Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Empower Students Now
Episode: 71. 8 Highly Engaging (and Controversial) Argumentative Mentor Texts for Middle and High Schoolers
Description: Any English teacher can tell you that argumentative essays written by students are more often than not, dry, dull, and formulaic. I’m here to tell you, it’s not our students’ fault. The writing units most teachers follow to teach argument essays are dry, dull, and formulaic.Common core standards require that teachers prioritize the core concepts of argument writing such as the writing process, thesis statement, claim statement, reasoning, evidence, and the annotated bibliography. Teachers have to use a step-by-step process because students need these foundations.In all the years I’ve been an English teacher I have found th...