Unit 6 Reflection Blog

Module 6 of Writing for Non-Print Media is labeled “Non-Print Media and Argument Writing.” The books introduced many unique ideas to teach argumentative writing. Some lessons that stood out to me include the police report, digital writing workshop, and Public Service Announcement. All of these assignments could improve students’ writing.

                Hyler Chapter 5 starts out by addressing the elements of an argument, such as claims, evidence, reasons, and counterarguments. Before this, I never really thought about the different parts of an argument. The book also establishes the difference between persuasion and argument, which I never considered either. I learned that although they’re similar, persuasion is more one-sided. Argumentation acknowledges both sides of an argument and is more fact-based. The lesson that caught my attention was the police report. The teacher showed students a picture of a crime scene. From there, students recorded evidence they found, as well as their claims and reasons. Once the students had a theory of what took place, they created a four-paragraph essay describing their thoughts about the crime scene. I found a lot of value in this assignment. I think students would be very engaged because it’s not something typically done in a writing class. I also believe the lesson is valuable because it emphasizes the specific parts of an argument. This is definitely something I’d like to try in my classroom.

                The next assignment comes from Gura’s book. The digital writing workshop is used to write and do research for an argumentative essay. By using a program called Evernote, students don’t have to keep track of notecards or outlines because everything is done online. The teacher is also able to view students work and give feedback, which is beneficial in the writing process. Using Evernote, students record their notes, as well as conversations they have that can contribute to their argument. Evernote also makes it so simple to annotate and sort through credible sources. It categorizes sources into “Reliable, Questionable, and Non-Expert.” Before they start drafting their papers, students can use ReadWriteThink.org to generate a “Persuasion Map.” This shows the main points of their essays. This online assignment seemed so much easier and efficient than writing a paper the old-fashioned way.

                For class, we created our own Public Service Announcement. By doing this, I learned a lot about how to persuade an audience, but also be concise. Every choice on a PSA is deliberate such as images, font, size, and color. I really enjoyed making mine and I think it’d be a great pre-writing strategy before an argumentative or persuasive essay.