There are four fundamental skills involved in presenting information and ideas in order to develop an effective and respectful argument. These skills are essential as students learn to develop critical thinking abilities, which lead to higher-level conversations. They also help to prepare students for more formal speaking situations and to strengthen their relationships with others, thus enriching their learning experiences and improving their performance in all academic areas.
These four basic skills are as follows:
Organizing your thoughts: This skill involves presenting a main idea, and then supporting it with pertinent and interesting details, which answer the questions of who, what, when, where, how, and why. It also involves accurately selecting the most important details and then sequencing ideas logically, telling what happened first, next, and so on.
Distinguishing fact from opinion: Students need to understand the distinction between a fact, which can be verified, and an opinion. They then must be able to clearly communicate what is factual and what is their opinion when they speak to others.
Supporting your opinions with evidence: Arguments can be strengthened by providing evidence to support ideas. Effective evidence should be relevant and understandable. The best evidence is provided by factual information in which the source can
Persuading others: This set of skills involves combining all of the previously mentioned skills, as well as effectively using your voice, body, and words to engage and convince others of your position in an assertive and respectful way.
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION
How can you help your child to practice these ideas at home?
1. Help your child organize his thinking by asking him to recount events in order… “What happened first? Next? And then what happened?”
2. Provide positive feedback when you notice these skills being used by your child.
3. View media together and discuss the skills used with your child… “Did that reporter just state a fact or opinion? How do you know? Did that argument make sense to you?”
These four basic skills are as follows:
Organizing your thoughts: This skill involves presenting a main idea, and then supporting it with pertinent and interesting details, which answer the questions of who, what, when, where, how, and why. It also involves accurately selecting the most important details and then sequencing ideas logically, telling what happened first, next, and so on.
Distinguishing fact from opinion: Students need to understand the distinction between a fact, which can be verified, and an opinion. They then must be able to clearly communicate what is factual and what is their opinion when they speak to others.
Supporting your opinions with evidence: Arguments can be strengthened by providing evidence to support ideas. Effective evidence should be relevant and understandable. The best evidence is provided by factual information in which the source can
Persuading others: This set of skills involves combining all of the previously mentioned skills, as well as effectively using your voice, body, and words to engage and convince others of your position in an assertive and respectful way.
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION
How can you help your child to practice these ideas at home?
1. Help your child organize his thinking by asking him to recount events in order… “What happened first? Next? And then what happened?”
2. Provide positive feedback when you notice these skills being used by your child.
3. View media together and discuss the skills used with your child… “Did that reporter just state a fact or opinion? How do you know? Did that argument make sense to you?”