I asked my students to compare their writing from the beginning of the unit to the end and then to explain whether they felt their argument skills had improved or not. Most writers felt that they had learned a bit about claims, evidence, and reasoning, and were happy to document their improvement. A few kids did not see any growth, though. One of them volunteered, "My essay at the beginning was trash, and this one is too!"
"I'm sorry to hear that you are unhappy with your writing," I said, "but I don't agree that it's garbage."
"I said 'trash'," she corrected me.
"What's the difference in your mind between trash and garbage?" I asked.
"Trash is trash and garbage is garbage," she replied dismissively.
"Wow! You really are bad at arguing," I teased her.
That got a little smile.
"Now let's work on that writing!"
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