Goals

Gather evidence for thesis; begin structuring paper

 

Details

Duration: 60 minutes

Assessments: Student writing, Research

Materials: laptops, books for research

 

Description

Benchmark #4: Students began thinking about what arguments they wanted to make in their research paper and what evidence they had to back up their arguments. This benchmark allowed them to begin forming the structure of their paper.

1. The directions for this step include:
Develop four to five supporting arguments FOR EACH COUNTRY, through the use of your research and notecards. This will become the heart of your paper. You must provide:

I. Rationale – describe in 5-7 thoughtful sentences why you decided to create your thesis statement. Discuss the purpose of your thesis. Explain how your thesis compares the two topics in the countries you chose.
II. Thesis Statement – Your thesis statement should have two parts: your topic, and then the analysis, explanation(s), or assertion(s) that you're making about the topic. Your thesis statement should be a very specific statement -- it should cover only what you want to discuss in a potential paper. Also, it needs be supported with specific evidence. The thesis statement should only be 1-2 sentences.
III. Supporting Arguments and Evidence – You will need to come up with four to five supporting arguments FOR EACH COUNTRY. These arguments help prove what you say in the thesis statement through the use of facts that were gathered through your primary source research.

Please follow the following format:
* First Supporting Argument Statement – this argument should be one sentence and should make a claim or assertion that supports your thesis statement.
* First Supporting Textual Evidence – this should be textual evidence used to support your claim or assertion that supports the first supporting argument. Include the source, notecard #, etc.

Arguments and Evidence
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Author Reflections

The way we organized this step was really helpful for students. While doing the assignment it was clear to the student whether or not they had enough evidence to prove their point. If they could not complete this step, they needed to go back to the books and collect more evidence.