Chocolate Milk

Last week we started an argument writing piece in my fifth grade classroom. I posed the question: Should chocolate milk be served in schools? The words barely left my mouth before I heard kids asking if they were thinking of getting rid of chocolate milk in our school. I assured them this was not the case, but it was an argument we were going to look at.

I have been following NWP College, Career, and Community Writers Program for teaching argument writing. The plans are scaffolded incredibly well. I am thoroughly impressed with the material, and my students love it too. For this piece, I took the concept of the NWP plans and mixed it with Lucy Calkin's chocolate milk unit. I created organizers for my students to track their thinking and educate themselves with the conversation at the table.

For this particular piece there are ten people at the table and before the students are allowed to pull up a seat, they need to listen to what everyone has to say. We have watched video clips and read articles. We have been able to determine if the author of the article is for or against chocolate milk and we have highlighted facts that help support the author's argument. All four classes are at a slightly different spot in the process because each class has different conversations about what is being said. Once we have listened to everyone at the table, then the students can join the conversation and make their claim.

Right after I posed that original question, I had all the students take a sticky note and place it on whether they answered yes or no. Out of approximately 90 students, about 12 said no and the rest yes.

But today, I saw a shift happen in their thinking. We read an article that included very striking statistics about the amount of sugar in certain foods they love.  This article led my students to question other things about sugar intake. Things they didn't realize. And then there were more questions. It was a pretty powerful conversation.

The hardest part for me, though, is helping the students look at things objectively and not persuading them to think one way or another. Every day at least three students ask me what I think about the issue.

I answer them the same way each time. 

"I will let you know, after you write your argument."