If you aren't a fan of inquiry yet, this book should do the trick. Hillocks shows how you can use questions, curiosity, and discussion to teach students the finer points of argument. It's no understatement to say that your existing persuasive unit will pale by comparison to goings-on in this book. It's an eye-opener (not to mention a mind-opener!).
Written for Grades 6-12, the book follows a progressively more difficult agenda. Hillocks starts with the basics of argument writing, including "whodunit" cartoons for arguments of fact. Kids scrutinize the drawings of murder scenes and draw conclusions based on visual details, trying their ideas out in group discussions. Such "fun" work is teaching them the relationships between evidence, claims, "warrants" or rules (e.g. "As a rule, when people fall down stairs, they drop what they are carrying to save themselves."), and conclusions. The mystery solving is followed by writing exercises, wherein the conclusions of the students are carefully justified in paragraph form. Hillocks provides a chart to ensure that all elements of good argument writing are logged.
From here, Hillock moves to simple arguments of judgment (he uses examples of what makes a good school mascot and what makes a good leader) and simple arguments of policy (here the students gather data on gum chewing). The latter example is especially good because the students do not simply jump on-line to cut and paste (yes, and sometimes plagiarize) material. Instead, students create their own data by interviewing the principal and custodians on the reasons for forbidding gum on school grounds plus its costs in time and money. They also create a survey to find out why students stick gum under chairs and desks or throw it on the floor. Invested? I guess! And it's so much better than the dreary Google search method of research. You'll think so, too, as you read Hillocks account of the students wrestling data into a logical, coherent form in an attempt to change the principal's mind.
In the second part of the book, Hillocks moves to more complex arguments of judgment. Using transcripts from classes along with ready-to-go handouts, he shows how students grappled with developing criteria about such abstract terms as "courage" and "freedom of speech." Numerous scenarios are provided, complete with instructions on how to use them and how it went in Hillocks' classes. To wrap up, he takes the skills students hone in argument writing and shows you how they can be applied to literary analysis. This final chapter is regrettably brief, but if you consider it a "bonus" chapter and remind yourself that the goal of this book is to focus on writing argument, you feel no reason to complain.
It's popular to say that technology is the key to changing education in the future, but I see technology is a mere tool. What will really change teaching and make it relevant to kids is work like this. Updating technology, then, takes a backseat to updating teachers. This book is a classic example of one way you can do that. If you're a teacher -- the most important technology in any classroom -- you owe it a look.
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