HIGH QUALITY WORK CLAIM Two
Students craft strong argumentative writing and speaking pieces in multiple content areas.
Introduction At Meadow Glen Middle we recognize that students must be able to write and speak about positions and arguments with clarity and confidence if they wish to change our community for the better. Therefore, students in grades six through eight experience multiple opportunities to craft written and spoken arguments across a variety of content areas in our building. When we first opened Meadow Glen Middle, students typically wrote persuasive and later argumentative pieces in their English Language Arts classes; however, over time we have intentionally embedded argumentative writing and speaking as critical parts of our assessment practices in other classes like social studies and math in addition to English Language Arts. In order for students to “argue” confidently and effectively in these classes, it is vital that they understand how to use all types of data and evidence to support a claim that they make. This group of evidence demonstrates how students at Meadow Glen Middle are able to write and speak confidently about evidence-based claims and how they are able to support their thinking using data across diverse situations and in multiple content areas. |
Evidence Block 1: English Language Arts Samples
7th Grade - Ethical Consumer Guide
As part of the "What’s the Cost" Expedition in 7th grade, students explored how businesses can affect working conditions, both positively and negatively in their English Language Arts classes. Using skills and concepts developed in Module 2 of the EL Education ELA Curriculum, students engaged in a short research project on current working conditions in the garment, food, jewelry, technology, or shoe and fashion industry. In particular, students learned to gather relevant information to answer the question: “What is the cost?” As part of the research, the students answered two guiding questions. First, what are working conditions, and why do they matter? Second, how do workers, the government, businesses, and consumers bring about change in working conditions? After the students collected evidence about these two questions, they created a consumer guide arguing for ethical consumer practices. Students shared the completed guide with parents and local community members. While on this learning journey, our students were able to show proficiency around the following reading and writing skills:
- Using criteria to classify, select, and evaluate texts to make informed judgements about the quality of the pieces.
- Writing an argumentative text that conveys ideas and concepts using relevant information that is carefully selected and organized.
- Using technology to produce and publish a piece of writing with cited sources.
- Producing clear and coherent writing that is appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Below are images that link to a variety of student final products from each year of our "What's the Cost?" expedition.
2016 Samples
2017 Samples
2018 Samples
English 1 - Ethical Production of Goods Essay
For this assignment students analyzed the nonfiction text Sugar Changed the World to better understand the role commodities, specifically sugar, have played in shaping global trade, ethics, and modern day society. Students have also read additional, shorter texts from the present day garment industry to connect their understanding of the complexities of global trade throughout time. Students were then asked to respond to the prompt: Who bears the most responsibility for ensuring that goods are ethically produced? The supplementary texts were used as both a model of argument writing in the real world and the source of their textual evidence. Students were told that they were writing this piece as if it would be published in an online newspaper, much like the supplementary texts, therefore their audience was the general public. The documents below are samples of student work over the two years we have completed the EngageNY English One modules. There are samples from regular education students as well as those served with 504 and ESOL plans.
2016 - 2017 Samples
2017 - 2018 Samples
Evidence Block Two: Social Studies Sample
Was the U.S. Expansion Justified?
This group of evidence demonstrates students' abilities to make evidence-based claims, work in small groups, converse purposefully as a class, and engage in critical reflection regarding their own learning. Through the use of a Socratic seminar protocol, students were able to make evidence-based claims and counter-arguments as they discussed the topic of American imperialism and expansion. For this seminar, students were placed in an inner and an outer circle; each student was partnered with someone in the opposite circle. Students in the inner circle shared their claims and evidence first, while students in the outer circle used their student assessment checklist to increase student accountability (related to our habits of scholarship) in both circles. Students were encouraged to use “accountable talk” to share ideas in a respectful way. In the video, the students used the “accountable talk” stems to respond respectfully to their peers, even in the case of disagreement. At the conclusion of the seminar, students were required to submit a final reflection regarding any seminar arguments or evidence they heard that either continued to support their original claims or made them change their minds on the topic of American imperialism and expansion. The evidence below includes the video of the Socratic seminar and samples of student work from multiple students. The work shows how children grew in their ability to craft their claims and counterclaims.
Socratic Seminar Video
Student 1 Claim (Regular Education Student)
Draft Final
Student 1 Reflection (Regular Education Student)
Student 2 Claim - Student with IEP
Draft Final
Student 2 Reflection (Student with IEP)
Evidence Block Three: Math Case Study Product
As part of the 8th grade Expedition “Take a Stand,” students collected data on homework completion versus test grades throughout the first and second quarters. The students then used the collected data to create class scatter plots. Students used these scatter plots to determine if there was a correlation between the bivariate data. Because the data points on the scatter plot fell in an upward direction, students concluded that there was a positive correlation. Students then used the scatter plot to find a line of best fit, write the equation of the line of best fit, and then answer questions and make predictions using that equation. Our final product concluded with students writing an argument about the effects of homework completion on test grades. Students had to use evidence from the scatter plot or the equation of the line of best fit in their argument to support their claim. Below are samples of student work as well as a look at how students have visualized the data over the years.
As part of the 8th grade Expedition “Take a Stand,” students collected data on homework completion versus test grades throughout the first and second quarters. The students then used the collected data to create class scatter plots. Students used these scatter plots to determine if there was a correlation between the bivariate data. Because the data points on the scatter plot fell in an upward direction, students concluded that there was a positive correlation. Students then used the scatter plot to find a line of best fit, write the equation of the line of best fit, and then answer questions and make predictions using that equation. Our final product concluded with students writing an argument about the effects of homework completion on test grades. Students had to use evidence from the scatter plot or the equation of the line of best fit in their argument to support their claim. Below are samples of student work as well as a look at how students have visualized the data over the years.