ELA.7.8.E.i | TEKS Guide

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

Demonstrated Proficiency of ELA.7.8.E.i

You may wish to pair SE 7.8.E.i with SE 7.8.E.ii and assess both SEs at the same time. With SE 7.8.E.ii, students explain how the author uses various types of evidence and consideration of alternatives to support the argument. Task students with working in small groups to read an argumentative text. Then, have students discuss the claim made and explain how the author used evidence to support and refute the claim.

Further Explanation

Students should be able to determine the position or arguable statement the author holds about the topic or issue being discussed in the text. Student should be able to describe the ways different kinds of evidence are used in a text and the purpose of each.

Glossary Support for ELA.7.8.E.i

analyze characteristics and structures

Students should be able to examine specific components of an argumentative text and make determinations about how and/or why the components were used. Students should know that argumentative texts have unique characteristics such as a claim, an intended audience, and the use of facts in support or refutation of an argument. Students should also understand that argumentative texts tend to be structured based on the structure of the claim. For instance, if the claim is that one course of action might be better than another, an advantage/disadvantage structure would likely be used.

argumentative text

a text written to demonstrate to an audience that a certain position or idea is valid and that others are not The writer appeals to reason, develops, defends, or debates the topic, connecting a series of statements in an orderly way so they lead to a logical conclusion.

identifying the claim

When students read an argumentative text, they are expected to determine the claim, or position, that the author holds about the topic or issue being discussed. The claim is usually the main idea, or arguable statement, that represents the author’s position on a topic. A claim must offer facts and reasons to show the author's point of view and be backed up with evidence.

Supporting Information for ELA.7.8.E.i

Research

1. VanDerHeide, J., & Juzwik, M. M. (2018). Argument as conversation: Students responding through writing to significant conversations across time and place. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 62(1), 67–77. doi: 10.1002/jaal.754

Summary: When students are tasked with writing in a particular form, students often lose focus on why they are writing. More emphasis is placed on whether each component of the form is included. In this article, the author presents an instructional model that reconnects to the why of writing. The model of information reasoning requires students to learn how to make claims, provide supporting evidence of that claim, and create additional examples of the claim through the use of analogies and stories. In this study, students were asked to write a letter in response to an ongoing conversation that was of particular importance to them. The experience helped to develop the students' ability to advocate for a position through writing. The approach requires scaffolding on argumentative writing instruction. This study includes multiple templates to guide the writing of the responses. This approach fosters the opportunity for students to participate in conversations that have a historical background. In doing so, students engage in topics of debate that have continued over time and in various spaces. Students are invited to participate in these discussions through their writing positions as arguing for or against a position.

2. Composition Writing Studio. Argumentative essay/commentary. From the University of Purdue’s Online Writing Lab. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/

Summary: This resource provides a complete overview of creating an argumentative essay, including the topic and position in relationship, defining terms, providing evidence in support of an argument, and examining counterarguments.

3. Wagemans, J. H. M. (2011). The assessment of argumentation from expert opinion. Argumentation 25, 329–330. doi 10.1007/s10503-011-9225-8

Summary: This article introduces a tool that can be used to format an argument from a position of expertise and experience. The tool allows students to learn how to analyze opposing positions and develop questions from a critical perspective. The tool fosters reading comprehension and writing skills.