Matthew was absent today.

As JP is still working on completing the Unit 7 argumentative essay, we today reviewed his draft and my comments. I continued to emphasize the need to relate the evidence, through commentary, to the thesis. As such, as JP continued writing ,I offered comments on his use of commentary to ensure the commentary explained the relevance of the evidence. We further worked on drafting the concession segment of the essay which both acknowledges an opposing view, yet distinguishes the opposition sufficiently so as to ,in effect, support the thesis. We last discussed our assignments and test schedule for the week.

JP was absent today.

Matthew was absent today.

JP was absent today.

Matthew took the essay portion of his Unit 7 test during today's session.

I assisted JP in writing his argumentative practice essay as he had difficulty in assimilating relevant evidence into his work. We first focused on the thesis-a universal aspiration to exercise free will . I then discussed various political and social movements that could be referenced to prove this thesis-Nelson Mandella in South Africa and the American Civil Rights Movement. I set up some model transitions phrases within the draft paragraph that could be used to introduce the evidence. We further edited JP's paragraph on cultural norms by adding specific examples . I demonstrated how to add commentary to our cited examples to explain how the evidence proves the thesis statement. JP will complete the essay tonight for homework,.

We continued analyzing and editing Matthew's argumentative essay in preparation for tomorrow's test on Unit 7. We worked on sentence placement in a paragraph. I further provided additional instruction on how to present and distinguish a contrasting argument using subordinate clauses. As we studied the body of the essay , we focused on how to tie the cited evidence and commentary to the thesis statement.

We reviewed Matthew's first draft of his argumentative essay as well as the AP rubric for scoring. I then discussed an approach to the evaluative prompt by first creating a definition of the evaluative term"common good." We then examined the need to cite the types of evidence we discussed in prior classes: current events, historical events , anecdote, personal observations etc and noted the essay's absence of evidence. We discussed the various options for including current events as a source of evidence as well as how to draft commentary explaining how the cited evidence demonstrates the thesis. Matthew began working on outlining and considering how to redraft his essay using evidence rather than summarizing and reiterating the prompt . He will complete the essay tonight for homework.

We discussed an edited JP's draft of an argumentative essay. I first noted on the board the AP rubric for evaluating an essay . I then provided instruction on expanding the thesis statement so that it better conformed with the evidence. We further worked on how to draft a concession that acknowledges but distinguishes an opposing view . Last, we noted my comments on the need for more historical evidence to support the thesis given that the thesis argues that history proves the thesis. I further offered suggestions for elaboration in the conclusion. JP will address the suggestions and edits tonight for homework .