Write an essay explaining your belief about the following question:
Do helicopter parents harm or help their children?

Be sure to use evidence from the texts, as well as your own knowledge, to support and develop your thinking.  Remember that this is an argumentative essay, so be sure to address opposing arguments and points of view. Support your position by incorporating evidence from the provided research.

YOUR THESIS SENTENCE SHOULD ANSWER THAT QUESTION!

TODAY:

• Finish the rough draft.
• Spellcheck and reread the rough draft to catch run-ons and fragments.
• Make sure you used paragraphs!
• Highlight the counterclaim and their evidence in red.
• Highlight your rebuttal and evidence in green.
• Give it a groovy title that sums up your thesis.
• Make sure you put that title in the title box AND at the top of the document.
• SHARE with me. DO NOT PRINT.
  

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• Get a MadLib and quietly have fun. Doodle your results on the back!

Suggested Timeline:

1. Day One: Read the sources carefully, decide on a thesis, annotate the docs with argument support your thesis.
2. Day Two: Review your notes and make sure you have enough evidence to write the essay. Maybe make a basic outline:
   • Intro w/ thesis
   • argument + evidence
   • argument + evidence
   • conterargument + shutdown with evidence
   • Conclusion
3. Day Two: Write your rough draft.
4. Day Three: Finish rough draft, proofread, proofread, share and print.

COMMON ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS.
San Luis Coastal Unified School District. 7th Grade Argumentative Writing Prompt

STUDENT DIRECTIONS:
Research
Helicopter Parents:

• How involved should parents be in their children’s school lives?
• At what point in their education should students learn to be independent?
• Does too much parental involvement discourage student independence?

Consider your position on the level of involvement parents should have with their teenager’s education.  State your claim. Clarify your position by incorporating evidence from the provided research.

You have three texts to read relating to the issue:

• “Putting Parents in Their Place: Outside of Class”
• “Hardy Knox Middle School: Parent Involvement Policy”
• “Letter from a ‘Concerned Mother’”

Follow the link below to the three documents you will read and use for your arguments.
Make a copy of the doc, and then annotate it as you read, highlighting and labeling the arguments you will use in your essay.

Argumentative Docs.

As you read and re-read these texts, think about what they show you about the issue. Think about what position you will take and what evidence you will use to support your thinking. Finally, write an essay explaining your belief about the following question: Do helicopter parents harm or help their children?

Be sure to use evidence from the texts, as well as your own knowledge, to support and develop your thinking.  Remember that this is an argumentative essay, so be sure to address opposing arguments and points of view.

Writing the Essay

You are being asked to write a multi-paragraph argumentative essay, so be as thorough as possible and include comments supported by evidence from the sources. Remember to check your notes and your outline as you write and refer to the articles as often as you like.  

Argumentative Scoring

Your essay will be scored using the following criteria:

• Purpose and Organization: Is the main idea clearly communicated? Is the essay clearly focused? How well did your ideas thoughtfully flow from beginning to end using effective transitions? How effective was your introduction and your conclusion?

• Elaboration/Evidence: How well did you integrate relevant and specific information from the sources? How well did you elaborate your ideas? How well did you clearly state ideas using precise language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose? Did you address opposing arguments and points of view? Did you cite the evidence properly?

• Conventions: How well did you follow the rules of grammar usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling?