Should we take the interim? And then what? Part One

Draft

Should we take the interim? 

Yes. 

Reason One: It's a giant research study to see if it is possible to measure growth over time instead of on a one day high stakes assessment. That's what the legislation originally asked for TEA to study. Part of me wants to say it can be done. And, that's not really how the interim is being used right now. Reminds me Dr. Ian Malcom on Jurassic Park that says, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." Right now, the interim is supposed to predict the likelihood of passing the STAAR at the end of the year.  So many variables are in place socio-emotionally, culturally, academically, and within each subject domain and test design, that I fear we are not measuring what we think we are anyway. It's a good idea to see if this works or not. 

Reason Two: Prove them that teachers are the ones that know best, not an assessment. I'd really like to see the data that says it predicts what it says it does. But from what I've seen in reports from campuses last year and their STAAR results, the interim data didn't match any of the projections from the interim for ELAR. So...let's take the thing and then bust out our best to make sure kids are learning beyond the progressions and predictions. 

Reason Three: It gives the kids an "at bat" with the new format and item types. I'm ok with that rationale...except: Have we explicitly taught digital reading skills and transfer of knowledge and strategies for the new item types, TEKS, and skills? Have we had enough massed and distributed practice on these skills before weighing the baby again? If we used the interim as an instructional tool, maybe. We could use the interim as a guided or collaborative practice. But as another source of decision making data? Not sure that's accomplishing our goals to make kids do things alone that we already know they don't have enough experience to do well. Sounds like a good way to disenfranchise struggling learners with further beliefs about how dumb they are. It's like signing up for fiber internet and paying for it before the lines get to your neighborhood.  

No. It's a giant waste of time for kids and teachers. 

Reason One: After examining the data, I have NO idea what I'm supposed to do in response to help the teachers or the kids. More on that later. 

Reason Two: It's demeaning and demoralizing. Do I really want to tell a kid in March, a few days before the real deal that they have abysmal chances of meeting expectations? Do I really want to tell teachers that x of their z kids aren't in the right quadrant to show growth when they have less than two weeks after spring break to do something about it? If they even believe that the kids took the exam seriously? They already know the kids didn't use their strategies and purposefully blew off three or more days of precious instructional time while taking the dang thing. 

Reason Three: Did we do something about the last data we collected on the interim? Do the kids know their results? Have they made a plan to improve? Do we have a specific plan? Have we fixed the problems that caused the first set of results? People are having data digs and meetings to tell teachers what to do and how these predictions are going to play out for accountability. We're having tutorial programs and hours to meet 4545. We're doing some stuff, but is it really a detailed and reasoned response to resolve the causes of the data? Have we fed the baby enough to cause weight gain before weighing it again? No. 

Reason Four: The data is correlational, not based on cause. The data on the interim tells us the correlations between one data collection (STAAR last year) and the next assessment. Results are correlated to the probability of success or failure and do not pinpoint the cause of the success or failure. When working with human subjects, it is humane to use correlational data to make instructional decisions about nuanced human intricacies for individuals in such complex settings and soul crushing accountability for personal and collective judgments? 

An additional problem with the interim is that you don't have a full trend line until you have three data points. Statistically, it doesn't make sense to take last year's STAAR results (which was a different test using different standards) and pair it with a second interim. There is no trend line until the third assessment even if the assessments were measuring the same thing. 

Yet, that's what teachers were asked to do: make some decisions about indictments on their instructional practices and resulting student performance on data that doesn't mean what they were told it meant. Furthermore, teachers are told to revisit previous CBA's and other data to determine what needs reteaching. The advice is well meaning, but in practice is too unwieldy and flawed to do anything other than make teachers want to pull their hair out and cry out in desperation and stress. 

More on that in Part Two: We took the interim. Now what? 

Stations for Editing and a Few Questions

 Mr. Manly Transcript and possible stations.  Note that you will need to edit out one line after the firefighter is introduced. 

Extending with the ECR: With Love and Linked Lessons

 Good Morning Dr. Rose,

 

Today, I will begin using QA12345 with my students. However, this semester I have honors students, and I was wondering what you think I can do to increase the rigor using the QA12345. What are some ways we can have them elaborate, or expand their thinking and writing using the QA12345?

 

Any suggestions or feedback helps.

 

Thank you,

High School Teacher

How lovely to hear from you. Thank you for asking. I was working with a group of teachers in Small City, Texas this week that had similar questions. I see a few directions to go. 

One: First we use the QU12345 to get the basic topic sentences. Then we use strategies such as looping to help students think of the next thing to say that is connected with the previous statement to deepen the elaboration into a paragraph. With my students, I always teach prove-it's next, then depth charge. At this point, students are ready for Starring or CAFE Squidd. If they are writing narratives, I present tampering with time lessons from After the End. By this point, students are ready to delete stuff from their writing that is repetitive. I also introduce the dead giveaways from Gretchen's site and throwaway writing activities. My friend Cheryl gives kids this activity to think about within and between paragraph structures to try as well. 

Two: Sharing. Students should be sharing their writing by reading it aloud to peers and receiving feedback. Start with Pointing and then follow the first two rows of activities. 

Three: Examine the craft of other writers and how they develop their ideas. Then try out these ideas in your own writing. Share the befores and afters in small groups. Here's how we worked that out in Small City, Texas this week. Kids began with lesson one in Text Structures from the Masters.  We introduced it by saying that as they are maturing as 9th graders, we see a lot of growth in the second semester. They are becoming more of who they are going to be as adults. (We're trying to combat the immaturity we have seen after COVID.) 

Next, we had them annotate the kernels in the Hippocratic Oath. Then we went deeper to analyze how the author pitchforked:  "I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius the surgeon, likewise Hygeia and Panacea, and call all the gods and goddesses to witness, that I will observe and keep this underwritten oath, to the utmost of my power and judgment." We noticed that he was referencing authorities that influenced him. We noticed how he put these as items in a series using /likewise/ as a connector as well as the common conjunction, /and/. We noticed how the prepositional phrase at the end allowed the writer to clarify the depth of his devotion and efforts. 

Teachers then re-entered their writing to show how they could try out these techniques in their own writing. After modeling the process, teachers allowed students some time to imitate these moves in their own writing from the original writing. They color coded or annotated their moves and revisions just as we did in the mentor text and tested out the ideas with their feedback groups. 

For the next lesson, we chose Sojourner Truth's, Ain't I a Woman? speech. We followed the same write, share, kernelize to comprehend, and then annotate for craft process as with the other text. We dug in deeply to name colloquialisms and the irony in the speech. (Normally when people talk in rough mannerisms, they are considered dumb. But Truth's analysis here is astute and wise, full of rhetorical techniques.) We dug into the anaphora (repetition) with her rhetorical questions and the impact they had on us as readers and on delivering the message. We looked at the biblical allusions and how they were used as criticisms/attacks on the reasoning of those who didn't take her perspective. 

Next, teachers re-entered their writing to try out the anaphora or one of the other techniques. Since we were in a PLC, teachers were able to take different techniques and try them out in class. These became more modeling texts that they could use in class. (It is important to note: teachers may have prepared the writing beforehand, but when it came time for class, they wrote live and explained their thinking aloud.) Next, students tried the strategies in their own texts, shared them with peers, etc. 

That's a lot. Let me know if you want to talk on the phone or zoom. As teachers implement these lessons, we'll have some exemplars. 

With Love and Lessons, 

Dr. Rose

Best STAAR Resources...For Now

What STAAR resources should I buy? What online program is the best? What books should I read? Where are the best resources for Author's Purpose and Craft? For ECR and SCR? 

All. The. Time people are asking. 

Right now? The best resources you have are on the STAAR redesign website from TEA. Look at ALL the scoring guides, even if you teach a grade not listed on that material. Look at all the released new item assessments, even for the grades you don't teach. The guides, collectively, give you the best information about how TEA is designing items for all grades and all items. 

Look carefully at how the passages and questions intersect. For example, when students are asked to combine sentences, look at the passage to see WHY they need to be combined. It's usually vague references with pronouns, repetition, or the connection between clauses with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. 

Look at how the passages are set up with the introductory or footnote material, especially for excerpts. Look at how the multipart items are connected. Consider the deep thematic links between excerpts and sections. 

This may sound tacky, but publishers have not had adequate time or materials to prepare materials that fully match what was released. The last updates were in October of 2022. And we still haven't seen the TEKSGuide for High School. If you see stuff printed before that, you run the risk of the publisher's interpretation instead of TEA's. 

Yes, students need online practice opportunities. TEA provides practice on the Cambium site, with TFAR, and Interim assessments. Let's start there. 

Unpopular Opinion: The time to buy materials from publishers that matches content, rigor, and question types is not now. Perhaps next year. 

Note: I have worked with content and item reviews for Sirius Education Solutions. I believe they have done a wonderful job with examining the standards, what is out there from TEA, and ways to give feedback to students in their online platform. From what I have examined in other platforms, this provides the most curated experience for students needing practice with online formats and item types. As new information is presented, the content, item types, and passages are updated and refined. 

Graphic Organizers Aha!

 I'm teaching a class on writing. One of the assignments is to help a writer. Here's a portion of the sample and its source: 

It's obvious that the writer needs paragraphs. But what feedback would help the writer most. They are past the prewriting and composing phase, so suggesting a graphic organizer at this point would be frustrating because the writer would feel like they have to start over. No, we need something that helps at the editing/revising phase. 

I examined the lesson a bit further to find that the teacher was using Empowering Writer's graphic organizer called the Opinion Pillar. (See figure 2. ) While I think that there are better organizational structures than the flawed five paragraph essay formula, there's something I never noticed about graphic organizers. John used this formula. He should have had paragraphs. Why didn't he? 

Because the paragraphs are implied on the graphic organizer. 

Figure 2.

AHA! John didn't realize that the structure of the graphic organizer told him where his paragraphs needed to be. 

What if we did these things after composing the paper?

John, I want you to return to the graphic organizer that we used to plan this essay. There's something hiding. (Previously, I had taken lemon juice to write some notes on the paper. I placeD the paper over a light bulb to let the heat turn the lemon juice brown.) 

Next to Main Reason #1 appears: the pilcrow editing symbol. Keyboard strokes of enter and tab appear. New line and finger space appear for handwriting. 

John, see what happens when you put the main reason 2 and 3 over the lightbulb. Isn't that cool. Now let's go back to your writing. Take a highlighter. Where did you write your main reasons? Now that you have identified them, you can make the paragraphs visible for your reader! 

Transitions and Reading Comprehension

 Transitions are tools to connect ideas. I worry that the focus sometimes is on using them for templates or graphic organizers for writing instead of thinking about how they help the reader follow the writer's path. That means that our instruction has to help students consume texts by noticing how writers connect the ideas in paragraphs. Then we have to help students revisit their writing to see what transitional pavers they need to lay down for their readers. 

Let's take a walk through how that might look. This is the passage students read for the stand alone writing field test in 5th grade. 

First, I process the title. The topic is going to be Steam and Sail. I mark that with a small t. I predict that the article will be comparing those topics. I mark that with a little light bulb. 

Now my purpose for reading changes. I find where the introduction begins and ends. I know that it begins and ends with the first paragraph because the first heading begins after that. Now my purpose shifts to find how the writer is hooking me and what the thesis is. I'm also reading to see if this article will be comparing steam and sail. I can see that they start talking about railroads and then use a transition word - but. This signals me to know that the writer is shifting to a new topic that contrasts with this one. Then I read that steamboats and sailboats cause changes! Now I know that we aren't really comparing steam and sail. I'm reading to know how they caused change. 

Now I preview the headings: Full Steam Ahead, Tea Races and Gold Rushes, and The Next Big Things. I have an idea now about the topics for each section. 

At this point, I'm ready to read until the text starts talking about something else. The transitional phrase, "After Fulton's success" tells me that the writer is moving on to a new topic - what happened after Fulton invented the steamship. I stop to think about what this paragraph told me. Basically, it was about how fast the steamship was as an improvement to previous ways to travel. 

I use the same process to understand the next paragraph. But something interesting happens here between paragraph 3 and four. 

Before, we had a transitional word, "but," that transitioned between sentences and ideas. Then we had a transitional phrase, "After Fulton's success," that moved us to sequence and another topic between paragraphs. Now we have the word "rivers" at the end of paragraph 3 and the connection to specific rivers in paragraph four. This is a topical transition between paragraphs that moves the reader from general (rivers) to the specific (the Mississippi and Ohio.) As I stop to think about what this paragraph is doing, I realize that the writer is explaining the impact, or effect of the steamship. When I connect that to the thesis of change, I realize the change is about where people traveled and moved. 

When I process the ideas in the next section, I realize that paragraphs 5 and 6 are offering another contrast as a whole section because of the transition word, "But." I also see a new type of transition: "Across the ocean in Great Britain." This is a conceptual transition that helps the reader know the setting has changed. 

I learn about clipper ships and the changes they brought in paragraph 5. When I see paragraphs 6 and 7, I see that they are both talking about why people were still using clipper ships even though steamships had been invented. First, second, and third are not transition words here. They are words that help the reader keep track of the number of reasons the clippers were preferred. 

When moving to paragraph 8, we see another topical transition. Notice how paragraph 7 ends with "tea races" and getting there "first"? Paragraph 9 uses the words also and speed to introduce another topic. We've moved from tea races to the Gold Rush. 

The next heading provides the conclusion with a transitional phrase that indicates sequence and the passing of time, "A time went on." The thesis is revisited in the last sentence. 

Are we teaching these types of transitions? Or are we just teaching transitions as a list of words?

• Single words and how they function within sentences as well as paragraphs
• Paragraph blocs and how they are structured (compare contrast)
• Transitional phrases and how they function 
• Topical transition concepts from the end of one paragraph to another
• Conceptual transitions and how they function
• Transitions and how they help us follow the writer's meaning and organizational structure

Y'all. I just think this is so important. We need to look at how real writers move between ideas in sentences, paragraphs, in paragraph blocs, in headings before we start offering graphic organizers that don't really match what writers need to say. You don't know what transitions you are going to need until you decide how your ideas are related. And to make those decisions as a writer, the best models we have are out there as published work - what real writers are doing - rather than offering things people don't actually do like first, next, then, finally. Meaning dictates form (Vygotsky).

 

The Argumentative Continuum

The Argumentative Continuum

By Dean Jester and Shona Rose

“Everything's an argument,” (Lunsford, Rusziewics, and Waters, 2018). My friend Cheryl says that

even poetry is an argument. What’s important here is that folks understand the continuum of argument.

Each mode uses different structures, embodies different characteristics, and is motivated by some very

different reasons. 

The continuum goes like this: informational, argument, persuasion, and propaganda. Opinion is an outlier.

I don’t know where to put it. 

Opinion: 

Opinion writing where an opinion is established and the pros and cons are explored in contrast or in a

neutral treatment to provide information about each side. In some ways, opinion writing does not haveto have any kind of factual evidence or research. It’s just what someone thinks and why. I’m thinking of

editorials. People are just reacting to things and explaining why and how. Sometimes, opinion writing couldmeet the criteria for argument. For Texas, we need to be writing evidence based claims based on sources. Opinion just seems too…un-nuanced. Yeah, that’s not a word.

Informational:

I’ll assign a persona to this mode: a Nerd. This kid is a dinosaur nerd. He knows all kinds of things about

them - what they ate, where they lived, what they look like, how to say their Latin names, the period they

lived in, the places on earth where they were found. All kinds of knowledge. All told with wonder, power,

and beauty. And it’s enlightening to learn from the wealth of information and categories from this dude.

Especially when he’s 6. The point is that he loves dinosaurs and wants to tell you all about them. 

Argumentative: 

Let’s consider argumentative writing. This mode of writing is represented by the teacher.

They have the same body of knowledge as the nerds. (Some of us are nerds.) But they are motivated by

sharing truth. They organize the knowledge into sequences that help the audience see a line of thinking.

They support the ideas with all kinds of evidence, reasoning, rhetoric, and literary devices. They try to help

the audience think through all sides of an issue. The teacher “argues” in a way that helps the audience

make decisions for themselves about truth. 

Argumentative writers seek to defend a claim with credible evidence and reasoning. Writers of argument

are careful to explore and present facts as opposed to offering opinions...as this often leads to logical

fallacies. The TEKS Guide states that an argumentative text is “a text written to demonstrate to an

audience that a certain position or idea is valid and 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.

Persuasive: 

Persuasive and Argumentative texts are NOT the same thing. Persuasive texts seek to convince a reader

to think, believe, or do something, often ending in a call to action. (Consider FDR’s D’Day Speech where

he asked congress to declare war.) Think car salesmen and politicians. Think of commercials. They aren’t

going to tell you the dark underbelly of the product’s qualities. Only the good stuff, Maynard.

What they tell you is specifically chosen or omitted depending on what they want or need you to do. 

They want the sale. They want the vote. 

Propaganda: 

Think dictators. Think 1984. They twist, omit, change, and flat out lie. And they do it to gain power and control. The techniques and structures of propaganda are divisive, evil, and very different from those used in any other mode. 

So What are We Supposed to Teach? 

Where do we find it?

Consider the characteristics and structures of argumentative text as posed by the TEKS. You aren’t going

to find what you need in one strand.

In K-2, learners recognize characteristics of persuasive texts. No guidance is in the standards to explain what

those characteristics are other than “2.9(i.) stating what the author is trying to persuade the reader to think

or do, and ii distinguishing fact from opinion.” Notice that we do NOT find the characteristics and structures

in the COMPOSITION strand. We learn about the characteristics and structures in the MULTIPLE GENRES

and the AUTHOR’S PURPOSE AND CRAFT strands. 

This is because the COMPOSITION strand states that beginning in grades 3-5, students will “compose

argumentative texts including opinion essays, using genre characteristics and craft."The terms genre characteristic and craft signal educators to look in Multiple Genres strands to find the

genre characteristics for argument and in the Author’s Purpose and Craft strand to find argumentative craft. 

In grades 6-12, students are to “(C) compose multi-paragraph argumentative tests using genre characteristics and craft.” Again, we have to look in the Multiple Genres and Author’s Purpose and Craft strands to know what those

are.  

Notice also the connection to opinion in grades 6-8 when students “(D) compose correspondence that reflects an opinion, registers a complaint, or requests information in a business or friendly structure.”

But What about Persuasive? 

So what are the characteristics, structures, and craft for opinion writing and argument? Notice that the

standards do not ask students to compose persuasive texts…ever. The testing blueprints don’t either.

K-3: Students learn that persuasive texts are to be read in order to find out what the author wants them to think, believe, or do. Because this can be dangerous or misleading, we teach kids to read against the text, noting when statements are factual and when they are just what other people think about something: opinions. Now, of course, you can explain why and how you have opinions that can go in a graphic organizer. But the reader must always be aware that opinions are beliefs that can be used to manipulate your thinking, choices, and actions. The teaching point isn’t about the definitions and identification of facts and opinions. The teaching point is how to be aware of the IMPACT and USE of facts versus opinions. 

What Do We Teach about Argument in Each Grade? 

3rd Grade: Students begin to learn about argumentative texts. Specifically, they learn how to identify the author’s claim about a topic. What does the author believe about the topic? Students continue to practice discernment between opinions offered by the writer as opposed to relevant and valid facts. Going deeper, they begin to learn that the way the writer uses facts depends on who the audience is and how the facts are connected to the claim in a way the reader can follow. 

4th Grade: At this grade, students continue with their work in identifying the author’s claim about a topic. They continue to analyze facts, how they connect to the claim, and how they provide evidence and reasoning the audience can track. In addition, students begin to look at facts - evidence gleaned from texts - that support the claim. Students cull facts that are FOR the claim. 

5th Grade: By this grade, students have had multiple experiences in examining how evidence from texts support a claim. Now they are ready for something more nuanced. They are ready to select textual evidence that could be used AGAINST a claim in an argument. Students cull facts from a text that prove a claim to be incorrect.

6th Grade: In previous grades, students have been reading texts to select factual evidence to support or

use against a claim. There are more kinds of evidence than facts. The TEKS now say “various types of

evidence to support the argument.” The TEKS do not delineate types of evidence, but here’s a few off the

top of my mind: text structures (like compare/contrast), expert testimony, personal anecdotes, analogies,

figurative language, hypothetical scenarios, interviews, research, reports from site visits, surveys, graphic

elements…The best technique would be to gather some argumentative texts and see how writers pose

various types of evidence. 

The TEKS guide helps as well with this language: “Depending on the topic and audience, authors select

evidence, or specific and compelling facts and details to prove the validity of their arguments. Because

argumentative writing seeks to prove that the author’s positions are reasonable and sound, writers consider

what facts and approaches will make the best impression on the reader as they plan their pieces. Students

should be able to make connections between the points bedding made and the information presented to

support their validity. Students should have enough awareness of various kinds of support such as historical

precedent, anecdotal evidence, scientific studies, and other approaches, to know which are being used in

an argument and how they serve to clarify or strengthen the ideas. 

In 6th grade, students move from identification of argument to analysis of the characteristics and structures.

This means that when students are consuming argumentative texts, they are analyzing why the techniques and structures are used in texts they read and in texts they write. The TEKS guide

illuminatesanother element of importance when students are composing their arguments: “Students should also

understand that argumentative texts tend to be structured (organized) 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.” In other words, students learn to pick the best

organizational structure for the specific claim they want to make. (This is also why RACE may not be

sufficient for all claims or prompts. But I’ve moaned and complained about that before.) 

It’s also important to look at the Author’s Purpose and Craft strand. While all of the standards apply to

argumentative writing, the author’s use of language and devices in 6.9G are critical. Students are to

explain

the differences between rhetorical devices and logical fallacies. Rhetoric and logic are critical to

comprehending argumentative writing and to compose argument well. 

7th Grade: All the previous grade level skills apply and add “consideration of alternatives to support the argument.”

This confused me a bit because of “alternatives” juxtaposed with “support.” They seem opposite to me.

Again, TEKS Guide helped: “consideration of alternatives to support the argument: Students should be

aware of how authors can strengthen their own arguments by recognizing and addressing counterpoints

in order to demonstrate why those points are not as valid or convincing as the one the author is trying to

make. When the author can demonstrate a logical deconstruction of the opposing views, the reader has an

easier time trusting that the stance of the author is valid.” A stance is the perspective the author uses to

state the claim, their position. This is the perfect chance to examine other perspectives on the claim and

explain why they are not effective. Sometimes, people will use a technique called straw man. They set up a

weak opposing argument, explain its flaws, and then share their claim and support. Concession is another

type. Writers agree that the other side has a good point that they will agree with. Then the writer explains

why their argument (claim and support) is still a better alternative. 

As in grade 6, 7.9 (G)- students, as readers and as writers, must understand and use “purpose of rhetorical

devices such as direct address and rhetorical questions and logical fallacies such as loaded language and

sweeping generalizations.” Note that we would want students to use rhetorical devices and we would not

want students to use logical fallacies. And what 7th grader do you know that doesn’t use loaded language and

sweeping generalizations to get their way. Definitely needs to be taught. 

8th Grade: The TEKS now explicitly use the term counter argument. Sentence stems like, “While some would say that

x, y is a better solution.” or “While it is true that a, b is more compelling.” 

As 8th graders, they also learn how to analyze the argument itself - how the claim, structures, audience,

and support are carefully crafted or designed. 

In grade 8, the focus on Author’s Purpose and Craft in 8.9 (G) introduces logic and rhetoric associated with argument: “explain the purpose of rhetorical devices such as analogy and juxtaposition and of logical fallacies such as bandwagon appeals and circular reasoning.” 

Again, we’d want to see analogy and juxtaposition. We’d NOT want to see bandwagon or circular reasoning

in argumentative writing.

English I-IV: At these grades, readers examine the previous skills but now add a nuanced understanding

to their claims: the claim must be both clear and arguable. That’s definitely a movement away from opinion.

English I and II students learn to make appeals. The TEKS guide has information about appeals, but alas,

it has yet to be released. Google will have to suffice. Be careful though, some appeals can be used as

manipulation more akin to propaganda or persuasion.

Greater focus is also placed on a “convincing conclusion” as well. By consuming a lot of argumentative texts

, students and teachers can begin a collection of convincing and satisfying conclusions. 

In addition, students learn to make concessions (hinted at in previous grades, but now overtly named.) They also learn structures for making a rebuttal. Common ways to organize a rebuttal are pointing out the ways the counterargument is wrong or flawed or agreeing with the counterargument and then adding a new point, condition, or issue that would make their argument unreliable. Some people will use the same support as the counterargument and then twist the facts to support their argument. Not recommended.  English III and IV students also emphasize analysis of the structure of the argument. The TEKS here also reference a more persuasive mode for closing the argument, returning to call to action. Not all arguments have a call to action, so that baffles me. 

In terms of Author’s Purpose and Craft, English I, 9 (G) explores further use of language: “explain the purpose of rhetorical devices such as understatement and overstatement and the effect of logical fallacies such as straw man and red herring arguments.” Note: Some straw man arguments are pretty mild, but are used in argumentative writing structures. Straw man is a fallacy - and to be avoided -  when the opposing position is distorted beyond what it really is and then arguing as if that exaggerated version was the truth. Notice that the analysis of rhetoric and logic has changed - students are now to explain the effect of fallacies on the reader and their acceptance of the claim. 

In English II, we move from explanations of rhetoric and logic to analysis: “analyze the purpose of rhetorical devices such as appeals, antithesis, parallelism, and shits and the effects of logical fallacies. In English III and IV, students analyze how all of that impacts how the text is read and understood. 

A Closing Argument

Based on what I have written here, I hope that several points are clear.

We learn about the differences between fact and opinion so we can make good decisions about what

people say and write. 

The TEKS are inter-related. Each strand informs the other. If you want to know about what you need to

teach about argument, you have to look at multiple strands and multiple standards. 

Opinion isn’t always argumentative in mode. Persuasion is not argument. Each mode uses different

structures for very different purposes. 

Writers pick the organizational structure that fits what they need to say. Writers are going to need more

than one structure. 

It is critical for decision making in comprehension and composing that we understand when we are

being manipulated or are communicating in a way that causes people to misunderstand or mistrust us. 

We teach claim, argument, evidence, logical reasoning, logical fallacies, rhetorical tools, text structures,

counterargument, concession, rebuttal, writing for an audience, writing from sources, and analyzing how

all of it communicates meaning…ALL the argumentative everything.