Writing prompt Grade 6 Social Studies & Civics
Should Tidwell Pay Homeowners to Replace Their Lawns?
Grade 6 argument writing on a fictional town's lawn rebate program, with background data, a claim-and-evidence organizer, a full exemplar essay, and a four-level rubric.
Objectives
- Students will state a clear claim about a town spending decision.
- Students will support a claim with at least three pieces of evidence from the background.
- Students will compare the rebate program with two other ways to save the same amount of water.
Vocabulary
Key words: rebate, claim, evidence, conservation, council
Teacher overview
Paying residents to remove grass is one of the most common conservation programs in dry parts of the country, and it is also one of the most argued about. This prompt gives students the numbers a real council would see for the fictional town of Tidwell, including what the program buys and what the same money could buy instead. Grade 6 is where the writing standards move from opinion writing to argument, so the task asks for a claim, reasons, and evidence. Counterclaims are not required at this grade. The exemplar builds its case entirely from the background material and offers one brief concession near the end, which students are not expected to match.
Prompt
Background. Tidwell is a town of 4,000 homes in a dry part of the state. Suppose that summer water use in Tidwell is about twice winter use, and that most of the difference is water put on lawns. According to EPA WaterSense, the average US household uses about 300 gallons of water per day, and roughly 70 percent of that is used indoors. The rest goes outside.
The Tidwell Town Council has run a lawn rebate program for one year. Here is how it works. The town pays a homeowner $2 for each square foot of lawn replaced with low-water plants and gravel. A home may claim up to 1,000 square feet, so the largest payment is $2,000. The council set aside $400,000 for the first year, which was enough for 200 homes.
Here is what the town learned in that first year.
- Suppose each home that replaced 1,000 square feet saved about 20,000 gallons a year. Across 200 homes, the program saved about 4 million gallons a year.
- The 200 homes that received money are 5 percent of the homes in Tidwell.
- Renters cannot apply, because the payment goes to the property owner.
- A survey found that 40 of the 200 owners had already planned to remove the lawn before the program existed.
- The savings continue every year, because a lawn that is gone does not need water again.
The council is deciding whether to fund a second year. Two other uses of the same $400,000 are on the table.
- Repairing a leaking section of water main under Beckley Street. Suppose that repair would save about 8 million gallons a year.
- Passing a watering rule that limits outdoor watering to two days a week. Suppose enforcement would cost about $30,000 a year and would save about 15 million gallons a year, though it applies to everyone whether they like it or not.
Your task. Write an argument essay addressed to the Tidwell Town Council. State a claim about whether the council should fund the lawn rebate program for a second year. Support your claim with at least three pieces of evidence from the background above. End with a paragraph that tells the council what you want it to do.
Planning Organizer
Fill in every box before you draft. Each reason and its evidence become one body paragraph of your essay.
| Part | What to write | My notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claim | One sentence naming what the council should do. | |
| Reason 1 | Why you think so, in your own words. | |
| Evidence 1 | A number or fact from the background that supports reason 1. | |
| Reason 2 | A second, different reason. | |
| Evidence 2 | A number or fact from the background that supports reason 2. | |
| Reason 3 | A third reason, often about fairness or about what else the money could buy. | |
| Evidence 3 | A number or fact from the background that supports reason 3. | |
| Conclusion | What you want the council to do, and one sentence on why it matters to Tidwell. |
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
Dear Members of the Tidwell Town Council,
The council should not fund the lawn rebate program for a second year. Tidwell needs to save water, but the same $400,000 buys more water somewhere else. I have three reasons for my claim.
My first reason is that the program saves less water than the other choices on the table. The 200 homes in the first year saved about 4 million gallons a year. The repair of the leaking main under Beckley Street would save about 8 million gallons a year, which is twice as much for the same money. A two-day watering rule would save about 15 million gallons a year and cost only about $30,000 to enforce. If the goal is to save water, the rebate is the smallest result of the three.
My second reason is that the program does not reach most of the town. Only 200 homes received money, and that is 5 percent of the 4,000 homes in Tidwell. Renters cannot apply at all, because the payment goes to the property owner. That means most families in town had no chance to use the program.
My third reason is that some of the money paid for something that was going to happen anyway. The town's own survey found that 40 of the 200 owners had already planned to remove their lawns before the program started. That is one out of five. Those payments did not save a single extra gallon.
I understand that a lawn removed stays removed, and that the savings continue every year. That is a real advantage, and I would not take the program away forever. Still, when the leaking main under Beckley Street is losing water every day, fixing the pipe should come first.
I ask the council to spend this year's $400,000 on the Beckley Street repair and to bring the rebate back only after the leaks are fixed. The watering rule would save even more water for less money, but it limits every household whether they like it or not, so the council should vote on it separately. A pipe that loses water every day is the first thing Tidwell should fix.
Rubric
| Criterion | 1: Emerging | 2: Developing | 3: Proficient | 4: Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim | No clear position, or the position changes partway through. | States a position, but it is vague about what the council should do. | States a clear position in one sentence near the start and holds it. | States a clear position and returns to it in the conclusion with a specific request. |
| Evidence and reasoning | Uses no evidence from the background. | Uses one piece of evidence, or lists numbers without explaining them. | Uses at least three pieces of evidence and explains how each supports a reason. | Uses at least three pieces of evidence, explains each, and compares two options directly using their numbers. |
| Organization | Ideas run together in one block. | Has paragraphs, but reasons are mixed within them. | Each paragraph carries one reason with its evidence, in a sensible order. | Paragraphs are ordered from strongest reason to closing request, with transitions that signal each new reason. |
| Conventions | Frequent errors make the meaning hard to follow. | Errors are noticeable but the meaning is clear. | Few errors; sentences are complete and punctuation is mostly correct. | Control of sentence variety and punctuation, with an appropriate formal tone for a letter to a council. |
Differentiation
Support
Give these students the organizer with the claim row already offering two options to circle, and highlight four facts in the background that work as evidence. Allow them to write three body paragraphs of three sentences each, and provide the opening and closing sentence frames.
Extension
Ask these students to write a second, shorter letter arguing the opposite claim, and then to write one paragraph naming which letter they found easier to support and why. They may also propose a version of the rebate that reaches renters and explain how it would work.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "rebate," "claim," "evidence," "council," and "square foot," using a taped square on the classroom floor to show one square foot. Provide a word bank of comparison phrases such as "twice as much," "only," and "instead of," and allow students to plan the organizer orally with a partner before writing.
Extensions
Students can find out whether their own water provider offers rebates for fixtures, appliances, or landscaping, and then write a short summary comparing that real program with the one in this prompt.