- An animal can be a best friend.
- Growing up is painful.
- People are not always what they seem.
- First impressions are deceiving.
- Death should not be an emotional experience.
- Men should never cry. If they do, they are babies.
- You cannot become an adult unless you live through difficult experiences
These controversial questions are a very important component of the unit. One of the culminating activities is to write a persuasive paper on one of the questions from the anticipation guide. Having a classroom Blog where students can state and discuss their opinions will allow them to have a more complete and focused persuasive argument for their essay. I foresee the students posing a position and then other students asking questions about it, posing a counter position with supported reasoning, or argeeing with the student's position while giving additional support. Use of the blogging medium will allow all students, not just those who volunteer, to actively state their opinions and use information from their personal experiences and the text to support it. The interactive aspect of the blog will give the students practice defending their viewpoints. They will have a stronger argument because they will already have heard some of the possible counter points posed by the audience who disagrees.
