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Developing Effective Arguments

This support material is incorporated into critical challenges at grades 4, 6 and 9, however, it can be adapted for use at all grade levels.

The following documents can be adapted and re-saved for your needs.

Supporting My Position 
This chart helps students develop a persuasive presentation in preparation for a debate or prior to writing a letter or creating a poster to convince others about an issue. To use this chart, students:

• clarify the statement or position they are trying to support
• outline three or four reasons that defend or support the statement; e.g., if students are developing an argument to preserve a national park, the argument may be that the park contains landforms that are not found anywhere else in the province
• list factual details that support the arguments
• include quotations from experts that support the argument, if applicable.

Assessing Effective Arguments 
An assessment rubric is available for this chart.

Credits

Adapted from Critical Challenges Across the Curriculum series. Permission granted by The Critical Thinking Consortium for use by Alberta teachers.