Identify Argumentative Essay Goals- Choose Goals, Steps. & Reflect

Argumentative Essay Writing can be challenging for our middle school students, but there is a solution to make it more accessible. The 17-page, easy-prep, editable lesson plan, Identifying Argumentative Essay Goals- Choose Your Goals and Steps and Then Reflect, personalizes the writing experience for students by giving them the opportunity to choose the goals they want to work on, follow clear action steps, and then reflect on their challenges and successes both before and after writing their essay. The lesson includes opportunities for class and partner discussion.

Differentiation is embedded in this lesson. Our ELL, RSP, GATE, and Gen-ed students can choose the goals they want to achieve within six key categories- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning, Counterclaims, Organization, and Conclusion. Each category offers two types of goals and two Foundational Goals (goals to help students achieve proficiency) and Extended Goals (goals for students who are proficient or advanced writers) and two types of action steps. Students choose one goal from each category and then select one action step for that goal.  Finally, they put it all together on one chart from which they select two to three goals to work on for their essay. Before writing, students complete a pre-writing reflection, and after their essay is done, they compete a post-writing reflection.

The lesson plan includes the following:

• a hyperlinked Table of Contents

• About the Resource- a handy guide to everything you need for the lesson at the beginning of the resource

• An Essential Question: How can setting and reflecting on specific writing goals improve my argumentative essay writing skills?

• Six Guiding Questions:

  • Why is it important to set specific goals for my writing?

  • How can I identify my strengths and areas for improvement in argumentative essay writing?

  • What strategies can I use to achieve my writing goals?

  • How does reflecting on my progress help me become a better writer?

  • How can feedback from peers and teachers help me refine my writing goals and strategies?

  • How can setting writing goals make my argumentative essay more engaging and effective?

• A Standards-based, detailed lesson plan

• Objectives and Learning Targets

• The following students handouts:

  • Argumentative Essay- Choose Your Goals

  • Argumentative Essay- What Steps Will You Take to Achieve Your Goals?

  • Argumentative Essay- Goals and Steps- Putting Them Together

  • Argumentative Essay Goals and Writing Reflection