source E: Comment from an eighth grader. "Field Day is boring. Nobody even likes the sack race anymore."

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement is an arguable claim that could anchor an argument?

   AThe town pool opens on the first day of June each year. BThe town pool has two diving boards and a slide. CThe town should keep the pool open until Labor Day. DThe town pool was repainted during the spring break.

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Source D (paragraph 5 of the source packet), the head librarian estimates "about 1,800 checkouts" a year. What does this estimate assume?

   AThat Pinecrest's tools will be borrowed about as often as Ridgeway's BThat Pinecrest will buy the same 120 tools that Ridgeway bought CThat every card holder will borrow at least one tool each year DThat trained volunteers will do all of the safety checks

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source A reports that 104 of the 400 card holders answered "maybe." Which conclusion about these answers is valid?

   AThey show that 104 card holders oppose the tool library. BThey show that the survey question was badly worded. CThey should be added to the yes answers, for 340 supporters. DThey show interest, but they cannot count as yes answers.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why should a writer use Source C, the statement from the hardware store owner, with some care?

   AIt is the only source in the packet that mentions Main Street. BThe owner has a business interest in how the vote turns out. CThe statement reports exact sales figures from the past year. DThe owner says that her tool rentals lose money every year.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 3 of the model argument, what does the phrase "In other words" do?

   AIt adds a new reason that the claim still needs to win. BIt restates the numbers just given as a conclusion. CIt introduces the evidence of the opposing side. DIt moves the argument from Ridgeway to Pinecrest.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which calculation supports the sentence "about 99 out of every 100 checkouts came back in good shape" in paragraph 3 of the model?

   A120 tools divided by 1,440 total checkouts B11 damaged tools divided by 120 total tools C1,426 good checkouts divided by 1,440 checkouts D1,150 repair dollars divided by 1,440 total checkouts

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A board member says paragraph 3 of the model makes the losses sound smaller than they are. Which calculation best supports her point?

   A1,150 divided by 18,000, about 6 percent B14 divided by 1,440, about 1 percent C60 divided by 400, about 15 percent D14 divided by 120, about 12 percent

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What does paragraph 5 of the model argument do?

   AIt states two opposing concerns and answers each with evidence from the sources. BIt repeats the three reasons from paragraphs 2-4 in a different order. CIt admits that the tool library will hurt the businesses on Main Street. DIt introduces a fourth reason based on the state library grant.

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does the model mention that the grant can be spent only on new services?

   ATo prove that most residents want a tool library BTo show that Ridgeway paid for its tools the same way CTo answer the worry that tools would take money from books DTo explain why repairs cost less than $1 per checkout

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 2 of the letter "Libraries Are for Books" says a cousin's borrowed sander broke, and "That proves these tools are junk." Which reasoning flaw is this?

    AA false either-or: only two choices are offered when there are more. BA hasty generalization: one case is treated as proof about all cases. CAn appeal to tradition: a practice is called right because it is old. DA slippery slope: one step is said to lead to extreme results.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 3 of the letter says, "If the library starts lending tools today, it will be lending cars and boats in ten years." Why is this reasoning not valid?

    AIt gives a date that the library board has not yet agreed to. BIt names cars and boats, which no library anywhere has ever lent. CIt relies on a single cousin's experience in another state. DIt claims one step leads to an extreme result, with no evidence.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Paragraph 4 of the letter says the library "has to choose: either it lends books or it turns into a hardware store." Why is this reasoning not valid?

    AThe library could lend both books and tools, so these are not the only two choices. BThe writer does not say which tools the library would lend to card holders. CThe writer lives in Pinecrest and so has a personal interest in the vote. DThe letter is signed with a pen name instead of the writer's real name.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student claims that the cafeteria's new salad bar is popular with students. Which evidence is both relevant and sufficient for this claim?

    AA comment from one student, recorded on the first day, saying that the croutons taste good BDaily salad sales for the first six weeks, compared with the six weeks before it opened CThe invoice showing how much the school paid to buy and install the salad bar DA news story describing salad bars that schools in another state have installed

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "Every student who joined the robotics club this year earned an A in math, so joining the robotics club makes students earn A's." What is wrong with this reasoning?

    AIt uses a club that only some schools in the country offer. BIt never says how many students joined the club this year. CIt leaves out the names of the students in the club. DIt treats things that happen together as cause and effect.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write an arguable claim about the Pinecrest tool library. Support it with one reason and one piece of evidence from the source packet, cited by source letter and paragraph number, and explain in one sentence how the evidence supports the reason.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Paragraph 5 of the model argument calls a resident's worry "understandable" before answering it. In two or three sentences, explain why this move makes the argument stronger rather than weaker.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite the reasoning in paragraph 2 of the letter "Libraries Are for Books" so that it is valid and better supported. Use at least one source from the source packet, and keep the letter writer's side of the argument.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain the difference between relevant evidence and sufficient evidence. Give one example of each from the source packet about the tool library.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    The model argument is written for the library board. Name one concern a board member might still have after reading it, and write one or two sentences the writer could add to answer that concern with evidence from the source packet.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Paragraph 1 of the letter says libraries "have lent books for hundreds of years, and that is what they should keep doing." In two or three sentences, explain why this fact does not prove the letter's claim, and name one kind of evidence that would be relevant.

    Show model answer

These are the grade-level standards that carry anchor CCRA.W.1 in grades 6-12, plus closely related anchors.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.