Page 153 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 2.11
Which Claims to believe
learNING sTraTeGIes:
Metacognitive Markers, Quickwrite Predicting, Rereading, Think-Pair-Share
About the Author
From 1978 to 2011, Andrew (Andy) Rooney was a television commentator on the program 60 Minutes. He wrote more than 800 essays, which he presented on television or in a national newspaper column. His essays, which are sometimes humorous and sometimes controversial, earned him three Emmy awards.
My Notes
Learning Targets
• Identify elements of argument in a text.
• Analyze the thesis (or claim), audience, purpose, and occasion in a text.
Preview
In this activity, you will read and analyze a humorous argumentative text about pollution and waste. Then you will begin crafting your own argumentative text on the issue your class has chosen.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• As you read the text “America the Not-So-Beautiful,” use metacognitive markers to question the text (?), to make a comment (*), and to signal an interesting idea (!).
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
America
the Not-So-Beautiful
by Andrew A. Rooney
1 Next to saving stuff I don’t need, the thing I like to do best is throw it away. My idea of a good time is to load up the back of
the car with junk on a Saturday morning and take it to the dump. There’s something satisfying about discarding almost anything.
126 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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