Post #2: Supporting Arguments

Your second post of this unit will focus on the research you have found to support your topic.  Your post should:

• Introduce your support with a grabber (get the reader thinking about supporting your topic)

• Several (at least 2-3) reasons to support your topic. Include evidence from your research. Explain your evidence to the reader (allow the reader to understand explaining the importance or significance of your factual, researched evidence)

• Conclude your supporting position (emphasize what you MOST want your reader to know)

• Cite at least 2 sources in MLA format (the same format we used for the Bloom's Project)

Your writing will be 2-3 paragraphs in length.  They should be written in a formal style (minimizing or eliminating the use of first-person and second-person pronouns).  

Example: 

In the past 60 years in the United States, there have been over three thousand studies conducted regarding homework and its effects on students (Cooper).  While each study is different and each is tailored for different populations of students and audiences, there are several results that stand out across many studies.  Homework has a positive effect of student achievement because homework allows students to develop better time management and study skills, mastery skills taught in class, and to increase individual student involvement in classroom instruction.

"Duke University researchers reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and concluded that homework has a positive effect on student achievement"; this positive correlation was much stronger for secondary students, those in grades 7 through 12 (Cooper).  Students at the secondary level have had more time and experience to develop better time management and study skills.  These skills have come from their involvement and engagement with homework assigned throughout their schooling.  Students need to practice time management and study skills in order to effectively complete assignments, spend time with family, and participate in extra curricular activities like music, art, and sports.  While students are using their time management and study skills at home they are also practicing the mastery of skills taught in class.

Homework "gives each student an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of skills taught in class; to increase speed, mastery and maintenance of skills" (Center). By practicing skills at home, students are working toward mastery of the content, skill, or subject.  Like all skills, related to education or not, the more practice students engage in, the more likely they are to achieve mastery.  Because students are practicing skills at home they are also more likely to participate in classroom instruction.

Homework gives each student the opportunity to increase their individual involvement in specific skills and knowledge inside their classrooms, while also enjoying learning (Center).  Parents and teachers have to show our children that homework is not boring or a waste of time.  There are numerous benefits to doing homework correctly and handing it on time. Students can benefit from the life skills they learn by doing homework and then go back to the instant communications world of high-speed computers, the Internet, cell phones, text messaging, social networking and instant messaging (Bishop).


Bishop, John. "10 Benefits of Homework". Lesson Plans. 2015. http://lessonplanspage.com/OSS10BenefitsOfHomework512.htm/

Center for the Education and Study of Diverse Populations. "Purposes and Benefits of Homework". 2015. http://www.cesdp.nmhu.edu/toolkit/enhancing-student-learning/purposes-benefits-of-homework.asp

Cooper, Eric. "The Battle over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents". Corwin Press, 2001. http://today.duke.edu/2006/03/homework.html.

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Here is a reminder about Blog Posting Requirements:

Research blogs are due every Wednesday by 7:00 AM.

Research blogs that earn an A will do the following:

• Content: provide insight, understanding, and reflective thought about your selected topic by: building a focused argument around a specific issue, or asking a new related question, or making an oppositional statement supported by related research;
• Organization: present a focused and coherent viewpoint that is supported by effective supporting examples and links/citations to sources that enhance the information presented;
• Style: be creatively and fluently written to stimulate debate/conversation;
• Conventions: be proofread!

How to Post Blog Entries:

I strongly suggest that you compose your blog posts offline (in a Word document) in order to minimize the risk of accidental deletion due to internet connectivity and/or browser issues.

1. Click on the current week's blog.
2. Below the body of the directions, click the "Comments" text area. You will be able to type your response.
3. Paste your text into the Body.
4. Click "Post Response".

Replying to Classmates' Posts:

Your blog posts will appear in the thread of the Blog discussion. You should also write comments on 1-2 of your classmates' blogs every week -- to ask questions, provide additional information, argue an opposing point of view, and give support.  You have until the following Monday at 7:00 AM to provide these comments.