Resources from our Heinemann book, Argument in the Real World (2017)
NOTE: This page includes links from an archived version of our original Wikispace, which went offline in 2018. To that end, some of the links may be broken. If you find one, please contact me.
Also, connect with us on Twitter @teachKHT and @hickstro
News from/about the book:
- Building Digital Literacy Takes Argument Beyond the Classroom
from the Heinemann blog – Nov 4, 2016 - Teaching Argument in the Digital World from the Heinemann blog – Nov 10, 2016
- How Teachers Can Disrupt Fake News from Heinemann via Medium – Dec 15, 2016
- The Heinemann Podcast: Argument in the Real World from the Heinemann blog (includes audio and transcript) – Jan 6, 2017
- Seriously? Seriously. The Importance of Teaching Reading and Writing in Social Media written by Kristen and Troy, from Heinemann via Medium – Jan 11, 2017
- The Power of Video in Digital Argument: Literacy Instruction in the Era of Fake News written by Kristen and Troy, from Heinemann via Medium – Jan 20, 2017
- Teaching the Craft of Argument to Support Meaningful Conversation from the Heinemann blog (includes video clip) – January 25, 2017
- Writing Digital Argument: A New Student Skill Set by Kevin Hodgson (MiddleWeb) – May 14, 2017
Chapter 1: The Nature of Argument in a Digital World
What is Argument in a Digital World?
We read arguments every day. We are inundated by information – and opinions and misinformation – on our devices, and our students are facing the same challenges. Status updates. Hashtags. Blogs. Infographics. Web searches. Any text that we encounter is, at some level, presenting us with an argument. Hyperlinks and multimodal texts present readers and writers with new challenges and possibilities. Our “inquiry cube” represents the knowledge that digital readers and writers need in order to successfully consume and create argumentative texts in a digital world.
Links to blogs, readings, and other resources mentioned in Chapter 1
- “Dear parents, you are being lied to.” blog post by Dr. Jennifer Raff
- Dr. Raff’s Violent Metaphors Blog
- A brief introduction to Aristotle’s logic and syllogisms
- A sample (section of the introduction) from Stephen E. Toulmin’s (2003) The Uses of Argument, Updated Edition
- Bud Hunt’s post on the National Writing Project’s Digital Is site: Teaching Blogging, Not Blogs.
- Miller and Shepherd (2004), Into the Blogosphere
- Doug Belshaw (2012), Beyond Elegant Consumption Blog
- The Wide Research Center Collective (2005), Why Teach Digital Writing?
Additional Resources
- An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi
Chapter 2: Analyzing Arguments that are Born Digital
Thinking about Hyperlinks (pp. 19-23)
As you explore the three versions of the text, consider the following:
- Where do each of the links lead?
- How do you think the writer chose those links?
- Considering the rhetorical situation, why do you think that the writer chose the links? What goal is he/she trying to accomplish by using the links?
- For you, as a reader, are the links effective? Do they work well with the claim being made? Why or why not?
- How does the argument change based on the link?
Hyperlink Exercise for School Lunch shown on page 21.
Want to explore hyperlinking more?
- Play the Wikispeedia game to examine reading habits and hyperlinking.
Thinking About Types of Evidence (pp. 25-41)
Types of Evidence (pp. 30-31)
To engage students in thinking about these questions, we suggest introducing the briefly to some of the types of evidence typically associated with debate: scientific law, statistical data, expert opinion, opinion of noted individuals, and anecdotal evidence.
Thinking about Graphic Design based on Robin Williams’ Non-Designers Design Book (p. 40)
- A brief presentation outlining the four elements of Robin William’s four principles: Crap design from Lisa Dawley, Ph.D.
- Brief overview of CRAP peinciples from Chapter Six of Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds
- “Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity” – Brief summary and video overview from Steve Garwood, Rutgers School of Communication and Information
Links to articles, resources, and other materials mentioned in Chapter 2:
- Palfrey and Gasser, (2008). Born Digital – Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books.
- Education Week (2012), Cultivating Young Chess Masters in Some of St. Louis’ Poorest Schools
- To preview of Hillocks’ (2011) Teaching Argument Writing, Grades 6-12 (introduction and chapter 1). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
- Wikipedia Internet Meme entry
Chapter 3: The Moves of Argument in Web-based Text
In this chapter we deconstruct the characteristics of blog posts.
- What does this type of digital argument look like in practice?
- What constitutes a claim, evidence, warrant, and attention to rebuttal in this form of argument?
What is a blog?
Links to articles and resources mentioned in Chapter 3:
- Hicks’s Crafting Digital Writing Companion Page (coming soon)
- Sean Mcleod’s edublogger blog, Dangerously Irrelevant – Technology, Leadership, and the Future of Schools
- Media Education Lab, a companion website to Hobbs’ Copyright Clarity – How Fair Use Promotes Digital Learning
Chapter 4: The Moves of Argument in Infographics
- What does this type of digital argument look like in practice?
- What constitutes a claim, evidence, warrant, and attention to rebuttal in this form of argument?
What is an Infographic?
- Infographics have become an increasingly popular means of expressing information and making arguments.
- Infographics are a steady part of the content readers consume online.
- Understanding the design features of infographics can help students to read deeply and uncover bias.
- In addition, because infographics present data—numerical, written, and visual—they can be a powerful medium for making arguments, and we think they are a mode worth teaching.
- Downloadable What is an Infographic?
What are the Characteristics and Content of an Infographic?
At their core, infographics are a combination of words, numbers, and visual elements. Yet this description oversimplifies the way that writers think about composing this type of digital text. In reviewing a number of examples as well as articles about what constitutes effective infographics, a few key themes stood out to us.
Taking it to the Classroom: Infographics
As always, teaching digital genres and modes is not about tools. We do not want students simply to read and write infographics; rather, we want them to read and write the arguments that infographics present to the world. Because infographics require students to do content-rich research and to take a position on an issue, they are well-suited for interdisciplinary inquiry.
Resources from the Chapter
- Absolutely Essential Components of Infographic
- Brand Story
- Citelighter
- Creative Routines
- Diigo
- Easelly
- Easybib
- EndNote Basic
- Evernote
- Google Keep
- Infogr.am
- Learnist
- New York Times Well blog
- OneNote
- Pew Research Center
- Piktochart
- RefMe
- Scoop.It
- 5 Key Elements of a Successful Infographic
- 7 Superpowers of a Knockout Infographic
Additional Resources
- Pairing Rhetorical Analyses with Visual Representations of Data for Political Commentary
- How to Read Infographics: The SCD Strategy (Shaelynn Farnsworth)
Chapter 5: The Moves of Argument in Video
- What does this type of digital argument look like in practice?
- What constitutes a claim, evidence, warrant, and attention to rebuttal in this form of argument?
Craft Elements in Video
- Camera angle
- Cuts/transitions
- Focus (near, mid, far)
- Framing
- Gaze
- Establishing shot
- Pan and zoom
- Voice-over
- Interview
- Archivan footage
- Resconstruction/reenactment
- Montage
- Downloadable Characteristics and Content of Video
- Downloadable Craft of Video
- Nursery Rhyme Activity
Other alternatives for having students create argumentative videos include:
- Invite students to analyze existing arguments using a video annotation tool such as Vialogues, Voicethread or Ponder to describe what they have created and/or ask questions of their viewers.
- Similarly, once students create their own videos, have them create a “director’s cut” using screencasting tools such as Jing, Screencast-O-Matic, or Screencastify, documenting the choices that they have made.
- Alternatively, if the video is designed to be an interactive, quiz-like experience, students could use a tool such as PlayPosit to ask their viewers a variety of questions in true/false, multiple choice, or short answer format.
Resources from the chapter
- Animoto
- Audacity
- CIA World Factbook
- Copyright Friendly
- Creative Commons
- iMovie
- Internet Archive
- Jing
- Library of Congress
- Mind Over Media
- NASA
- National Parks
- PlayPosit
- Ponder
- Screencastify
- Screencast-O-Matic
- Vialogues
- Voicethread
- WeVideo
- Wikimedia Commons
- Windows Movie Maker
Chapter 6: The Moves of Argument in Social Media
Developing Arguments via Social Media
To build students’ mindfulness in social media spaces, we first need to help them see their participation in those networks as real reading and writing. The following activity, helps students to think about social media as a reading and writing space.
Fact Checking Sites
Resources from the Chapter
- ABC News
- CNET
- DomainTools WHOIS
- #DoNowPolitics
- #DoNowTesting
- Factcheck
- Hackpad
- Huffington Post
- KQED Learning
- The //New York Times// Room for Debate Blog
- Pew Research Center
- Politifact
- ProCon
- ProPublica
- Reflection Press
- SnagIt
- Snopes
- WayBack Machine
Second version of the poster, courtesy of Heinemann
Thinking about Conversation on Social Media
- Men read terrible tweets to female sports writers in eye-opening PSA
- If you don’t have anything nice to say, say it in ALL CAPS (This American Life)
Resources Related to Fake News
- How Teachers Can Disrupt Fake News (Heinemann)
- Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The Facts (NPR)
- A Finder’s Guide To Facts (NPR)
- Students Need Our Help Detecting Fake News (MiddleWeb)
- 13 Cognitive Biases That Really Screw Things Up For You (Huffington Post)
- No, 2016, There Are Such Things as Facts (Blog Post by Mrs. Bennet, an English teacher)
- ‘Fake News,’ Bogus Tweets Raise Stakes for Media Literacy (Benjamin Herold, EdWeek)
- Three Great Resources To Help Students Fight Off Fake News (Patrick Larkin, EdWeek)
- Teaching And Learning In A Post-truth World (Michelle Mielly, Associate Professor in People, Organizations, Society, Grenoble École de Management)
- 2016: The Mainstream Media Melted Down as Fake News Festered (Issie Lapowsky, Wired)
- Breaking News Consumer’s Handbook: Fake News Edition (On the Media, WNYC)
- A Professor Once Targeted by Fake News is Now Helping to Visualize It (Chronicle of Higher Education) with link to Hoaxy (the tool)
- False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources list originally created by Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts (she also works on OpenSources)
- Washburn Rural High School Library’s “Help Digital Natives Identify Credible Information“
- KQED’s Media Literacy: Five Ways Teachers Are Fighting Fake News (Feb 16, 2017)
- “Fake news. It’s complicated.” by Claire Wardle (Feb 16, 2017)
- Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers by Mike Caulfield (Open Textbook)
- “‘Who shared it?’ How Americans decide what news to trust on social media” (American Press Institute, 3/20/17)
- Public Data Lab and First Draft News “Field Guide to Fake News” (4/7/17)
- Top 10 sites to help students check their facts by Jennifer Snelling 3/8/2017 (ISTE)
Browser Extensions for Mindfully Reading in Relation to Fake News
- 3 Chrome extensions to cut fake news out of your life reported by the Daily Dot
- Now you can fact-check Trump’s tweets — in the tweets themselves Chrome extension from the Washington Post
Additional Resources
- OpenSources (a curated resource for assessing online information sources, available for public use)
- Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC News is an independent online media outlet. MBFC News is dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices.)
- AllSides which curates from various sources and “exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant.”
- danah boyd’s essay “Did media literacy backfire?“
- Stanford History Education Group Report – Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning
- #michED Chat 3/1/2017 – Digital Information Literacy
- NEWSEUM Media Literacy Resources
Chapter 7: Coaching Students’ Work with Digital Arguments
Rape PSA from Goblin Jones on Vimeo.
Sample Checklist for Assessment of Knowledge of Form (Blog Post)
A Favorite Tech Tool for Teaching
Both screencasting and screencapture give teachers and students the opportunity to move beyond simply documenting declarative knowledge about form and substance. To help students to create their own screencaptures and screencasts, reflecting on their work more deeply, consider the following prompts:
- As a reader, what worked well for you in this digital argument? What did the author accomplish through the use of text, images, sounds, and other media? Where did you struggle to make meaning from this text? Ultimately, do you agree with the claim?
- As a writer, discuss the ways in which you composed your digital argument? What is your overall claim, and what kinds of evidence did you use to support it? In what ways did you blend text, images, sounds, and other media in a logical, rhetorically sophisticated manner?
- As a reader, how did the use of technology produce a desired effect?
- As a writer, how did your use of technology help you to have a desired effect on your readers?
Links to blogs, readings, and other resources mentioned in Chapter 7
- Amazon
- Awesome Screenshot
- Camtasia
- EduCreations
- Explain Everything
- Fireshot
- Genius
- Hypothes.is
- Jing
- Monosnap
- Preview
- QuickTime
- Screencastify
- Screencast-O-Matic
- Show Me
- Yelp
Updated: May 31, 2020
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