Once the counterclaim paragraph has been taught, it's important to practice, right? But how can one practice without writing an entire essay? Let me give you three ideas:
1. Task Cards
I made some task cards with two small (about 1/2 a page) texts. Then I wrote questions about claims, opposing claims (counterclaims) and evidence and put them on task cards. Then I put all of these task cards around the room. After students read the texts, they wandered the room to visit all the questions and practice!
They loved being up and moving about. I loved hearing the natural conversations about opposing claims as well as claims and evidence!
2. Quick and Easy Activity
Give your students a worksheet with 4 claims (and evidence on the back) that can be used over the course of a week as a bell-ringer. Have students write one paragraph for one claim per day!
Or - take the sentences that one would use to respond to one of the 4 claims in a counterclaim paragraph and write them on sentence strips. Have the students put the sentences in order and then write their paragraphs.
Or - give each group a different claim, have them organize the sentence strips, and then present their finished paragraphs to the class.
.png "A quick, easy and interactive way for middle school students to practice writing counterclaims.")
You can make this practice yourself or click here to get my Argumentative Essay Counterclaim Paragraph Practice that is ready to go! (Answer key included!)
3. Online Game
This is a middle school student favorite! Students love online games like Kahoot, Quizizz and Gimkit. So I put together a quick Quizizz game and you can have it by clicking here!
I hope one (or all) of these three practice ideas for the counterclaim paragraph works for you and your middle school students!
Thanks for stopping by!
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