Issues

Brainstorm controversial issues and fill the board with them.  Aim for issues with both local (campus) and national significance. You can even list these issues in separate columns.  Choose an issue that seems to generate a lot of energy in the class. .  Write a statement expressing an extreme position on that issue . Have students write for five minutes about to what extent they agree with the statement then write for five minutes on the extent to which they disagree. Have them list possible sources of evidence they would want in order to construct an argument on the issue.

There are several purposes to this simple activity. One is to broaden their scope in terms of the kinds of issues they might write about. Local ones tend to be best because they are less likely to be echoing received ideas. I like to talk about received ideas and challenging questions—what probing, or challenging questions could we raise about this position. How would we verify our hunches about this issue? I also like to get students writing from both sides of an issue to get them to think more broadly, especially about polarizing issues. The idea of evidence is important to introduce. Too often students are encouraged to take positions on issues they know very little about. This kind of writing tends to be encouraged and even taught in secondary schools right now because of high stakes writing tests that reward form more than content.