Lesson plan Grade 7 English Language Arts
Should Alderton Buy Smart Water Meters? A Grade 7 Argument Lesson
A grade 7 ELA lesson where students weigh both sides of a town's smart-water-meter proposal and draft an argument that states a claim and answers a counterclaim.
Objectives
- Students will state a clear claim about whether the town should fund smart water meters.
- Students will support the claim with reasons and acknowledge a counterclaim from the opposing side.
Vocabulary
Key words: claim, counterclaim, smart meter, conservation, leak
Teacher overview
The fictional town of Alderton reads its water meters by hand once a month, and the town council is deciding whether to spend money on smart meters that report water use every hour and flag likely leaks automatically. The choice has honest arguments on both sides, which makes it good material for grade 7 argument writing, where students are expected to acknowledge an opposing claim rather than pretend it does not exist. Students leave the lesson with a drafted argument that states a claim, gives reasons, and answers a counterclaim.
Procedure
Hook (5 min): Ask students how they would know if a pipe under their yard had been leaking slowly for a month. Collect a few answers, then note that leaks in an average household waste close to 9,400 gallons a year, according to EPA figures, and many of those leaks go unnoticed. Frame the question: should Alderton buy meters that could catch leaks like these within a day?
Read the briefing (10 min): Distribute the briefing sheet summarizing both sides. The case for the meters: they spot leaks fast, they let residents see their own use and cut back, and they end estimated bills by measuring actual use. The case against: the equipment and installation cost the town a large sum up front, some residents worry about hourly data on their household habits, and the old meters still work. Have students annotate the sheet, marking each point as "for" or "against."
Model a claim and counterclaim (10 min): On the board, write one clear claim ("Alderton should fund smart meters"). Underneath, model two supporting reasons drawn from the briefing, then model a counterclaim sentence ("Some residents argue the cost is too high right now") followed by a response. Show students that naming the other side and answering it makes an argument stronger.
Plan and draft (20 min): Each student chooses a side and completes a short planner (claim, two reasons with evidence from the briefing, one counterclaim, one response). Students then draft an argument of one to two paragraphs. Circulate and push students to point to a specific line in the briefing for each reason.
Formative check and share (10 min): Students write their counterclaim sentence on a sticky note and post it on the board. Read several aloud and ask the class to give a thumbs-up if the note truly states the opposing view rather than repeating the writer's own claim. If many students have not posted a genuine counterclaim, reteach the counterclaim move before the next session.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Differentiation
Support
Give these students a completed claim and a reasons bank drawn from the briefing so they can focus on building the counterclaim and response. Offer sentence frames: "One reason Alderton should ___ is ___. Some people disagree because ___, but ___."
Extension
Ask students to add a second counterclaim and response, and to close with a sentence that explains which side's strongest point is harder to answer and why. This pushes them toward weighing evidence rather than just listing it.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "claim," "counterclaim," "meter," and "estimate" with simple definitions and an example. Allow students to complete the planner in phrases and to draft with a partner who shares their home language, then write the final argument on their own.
Extensions
Have students turn their argument into a short letter to a fictional Alderton council member, keeping the claim and counterclaim but adding a respectful opening and closing. This connects argument writing to the real civic form residents use when they weigh in on a utility decision.