I love using videos to grab my students’ attention. I don’t usually use anything too long, a quick video that’s only a couple of minutes long usually does the trick.
Here’s a short free video for introducing argumentative text to third and fourth graders. (See the transcript at the bottom of the post.)
Teach the Academic Vocabulary of Argumentative Text in Meaningful Ways
Anchor charts and interactive notebooks help kids digest and organize new information. These tools give the students a strong reference with the big ideas clearly laid out.
Make sure to include the author’s purpose in writing an argumentative text as well as its structure and characteristics. You can create a large anchor chart for the wall on chart paper or create interactive mini anchor charts in their reading notebooks.
I like to do both. That way we have a large reference up at all times and the students a personal reference at their fingertips.
What do I do after introducing argumentative text?
Check out this blog post for steps and tips to help you plan an engaging and effective argumentative text unit.
Transcript of the Argumentative Text Video Above:
Hey there. Today we’re going to be talking about argumentative text.
So, what is argumentative text?
Argumentative text is when the author writes to present an argument. Wait, argument? Does that mean that they’re fighting?
No, no. The author is not yelling on the page. An argument in argumentative text is just a claim that the author is making.
When an author writes an argumentative text they’re writing to persuade or convince the reader that their claim is correct. The author wants to persuade or convince the reader to do something think or believe something or change their mind.
Say an author wants to have a class pet. They might write an argumentative text to their teacher trying to convince her that it is a good idea.
The teacher is the author’s intended audience. That means this is who the author wants to convince.
The author then needs to make a claim. This is what the author wants the reader to believe or agree with.
Then they need to come up with some evidence. This is facts and examples that support the author’s claim.
In order for the argument to be convincing, the author needs to support his or her claim with lots of evidence. If the author uses enough good supporting evidence, they might just convince the reader to believe and agree with their claim.
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