Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 10, 2018 22:17:44 GMT -5
I’m in charge of a high school writing contest. One of the categories is argumentative writing. I’ll give the participants two classes controversial topics to choose from and provide articles with background information and various opinions. They won’t have access to the internet, and they’ll have 90 minutes to complete their essay.
The first topic is Dick’s, Walmart’s, and Florida’s choice to raise the age limit on purchasing guns. Do you have links articles from good sources about that?
What should the second topic be?
I’m on day four of having the flu, and I cannot get my brain to focus well. The competition is on Tuesday. I’d appreciate your help. TIA
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 10, 2018 22:41:33 GMT -5
Not sure where you are at but if you aren't in a state where it has already been legalized, what about legalizing recreational use of marijuana?
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 10, 2018 22:44:57 GMT -5
Abstinence-only sex education?
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Mar 10, 2018 22:49:04 GMT -5
Baking a cake for gay couples?
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Sharon
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Post by Sharon on Mar 11, 2018 0:00:10 GMT -5
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Mar 11, 2018 8:13:48 GMT -5
Child marriages.
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tractor
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Post by tractor on Mar 11, 2018 15:54:27 GMT -5
Sanctuary laws
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tractor
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Post by tractor on Mar 11, 2018 15:55:01 GMT -5
Coke or Pepsi 🙂
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Mar 12, 2018 7:06:50 GMT -5
Me too movement - should women organize and push back against sexual harassment or are they making a mountain out of a mole hill?
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Mar 12, 2018 8:13:27 GMT -5
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 12, 2018 9:02:00 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe, I ask since you did start this, that you let us know the other topic you decided on and how things went afterwards.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Mar 12, 2018 10:19:49 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe , I ask since you did start this, that you let us know the other topic you decided on and how things went afterwards.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Mar 12, 2018 10:30:40 GMT -5
I like these suggestions largely as they force the kids to actually think critically. The child marriage one is good, the mandatory reporting one is good, etc. any of these, if led by a teacher actually trying to get the kid sto think instead of just adopting the ir polictical view, would be a boon for the kids participating And wonder how impartial the teacher grading those papers is going to be
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:04:48 GMT -5
Not sure where you are at but if you aren't in a state where it has already been legalized, what about legalizing recreational use of marijuana? Good idea, but yes I live there. We’re in our second year and business is booming.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:05:54 GMT -5
Baking a cake for gay couples? Yeah, that’s actually where I live, so completely overplayed here. We actually know the other side of it from the couple’s point of view.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:06:29 GMT -5
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:06:58 GMT -5
Hmmm...this could work too.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:07:31 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe, I ask since you did start this, that you let us know the other topic you decided on and how things went afterwards. Will do!
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:12:28 GMT -5
I like these suggestions largely as they force the kids to actually think critically. The child marriage one is good, the mandatory reporting one is good, etc. any of these, if led by a teacher actually trying to get the kid sto think instead of just adopting their polictical view, would be a boon for the kids participating Keep in mind this is not me teaching. I have 70 kids from other schools coming in. I’m handing them the topics, the articles, and giving them 90 minutes to read and write. I have two other teachers who are assisting me. I’m actually damn good at being impartial from my own opinion. The contest is about the rhetoric not the opinion itself. Regarding getting kids to agree with themselves, I do understand that it happens sometimes with some teachers. Most of the time though, the high schooler isn’t astute enough to realize that a teacher is trying to get them to see a many sides.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 11:13:53 GMT -5
Be it resolved: Are snow leopards worse than Hitler or merely "just as bad"? <=== Or you could stick with any of the... ... above suggestions. Another possibility: Does the Internet need "fake news" content censors for sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.? Hmmm... do I have time to research parallels of snow leopards and hitler.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 12, 2018 11:35:05 GMT -5
I like these suggestions largely as they force the kids to actually think critically. The child marriage one is good, the mandatory reporting one is good, etc. any of these, if led by a teacher actually trying to get the kid sto think instead of just adopting the ir polictical view, would be a boon for the kids participating And wonder how impartial the teacher grading those papers is going to be It is a writing contest. Materials with information and different points of view will be provided. Hopefully a good rubric has been created which will help the person judging the contest to focus on the quality of an argumentative essay without regard for topic or perspective. EDIT: I got distracted in the middle of typing this and now see it was addressed.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Mar 12, 2018 11:45:18 GMT -5
And wonder how impartial the teacher grading those papers is going to be It is a writing contest. Materials with information and different points of view will be provided. Hopefully a good rubric has been created which will help the person judging the contest to focus on the quality of an argumentative essay without regard for topic or perspective. EDIT: I got distracted in the middle of typing this and now see it was addressed. Yep me too!
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Mar 12, 2018 17:41:40 GMT -5
Safe injection sites. That's pretty controversial.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Mar 12, 2018 17:52:37 GMT -5
Quite a few good suggestions here. Why not select one of the current cases before SCOTUS not publicly decided yet. Wisconsin Beth follows SCOTUS cases. Wisconson Beth might be able to steer you to several controversial cases yet decided.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Mar 12, 2018 21:18:00 GMT -5
I second Tenn's suggestion, and add that Wisconsin Beth should try to find a case that concerns practicality rather than morality. "Should the US tax imported steel and aluminum," would be an example of a practical issue. Both sides have the same objective: argue why the tax might or might not be an economic boon to the US. If you introduce moral issues such as sanctuary laws, child marriages, etc., you're going to create havoc by forcing kids to argue contrary to their morals, on issues whose correctness/incorrectness rests on moral foundations. Even though I believe they could do so, I wouldn't put a wee Weltz in a position where she had to write pro legal dog fighting, or a wee Tenn in a position where he had to write pro black/white segregation. Even if you don't assign positions on the topics and allow students to write pro whatever their existing moral position is, you'll likely wind up with the vast majority of the essays arguing one way, this way will probably be the way you'd argue yourself, and (I've seen it happen) you or the persons grading the assignment inadvertently penalize students who argue contrarily because you simply can't respect or understand the moral fundamentals underlying their argument. If you make the issue a practical one, moral fundamentals aren't in play, the issue is more balanced, and you eliminate all of the aforementioned pitfalls. I think it will cause the kids to look more at both sides of the issue too, since they're less likely to have strong preconceptions going in.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 21:21:47 GMT -5
The event is tomorrow morning. I just prepped the first prompt. I'm about to start the second.
I went with the mandatory reporting and the guns. Both of those issues are a "close to home" but happening right now type of gig.
I'll post what I've created for the students.
If I hadn't gotten the flu, and thus maybe next year, I'll go on the SCOTUS track.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Mar 12, 2018 21:35:39 GMT -5
If you don't mind my asking: who gets to determine which essay is best? And what exactly constitutes "best"?
My experience online, in person, and even at debate clubs is that the most popular, well-received, well-reviewed answers are nearly always the most rote, unsophisticated ones, unless the evaluators are trained in formal debate, experienced in judgment, and far more objective and dispassionate than the layman.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 12, 2018 22:08:21 GMT -5
If you don't mind my asking: who gets to determine which essay is best? And what exactly constitutes "best"? My experience online, in person, and even at debate clubs is that the most popular, well-received, well-reviewed answers are nearly always the most rote, unsophisticated ones, unless the evaluators are trained in formal debate, experienced in judgment, and far more objective and dispassionate than the layman. I Googled scoring rubrics for argumentative essays but couldn't get one to paste clearly. I found some good ones. I would think one like the ones I found will be used for this writing competition. I encourage you to look at ones available on line.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 23:02:07 GMT -5
I'm still prepping for tomorrow, so this is all I can provide right now. I'm not trying to be discreet.
writing rubric
I'd already told the students prior to entry that sentence fluency and conventions will be used as tiebreakers.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2018 23:03:10 GMT -5
If you don't mind my asking: who gets to determine which essay is best? And what exactly constitutes "best"? My experience online, in person, and even at debate clubs is that the most popular, well-received, well-reviewed answers are nearly always the most rote, unsophisticated ones, unless the evaluators are trained in formal debate, experienced in judgment, and far more objective and dispassionate than the layman. I Googled scoring rubrics for argumentative essays but couldn't get one to paste clearly. I found some good ones. I would think one like the ones I found will be used for this writing competition. I encourage you to look at ones available on line. I assume our state's (which I just posted) is similiar to whatever you found.
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