Hi MOOCers,

I have been worried that this week’s unit didn’t have enough how to and that many of you would not find it as useful as I would like. It’s amazing how when you are pondering something in your subconscious and then the universe responds and fills the vacuum. The links below were all sent to me from the Twitterverse. I hope they will fill any gaps in argumentative writing instruction.

I am very pleased with the amount of sharing and connecting that is happening on the discussion boards. So far only ten of you have taken the quiz, which has an average of 6.56 questions right and takes ten minutes of time. Consider this a gentle nudge to finish up the module so you can enjoy Super Bowl Sunday.  The informative writing module opens on Monday morning. Have a great weekend. — Scott

Bonus Links

ACRE (Argument, Clarity, Repetition, Evidence)

http://benthamorfoucault.blogspot.com/2014/06/how-to-write-almost-anything-argument.html

http://benthamorfoucault.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-to-write-almost-anything-part-2.html

Claims, Evidence, Reasoning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCJacUvo778&list=PLij2XTFgmBSTKjftUzmkRmR0WxFfUpg6o

Erik Palmer video on Argumentation

http://my.hrw.com/content/hmof/language_arts/hmhcollections/resources/common/videoPlayer/index.html?shortvid=V_FLLIT_0301

Good Speaking & Listening

Eric Palmer’s quality work inspired me to give my students a speech project.

http://www.stenhouse.com/html/well-spoken.htm?r

http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Teaching-the-Core-Skills-of-Listening-and-Speaking.aspx

Free webinar on Deepening & Widening the Way we teach writing in K-5.

https://vts.inxpo.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowKey=23625&partnerref=EBLAST

Reinventing Writing chat on Twitter this Saturday morning: The nine tools that are changing writing, teaching, and learning. Mark your calendars for a great #satchatwc 1/30 at 7:30 am PST w/ guest host, Vicki Davis, aka @coolcatteacher

Making Sense of Evidence

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/makesense/