Launching argument — what is an argument, mentor texts, and student topic inventory

Quick-write: 'Name one issue you wish someone in power would change. Why does it matter to you?'

• Circulate to read 3-4 quick-writes; choose 2 to share aloud (with permission)
• Press for SPECIFICITY: 'WHY does it matter?' is the warrant move in seed form
• Affirm range — school issues, community, environment, equity, sports, technology all welcome

M-6-F-WR-01-A Illustration

Three speech bubbles in a row: bubble 1 (yellow, OPINION) with 'I think uniforms are ugly' and a feeling-face icon; bubble 2 (orange, PERSUASIVE) with 'Don't you want to look your best at school?' and an audience-targeting icon; bubble 3 (blue, ARGUMENT) with 'Schools should require uniforms because the Long Beach study showed a 91% drop in crime' and an evidence-and-reasoning icon. Style: warm watercolor, dyslexic-friendly font, multicultural classroom. Print-ready 11x17 for display.

Welcome to Grade 6 fall — the term you become an ARGUER. An argument is not the same as an opinion. An opinion is feeling-based: 'I think uniforms are ugly.' That's fine for talking with friends, but it cannot be defended from evidence. An argument is a CLAIM you defend with EVIDENCE and REASONING. Today we read two mentor argument writers: Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt for the right to go to school, and Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court Justice, who argues for civic participation. We notice how they CLAIM, how they EVIDENCE, and how they WARRANT (we'll name the third move all term — it's the 'because' that connects evidence to claim).

• Notice she doesn't say 'I feel this' — she makes a defensible claim and brings evidence to support it.

  model Underline her CLAIM (girls' education is a right). Box her EVIDENCE (one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world). Star her WARRANT-in-seed (because education is the foundation of agency).

  prompt Read paragraph 3 of the Malala UN speech.
• Sotomayor uses her own story as evidence — argument can include personal experience when paired with a larger claim.

  model Underline her CLAIM (civic participation matters). Box her EVIDENCE (her own immigrant family's story). Star her WARRANT (because the constitution requires our active engagement, not passive consent).

  prompt Read paragraph 2 of the Sotomayor essay.

• Show me with a thumb: OPINION (down), PERSUASIVE (sideways), ARGUMENT (up) — 'Climate change is the most urgent issue of our time, and 97% of climate scientists agree (NASA 2023).'
• Pair-share: name one mentor-text move (claim/evidence/warrant) you noticed and want to try.

• Sort 6 statements into ARGUMENT / OPINION / PERSUASIVE using MG-29 anchor.

  scaffold Provided card set with worked answers on back
• Open the topic-inventory notebook. Generate 5-8 issues you care about. Star ONE you might argue about.

  scaffold Topic prompts on board: school policy, community, environment, equity, sports, tech, family, friendship, learning

M-6-F-WR-01-C Chart

Print-ready 6-card set with 2 statements per category (e.g., OPINION: 'I think ___'; PERSUASIVE: 'Don't you ___?'; ARGUMENT: '___ should be ___ because evidence shows ___'). Back of each card has the correct category for self-check. Color-coded edges (yellow/orange/blue). Dyslexic-friendly font.

• Write a sentence about your starred topic that is an ARGUMENT (claim + reason), not an opinion or persuasive.

• Restate the difference between argument and opinion in one sentence
• Preview tomorrow's MPO planning and the launch of the argument-essay arc

• Read your independent-reading nonfiction (op-ed, news article, or essay). Identify the writer's CLAIM in one sentence. Bring the source tomorrow.