4/20, “Talking back” to the author

Purpose:  I can make judgments about an author’s argument in order to respond critically with evidence.

Today, students received the final assignment for our feature article study. It’s been exciting to hear students talk about their opinions and challenge evidence in the text. This “Talking Back” assignment allows students to express their strong views in “letter” to the author.

After studying Ms. Lima’s example (Talking Back to Barbara Kingsolver) for structure and strategies, students organized their thinking around the following questions in order to plan for the assignment:

• How is the author trying to make me feel about the issue?
• What omissions are most important?
• What counterarguments are weak?
• What is your final response?

In addition, students should ask themselves the following questions for elaboration:

• What questions do I have for the author?
• Is there another article that has evidence I can use to support my position?
• What connections can I make that will support my thinking? (prior knowledge from other classes, movies, books, real-life experiences, etc.)
• What quotes can I provide as evidence?

April 20, 2010. Feature Articles.