In some parts of the U.S., snowy weather sometimes forces schools to close for a snow day. Now, some school districts are considering “e-days” instead. On an e-day, students will still stay home from school, but they do schoolwork online. Some people like this plan because school days don’t have to be made up later in the year. However, completing schoolwork online can be a problem. Some families don’t have a computer for each child. Also, teachers might not always be available online to answer students’ questions.

Essay Prompt:In an essay, write a persuasive argument where you support either schools having e-days instead of snow days or snow days instead of e-days. Be sure to cite evidence from the article to support your claim. Also, make sure you acknowledge the counterclaim. Follow the conventions of standard written English.

COMPLETE the Do/What for this prompt. Find the verbs in the prompt and underline them, then write them under the “do.” Fill in the “what” accordingly.

DO / WHAT
Write / Persuasive argument
Support / Snow days or e-days
Cite / Evidence
Acknowledge / Counterclaim
Follow / Conventions of English
Echo Words: / Position you take

Highlight the rows above that tell you what your body paragraphs should be about. These rows should also be reflected in your thesis. In the prompt at the top of the page, highlight words that should be the ECHO WORDS in your thesis statement and used throughout the paper.

Raise your hand and show me that you’ve done this.

Read, highlight, and annotate the passage that goes with your prompt.

After reading the passage, write a thesis statementthat reflects the prompt using ECHO words and states the claim you plan to defend.______

______

ANSWER the following questions about this sentence (circle yes or no):

  1. Does your sentencestate your claim?YesNo
  2. Does your sentence state a reason(s) for your claim?YesNo
  3. Does your sentence contain ECHO words?

(**If the answer isn’t YES to both questions, this isn’t your thesis. Try again.)

If your answer wasn’t YES to both questions, write a new, GOOD thesis statement here:

______

______

Create a CD/CM chart from the important evidence you’ve highlighted/annotated in the passage. Do this on NOTEBOOK paper.

Begin writing your rough draft as directed in class.

Introduction checklist:

  1. Does your introduction contain a hook? Yes No

Write it here. ______

What kind of hook is it? Circle one.

anecdote simile/metaphor surprising statement dialogue 5 senses

  1. Does your introduction introduce the article title and author (if there is one)? Yes No
  2. Does your introduction give a brief overall summary of the passage? Yes No
  3. Is your thesis statement the LAST sentence in your introduction? Yes No
  4. Is your thesis statement only ONE sentence? Yes No

(If the answer isn’t YES to all of these questions, your intro needs more work. Make corrections!)

Body Paragraphs checklist:

Get out your CD/CM chart.

  1. Using a red pen, number your pieces of evidence (CD). Find each of the CDs in your paper and put the same number next to each.
  2. Using a blue pen, number your pieces of defense/elaboration (CM). Find each of the CMs in your paper and put the same number next to each.

** If they don’t match, you can’t number them.

  1. Do all of the relevant CDs and CMs appear and match up in your paper? Yes No

Look at any sentence or phrase (not the article title) you put in quotation marks in your paper. Underline the quotes on your paper (they should already be numbered because of your CD/CM chart).

Now, find the same identical quotes in the article. Circle them. If the two are not IDENTICAL, WORD for WORD, you should not circle them. This also means that the sentence should NOT be in quotes in your paper. If they are very similar, but not exact, you should reword it (paraphrase) in your paper to look less similar, OR make it match exactly and put it in quotes. You still have to introduce it as text evidence, even if you paraphrase. Make those edits on your paper with your pen/pencil.

Now, take another look at your body paragraphs. Answer the following questions (circle yes or no):

  1. Do your body paragraphs clearly state your claim?YesNo
  2. Do you have a body paragraph for each reason you have for your claim?YesNo
  3. Have you used transition words? In your paper, highlight each transition word you’ve used. How many did you highlight? ______
  4. Have you used echo words in EACH paragraph? Yes No
  5. When you provided evidence from the text, did you introduce it appropriately? Yes No
  6. When you provided commentary/defense for your evidence, did you introduce it appropriately? Yes No
  7. Did you mention the counterclaim (opposing side)? Yes No Underline it.
  8. What persuasive device did you use in the paper? ______

(If you didn’t answer yes to all of these questions, make the corrections!)

Conclusion checklist:

  1. Does your conclusion restate your thesis in there somewhere? It should be worded differently and may even be more than one sentence this time. Yes No Underline it. Did you use echo words? Yes No
  2. Does your conclusion sum up your argument and restate your claim? Yes No
  3. Does your conclusion state why this is important? Yes No

(If you didn’t answer YES to all of these questions, fix it!)

  1. Does your conclusion say anything that you haven’t already talked about elsewhere in the paper? Meaning, does it add new information? Yes No

(This time, your answer should be NO. If it isn’t, delete the info that shouldn’t be there).