A List Of Resources For Teaching Argument Writing

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The NCTE and author Shalyn Getz shared a great number of resources for teaching argument writing. Here are the texts for upper grades (middle/high school). (**Disclaimer: These words are directly re-posted from the NCTE website; opinions and words are not my own.)

Texts:

  1. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman
    Based on the NPR series of the same name, This I Believe features eighty Americans―from the famous to the unknown―completing the thought that the book’s title begins.
  2. Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz
    This bestselling text shows students how to analyze all kinds of arguments—not just essays and editorials, but clothes, cars, ads, and website designs—and then how to use what they learn to write their own effective arguments. Making a Visual Argument: Claire Ironside’s “Apples to Oranges” was specifically mentioned.
  3. Dear Mr. President: Letters to the Oval Office from the Files of the National Archives by Dwight Young and Brian Williams
    Drawn from the extensive holdings of the National Archives, these carefully chosen letters remind us that ours is a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” which entitles us to make our views known to our leaders.
  4. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
    The autobiography of Nelson Mandela, one of the great moral and political leaders of our time.

Speeches

  1. “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth, delivered 1851, Women’s Convention, Akron, Ohio
  2. “The Destructive Male” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, delivered 1868, Women’s Suffrage Convention, Washington, D.C.
  3. “Toward a More Perfect Union” by Barack Obama, delivered March 18, 2008, The Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

These resources are not only excellent, but they cover a wide range of topics and are applicable for secondary ages. Especially with President’s Day around the corner, be sure to check this out and see how you can incorporate them into your classroom!

What are your thoughts on these? Any to add?

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