When teaching the counterclaim to my middle school students, there are actually two ways we could go: embed the counterclaim in the body paragraphs OR write a separate counterclaim paragraph.
I taught at one middle school in my district, where they taught the embedded counterclaim, and I am currently at a school that teaches separate counterclaim paragraphs.
I have to be honest with you, this is the most academically sound way to teach counterclaims because I am convinced that this creates a stronger argument and a stronger essay as a whole.
However, now that I am in a Special Needs Co-Teaching type of position, I have to go with the flow and support my team in their endeavor to teach students to write a counterclaim paragraph. To help them, I came up with a hack - aka mnemonic - based on how they teach this paragraph:
F - Feature the other side (the opposing claim)
A - Affirm the opposing claim with evidence
U - Underscore the essay's position (refuting the opposing claim)
C - Cite evidence (for the essay's position)
E - Explain with commentary
T - Top it off with a conclusion
I tell the students that the mnemonic is FAUCET because this is the section of the essay where we "pour it on" or "turn it up" in terms of making the case for our position in the essay.
This paragraph becomes our third body paragraph in an argumentative essay. Our other 2 body paragraphs follow the same structure as our informative essay with the pattern I call ACE IT. You can read more about that by clicking here.
Your middle school students need to practice their argumentative essay counterclaim paragraphs, but the thought of writing another essay is crushing! Use this quick, easy, and interactive practice instead!
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