Continuum for Assessing Opinion/Argument Writing - The Reading ...

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Level 5 Structure/ Genre Elaboration/ Development An opinion that is supported by several reasons or examples, and includes some elaboration • Treatment of Subject/Topic o When asked to write on a topic or issue that he or she knows a lot about or that he or she has strong feelings about, the writer introduces a topic, states an opinion, and provides several supporting examples or reasons. o Each section of supporting information is more developed than at the previous level, though often one supporting example will be further elaborated on than others. • Organization/Focus/Cohesiveness of the text: o Whether the writer has chosen to write in a booklet or on sheets of notebook paper, the writer demonstrates awareness of expository structure by beginning to structure the text. That is, the writer begins to cluster information according to main reasons that support his or her claim, though he or she may not do this clustering work consistently. o It may feel as though the writer moves from reason to reason not because he or she has thought out what are the best reasons to support the claim but because another reason occurred to the writer as he or she was writing. o The writer may have attempted to write an introductory sentence in the beginning and/or a concluding statement in the end. Neither the introduction nor the conclusion is apt to preview or review the outline of the piece—instead these are apt to bring the reader into the topic and send the reader away from the topic (e.g. “Do you feel strongly about space travel”). • Variety of details and Authority of information o The writer is beginning to incorporate some variety in the type of evidence provided. To support his or her opinion, the writer will predominately recall information from personal experience, but may also begin to casually incorporate outside knowledge from social, print or digital sources (e.g. “My uncle is an astronaut and he says space travel is really important” or “I saw a TV show about littering and it is hurting our planet.”) • Selectivity of information o There is not yet a sense of selectivity in the details the writer incorporates, but rather a sense that the writer is listing all that he or she knows to support an opinion. • Elaboration o Throughout the piece, the writer will give several reasons to support his or her opinion and elaborate on these reasons with one or more sentences. K-8 Continuum for Assessing Opinion Writing - TCRWP 2011 Working Document - Do Not Duplicate, Do Not Distribute DRAFT 14
Craft Meaning/ Significance or Purpose • The writer may use paragraphs but most likely still relies on new pages or other transitions (repetition of his or her opinion, the stating of a new reason, linking words) to differentiate between his or her various supports. • It seems as though the writer is developing a repertoire of linking words (and, also, because, so). The way the writer chooses words suggests that he or she has a growing understanding of the linking words themselves, whereas writers at previous levels may use linking words like because and so interchangeably. • The writer will continue to predominately list examples and supports to prove his or her opinion. He or she may begin, however, to include details that convey how something is said and done, or to develop information by using details that show instead of tell (e.g. “Littering makes the street look ugly. When me and my mom walk she says, ‘Look at all this trash!’”). This work will be done sporadically and in limited ways, however. • The writer will continue to attempt a persuasive tone, more purposefully here than at the previous level. He or she may begin to talk to the reader in an attempt to convince him or her to side with the writer’s stance (e.g. “Don’t let them stop space travel!”) • The writer has a surer sense that there is more than one way to feel about a topic and is apt to have written an opinion piece in a way that suggests he or she understands that the purpose of his or her writing is to persuade. • The writer’s opinion is likely to be fairly black and white, with little recognition of a gray area (e.g. “Dogs are the best pets ever!”) K-8 Continuum for Assessing Opinion Writing - TCRWP 2011 Working Document - Do Not Duplicate, Do Not Distribute DRAFT 15
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