Argument Planning

Before

After

Feedback from Oli Cav based on a planning sheet used for balance argument writing.

Argument planning sheet 

1: LINES

The lines you have used are way too bold. As a result they dominate the visual field while they should recede as a framework only, not the main show. I recommend using the thinnest Word allows and consider also using a grey colour, not black. Do this too for the writing guide lines. Will they be for students to hand write or type? I recommend having a space at least 3 to 4 times a large between the two.

2: UNDERLINING

Never underline. It is a relic from typewriters when underline and caps were the only two ways to distinguish type. It should never have been adopted onto digital keyboards. Underlining makes reading harder. If you want to accentuate a word/s, use size, boldening, or colour.

3: ITALICS

Is there a particular reason for using italics here? Usually italics are used to denote some other sense of a word, to make it stand out or, sometimes, for speech. 

4: TITLES

The title half-way down is lost and doesn’t stand out. Maybe use a larger than usual square bullet to draw the eye to the titles. If not that then some other graphic mark to do the same job.

Using the above feedback I recreated the planning document. For the sentence starters I greyed this down so the children would have to 'ghost' write over the top so that the sentence starter became incorporated into their sentence. 

Using the previous planning document I noticed that many children did not include the sentence starter in their work.