This broad area will be aimed to developing the students’ ability to understand and produce an argumentative discourse in different contexts, such as science, journalism, or daily life. The students are expected to understand the basic ideas of problem, question, hypothesis and reasons, and apply them in the writing of different types of texts and in engaging in reasonable arguments. They will prepare one final paper for the end of every bimester.

By the end of the bimester, students will have a further understanding of the structure of persuasive essays, and they will be able to apply this knowledge in writing. They will understand different persuasive strategies and will be able to discuss and criticize their peer’s writing in a “counter-essay”.

Students will read persuasive texts on various topics, ranging from current events to literary critic. They will listen to the teacher’s lectures on persuasion, do exercises about this topic, and they will write their own essays, both at home and at school. They will write one “counter-essay” criticizing a peer’s own essay.

Students will read short texts in class and discuss their content. They will write at least one essay 45%, and one “counter-essay” 45%.

The remaining 10% will be the grade for the folder and readiness to learn.

Persuasive texts yet to be chosen.

By the end of the bimester, students will be able to review a short essay in writing. They will have read and analyzed the ideas in at least one essay related to myths or mythology.

They will also start writing their own essays. They will have wtitten at least one complete essay by the end of the bimester.

Students will read a short essay related to mythology or myths and they will discuss the main ideas of the article in class. They will read one to five page essays and do class discussions about them.

Students will do exercises in class about paraphrasing, and reviewing.

Students will read short texts in class and discuss their content. They will write reports about these texts and a review of a longer essay. The class work will be a 30%, the review 30%, and a final essay about the topics and readings discussed 30%.

The remaining 10% will be the grade for the folder and readiness to learn.

Anonymous. An Introduction to Myths and Folktales. At.  http://web.infoave.net/~tnorris/lesson.htm. Last visited Feb. 6, 2002

By the end of the bimester, students will be able to understand the different part of an argumentative text and explain them by the use of a scheme.

Students will continue the work started in the last bimester. The ideas of hypothesis and reasons will be reviewed, and the Analysis Scheme will be presented. They will read extracts of argumentative texts and use different parts of an analysis scheme to understand them.

Students will do exercises at home and in class, answer reading comprehension quizzes of the articles and essays read at home (50% of the final grade). They will complete the analysis scheme for a text previously agreed on with the teacher (40%) of the final grade).

Readiness to learn will be a 10% of the final grade.

 

• The Analysis Scheme, simplified for seventh graders from the one originally appeared in: Pardo, Felipe. Baquero Julia. La Argumentación en el texto Jurídico. Un instrumento para su comprensión. Bogotá: Ministerio de Justicia y del Derecho. 1997.

By the end of the bimester the students will understand the concept of hypothesis and will be able to recognize the hypothesis and rationale of an argumentative text.

Through presentations by the teacher and class and homework exercises, the idea of hypothesis will be understood as a basis for our dealing with science and daily life, and argumentation will be seen as giving reasons to support hypotheses and arguing in favor of them.

There will be class presentations, class and homework exercises, discussions and workshops done in class.

Students will do exercises at home and in class, answer reading comprehension quizzes of the articles and essays read at home (1/2 of the final grade). They will complete points three and four of the analysis scheme for an essay previously agreed on with the teacher (1/2 of the final grade).

• The Analysis Scheme, simplified for seventh graders from the one originally appeared in: Pardo, Felipe. Baquero Julia. La Argumentación en el texto Jurídico. Un instrumento para su comprensión. Bogotá: Ministerio de Justicia y del Derecho. 1997.