Balanced Argument in Writing
Our core text for this term (and the beginning of next term too) has been 'Pig Heart Boy' by Malorie Blackman. It tells the tale of a young boy - Cam - who suffered from a heart infection a few years ago and consequently is dying. His only hope is a revolutionary heart transplant - inserting a heart from a pig into his body...
With this book, the children have been introduced to the world of transgenic and xenotransplantation. Our first piece of writing, based on the themes from the book, has been a balanced argument about whether animal (in this case pig) organs should be used to save the life of a human.
As a class we listed pros and cons for the issue, before conducting a class debate, with the children being issued one viewpoint regardless of their own personal belief.
From this, the children planned, wrote, edited and published a balanced argument where they had to evenly present both sides of the argument - trying to avoid bias.
They did a brilliant job and should be proud of their efforts all week!