Research Papers & Web Quests

    I fell behind on analyzing this chapter because I didn’t have much student work to critique based on the skills discussed in Benjamin’s text. However, I began grading Design Your Own test essays yesterday- a unique school designed test used to track our students’ skill set from the beginning of the year to the end using a two part math and reading/ writing comprehension test, and realized that students truly write what they are asked to, generally not more, and many times less. While the task asked students to write an argumentative essay about spending billions of dollars in NYC for preparation and protection from another hurricane disaster, many students wrote speeches or self-opinionated papers without clear arguments or counter-arguments. It was clear that some freshman students used the template format I had designed for my planet project- they created a speech persuading NYC citizens to spend their money on protection, just like they had written a conversation piece as a real estate agent trying to sell other planetary land. While they integrated outside information, critical thinking, citations, and a clear understanding of spelling and grammar skills, many students were unable to form or maintain a formal voice. 

    As a school team, we tried to figure out how to help students write better argumentative essays in the immediate future. Perhaps the question should have been framed in a way that would have given them a template outline for writing such as: 1) Review the five texts in the booklet and analyze them, 2) formulate an opinion about spending money on hurricane disaster prevention based on your understanding of the text, and then 3) support your opinion with cited evidence from the text. Though students at the eleventh and twelfth grades should know these elements are necessary in an argumentative paper, the reality is that they have not internalized these ideas, and do need support in the writing of the question to aid their final written outcome. Asking the right questions is the key in obtaining the right answers.