A STUDENT and a LEARNING COACH sit at a table on which are various notepads.
LEARNING COACH: What’s your speech on?
STUDENT: I’m running for team captain!
LEARNING COACH: That's amazing!
STUDENT: But...
LEARNING COACH: But what?
STUDENT: I know I have to write an amazing speech but I don’t even know what goes into an argument.
LEARNING COACH: Ah. Well, why don’t we try looking at a good argumentative text and see how it works?
STUDENT: Sure, that sounds good.
LEARNING COACH: I just so happen to have Alicia Jennings’ speech from the year she was elected team captain. So, let’s take a look.
The LEARNING COACH opens a ring binder and shows the contents to the STUDENT.
STUDENT: How’d you get this?
LEARNING COACH: I know people.
STUDENT: Hmm.
The STUDENT smiles and rolls her eyes.
STUDENT: Well, she starts by listing qualities that she thinks makes a good team captain. A strong leader who understands her fellow players and is good at solving problems. Then, she makes her claim, that she is the person who best fits all of these qualities and should be elected captain.
LEARNING COACH: Off to a good start!
STUDENT: Next, she explains her reasons. For each reason, she gives evidence.
LEARNING COACH: Okay, so what’s her first reason?
STUDENT: Well, she says she is the right choice because she has good leadership qualities.
LEARNING COACH: I hope she gives some evidence for that.
STUDENT: Yes, she gives evidence about how she successfully organized a charity car wash for the team, and how often she is chosen as the leader when she does group projects with her friends. Then she has quotes from her teammate, Sara, who says, Alicia is the person who would do anything for you. And she is kind and respectful to everyone, so everyone respects her.
LEARNING COACH: Sounds like she’s a good leader. Is that the only reason she gives?
STUDENT: No, in the next section, she argues that she has the best ideas and lists a number of ideas as evidence.
LEARNING COACH: Oh, well, that’s the tough part, where you try to explain your ideas.
STUDENT: Yes, but she does do a good job. For example, she says that one of her ideas is to change their stretch routine from 10 minutes to 20 minutes to reduce the number of shin splints. They had 3 strain-related injuries last season that could have been helped by stretching for longer before the game.
LEARNING COACH: Well, that makes sense.
STUDENT: I hope I can write a speech as effective as Alicia’s.
LEARNING COACH: I’m sure you can! You can start by thinking how you have similar qualities to her but also how you’re different. So, what new ideas can you bring to the team this year?
STUDENT: Ok, great. Thanks.
LEARNING COACH: Anytime.
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