Writing prompt Grade 8 English Language Arts
A New Water Tower for Tinder Hollow: Grade 8 Argument Prompt
A grade 8 argument prompt where students decide whether a hillside town should build a water tower or rely on booster pumps, with a planning organizer and rubric.
Objectives
- Students will write an argument that states a claim, supports it with evidence, and answers a counterclaim.
- Students will use background evidence about pressure and reliability to defend a position.
Vocabulary
Key words: distribution, pressure, booster pump, counterclaim, gravity
Teacher overview
Tinder Hollow is a fictional town built partly on a hill, where homes near the top get weak water pressure. The council must choose how to fix it: build a tall water tower or install electric booster pumps. Each option solves the problem in a different way and comes with a real drawback. This prompt asks students to take a position and defend it, addressing the strongest objection to their choice, using only the evidence in the background.
Prompt
Background: Tinder Hollow is a fictional town, and part of it sits on a hill. Homes near the top of the hill get weak water pressure because the water has to climb to reach them. Water systems aim to keep pressure in a comfortable range, roughly 40 to 80 psi at the tap, and most states require at least 20 psi at every home to keep the water safe. Tinder Hollow's hilltop homes sometimes drop below that. The council is weighing two fixes.
The first option is to build a new elevated water tower. A tower stores water high in the air, and gravity pushes that water down into the pipes with steady pressure. Because gravity does the work, a tower keeps water flowing even during a power outage. The drawback is cost and time: a tower would cost several million dollars and take a few years to build.
The second option is to install electric booster pumps. Pumps push water uphill to raise the pressure on the hill. They cost far less to build than a tower and can be running in a few months. The drawback is that pumps need electricity. During a power outage, the pumps stop, and the hilltop pressure can fall below the 20 psi minimum. Pumps also cost money to run every day.
Writing task: Should Tinder Hollow build a new water tower, or should it rely on booster pumps? Write an argument essay that states a clear claim, gives at least two reasons supported by evidence from the background, and answers at least one counterclaim a resident might raise. Use only the background above as your evidence.
Planning Organizer
| Category | Your notes |
|---|---|
| Claim (tower or pumps?) | |
| Reason 1 and evidence from the background | |
| Reason 2 and evidence from the background | |
| Counterclaim a resident might raise | |
| Your rebuttal to the counterclaim | |
| Concluding statement |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Exemplar & Rubric
Exemplar response:
Tinder Hollow should build the new water tower, because it solves the hill's pressure problem in a way that lasts. The background explains that a tower stores water high in the air, and gravity pushes that water into the pipes with steady pressure. Steady pressure is exactly what the hilltop homes lack, since some of them drop below the 20 psi minimum the state requires. A tower would give those homes steady pressure from gravity instead of from a machine running at the moment they turn on the tap.
The tower also keeps working when the power goes out. The background says gravity does the tower's work, so water keeps flowing during an outage. Booster pumps cannot promise that. Because pumps run on electricity, a storm that knocks out power would stop the pumps and let hilltop pressure fall below the safe minimum, which is the worst time to lose water. The hilltop homes need a fix that keeps working during an emergency.
Some residents will argue that the tower costs too much and takes too long, since the background says it would cost several million dollars and take a few years, while pumps cost less and can run in a few months. That is a fair concern, and the council should not ignore it. But the background says pumps cost money to run every day and still fail in an outage, while a tower keeps water flowing on gravity when the power is out. Spending more now for a fix that is steady and safe is worth it. Tinder Hollow should build the tower.
Rubric:
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim | No clear position stated | States a position but it shifts or is vague | States one clear, consistent position | States a clear position and previews the reasoning |
| Evidence & reasoning | No evidence from the background | Restates one detail without explaining it | Uses at least one specific detail and explains how it supports the claim | Uses two or more details and explains how each supports the claim |
| Counterclaim | No counterclaim addressed | Names an opposing view with no rebuttal | States a counterclaim and offers a rebuttal | States a counterclaim, rebuts it specifically, and ties it back to the claim |
| Organization & conventions | Ideas are disconnected; frequent errors block meaning | Some organization; errors are noticeable | Clear paragraph structure; few errors | Clear, purposeful structure with a strong conclusion; nearly error-free |
Differentiation
Support
Provide sentence starters for each organizer row, such as "Tinder Hollow should ___ because the background says ___." Allow the counterclaim and rebuttal to be written as one combined sentence.
Extension
Ask students to add a second counterclaim, such as one about build time or daily running cost, and to rebut it using a different detail from the background than the one they already used.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "pressure," "booster pump," "gravity," and "counterclaim" with a simple diagram of a tower feeding a hilltop home versus a pump on the hill. Allow the organizer to be filled in with short phrases before drafting.
Extensions
Have students rewrite their conclusion as a one-minute spoken statement to the town council, keeping their claim and strongest piece of evidence but shortening the wording for a listening audience.