Help your students master the art of persuasive writing with proven strategies for teaching argumentation. This course equips educators with practical tools to guide secondary students in crafting well-structured arguments and evaluating multiple perspectives. Upon completion, earn 20 CPE hours and enhance your teaching approach.
Teaching Argumentative Writing 1 & 2
Course Cost
The total cost of the course is $40 per educator OR $170 for a group of 5 educators.
Duration
Complete this virtual course in 4 weeks.
Start Date
Argumentative Writing Cohort 1 starts June 2 – June 30
Cohort 2 starts June 30 – July 25
20 CPE Hours
Upon completion, recieve 20 CPE hours.
About the Course
This online course will expose participating teachers to some of the best practices emerging from the Pathway to Academic Success Project, based on decades of research and evidence-based practices proven to be effective for all students, but particularly to help English learners develop their academic writing. This course focuses on using a cognitive strategies approach to teach argumentative writing that synthesizes multiple texts and integrates counterarguments. The main lesson tutorial of this course centers around the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the 19th Amendment and uses multiple historical documents and texts related to the topic. Teachers will have access to a supplemental tutorial on Malala Yousafzai. Participants will come away with ideas, materials, and pedagogical practices they can immediately implement in their classrooms.
Investment in Your Teaching
Enroll in Teaching Argumentative Writing to Secondary Students for just $40 per educator or $170 for a group of five. Gain practical strategies to help students develop strong, evidence-based arguments while earning 20 CPE hours.
Who Should Enroll
- This program is ideal for those who wish to learn about teaching academic writing (e.g., five different genres) to secondary students (grades 6-12), especially for educators working with English learners. The curriculum is designed for teachers and other educators, such as professional development facilitators, in educational settings, in professional learning communities, and/or for self-paced learning. Audiences include Secondary English Language (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) educators and administrators, literacy coaches, as well as curriculum and instruction directors.
Course Outline
- Module 1: Learn how to apply cognitive strategies in reading and writing, improve revision techniques, and support multilingual learners.
- Module 2: Understand argumentative writing by synthesizing sources, identifying key elements, and recognizing counterarguments.
- Module 3: Develop skills in close reading and applying cognitive strategies to analyze multiple texts effectively.
- Module 4: Learn how to guide students through writing an argumentative essay by teaching them to form strong claims, structure their ideas, support arguments with evidence, and address counterarguments effectively.
- Module 5: Focus on revision strategies for argumentative writing, helping students evaluate essays, give and receive feedback, and improve academic language through structured revision activities.
- Module 6: Explore ways to support multilingual learners by addressing their language needs in argumentative writing and applying targeted strategies for reading and writing instruction across genres.
Program Benefits
- 1. Acquire an understanding of how to take a cognitive strategies approach to teaching various genres.
- 2. Apply and implement the cognitive strategies approach in reading and writing instruction.
- 3. Implement effective revision strategies to improve student writing.
- 4. Integrate contextualized language support to scaffold multilingual students’ academic literacy development.
- 5. Customize and curate resources for classroom use.
Please Note
- Argumentative Writing 1 and 2 are the same course offered at two different times. You only need to register for one session based on your preferred dates. Argumentative Writing 2 is not a continuation of Argumentative Writing 1.
- This course is a service of the Central Texas Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, which is housed in the Dept. of C&I, College of Education.
Student Learning Outcomes
- • gain an understanding of how to take a cognitive strategies approach to teaching argumentative writing, synthesizing multiple texts and integrating counterargument
- • apply and implement the cognitive strategies approach in their own reading and writing instruction
- • implement effective revision strategies to improve student writing
- • integrate contextualized language support to scaffold multilingual students’ academic literacy development
- • customize and curate resources for their own classroom use
IMPORTANT DATES
Upcoming Argumentative Writing Course Sessions
| Date | Topic | Instructor | Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2 – June 30 | Argumentative Writing 1 | Crystal Kelley | $40 |
| June 30 – July 25 | Argumentative Writing 2 | Jennifer Ellison | $40 |
**Please Note: Argumentative Writing 1 and 2 are the same course offered at two different times. You only need to register for one session based on your preferred dates. Argumentative Writing 2 is not a continuation of Argumentative Writing 1.**
Meet your Instructor for Argumentative Writing 1
Crystal Kelley, a Teacher Consultant for the Central Texas Writing Project, is an award-winning English teacher and college instructor. She has been teaching at San Marcos CISD for thirteen years and recently started teaching education courses at Texas State University. Her professional learning and teaching commitments work to support secondary literacy, as well as practicing and pre-service teachers to help improve literacy instruction for all students regardless of social construct.
Meet your Instructor for Argumentative Writing 2
Jennifer Ellison, a Teacher Consultant for the Central Texas Writing Project, is an experienced high school teacher who taught English I-IV, Creative Writing, and Reading at Early College High School in Killeen ISD. She has a Master’s Degree in English from Texas A&M. Currently, she is homeschooling her two young boys and providing professional development training for literacy teachers.
QUESTIONS?
For more information, contact The Central Texas Writing Project, College of Education
Director, Liz Stephens: 512-787-6246
Email: lizstephens@txstate.edu