Grade 10 Lesson plan
Thornbury's Tiered Water Rate: A Grade 10 Argument Lesson
A grade 10 ELA lesson where students analyze two position statements on a fictional town's tiered water rate, then draft a claim, counterclaim, and rebuttal.
Common Core ELA · Grades 9–10
W.9-10.1 Argument writing
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Why water teaches this standard well
Students write arguments with precise claims, developed counterclaims, and valid reasoning on substantive water questions, such as whether utilities should be allowed to shut off service for unpaid bills or how a region should divide a shrinking river. Water policy offers exactly the substantive, genuinely contested topics this standard assumes.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
51 materials aligned to W.9-10.1
Lesson plans
Grade 10 Lesson plan
Metering the Willow Bench Wells: Analyzing Two Letters
A 55-minute grade 10 lesson in which students analyze two letters to a county board about metering irrigation wells and write an evaluation of the reasoning.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
Two Op-Eds on the Banwell Plant Upgrade: A Grade 9 Analysis Lesson
A 50-minute grade 9 lesson where students analyze two fictional op-eds about a wastewater plant upgrade and judge which one supports its claim better.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
Ridgefield's Flooded Streets: An Argument-Writing Lesson
A grade 9 lesson where students argue whether a fictional city should fund green infrastructure or a larger storm sewer, developing a claim and a counterclaim.
Grade 10 Lesson plan
Should Heron Lake Farms Face New Runoff Limits? An Argument Lesson
A grade 10 argument writing lesson on whether farms near a fictional lake should face new fertilizer runoff limits, using dissolved oxygen and fish-health evidence.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
Should Thornfield Fund a Booster Pump Station? Grade 9 Lesson
A grade 9 argument writing lesson where students use a cost-per-household calculation and two-sided evidence to argue over a fictional town's pump-station rate increase.
Worksheets
Grade 10 Worksheet
Alderbrook's Stormwater Fee: Testing Two Opposing Arguments
Grade 10 students compare an editorial and a reply letter on a stormwater fee, test each writer's claims against a town fact sheet, and write a fair argument.
Grade 9 Worksheet
Hedged and Unhedged Claims in the Yarrowmead Well Advisory
A grade 9 ELA worksheet on hedged and unhedged claims, using a fictional county advisory about nitrate in private wells and its own sampling record.
Grade 9 Worksheet
Four Laurelton Water-Saving Posters: A Grade 9 Critique Worksheet
Grade 9 art worksheet where students critique four described conservation posters using design principles and build an evidence-based argument for the most effective one.
Grade 10 Worksheet
Two Statements on the Peat Hollow Taste-and-Odor Event
A grade 10 worksheet comparing a utility statement and a lake association statement about an earthy taste in tap water, with twelve items on hedging and word choice.
Grade 10 Worksheet
Does the Rowanfield Filter Letter Prove Its Claims?
A grade 10 ELA worksheet in which students test a fictional home-filter sales letter against the town's own water data and write a short evidence-based evaluation.
Grade 10 Worksheet
Aging Pipes and a Rate Increase: An Argument-Analysis Worksheet
A grade 10 worksheet in which students read a short editorial on funding pipe replacement through higher water rates and analyze its claims, evidence, and counterclaims.
Classroom activities
Grade 9 Classroom activity
Four Wording Choices in the Faldon Creek Advisory
A grade 9 four-station rotation in which teams swap one word or phrase in a fictional stormwater advisory, then record how obligation, blame, and certainty shift.
Reading passages
Grade 9 Reading passage
Purple Pipes in Cavelle Mesa: Recycled Water for the Parks
A grade 9 informational passage on a fictional city's purple-pipe recycled water system, with literal, inferential, claim, and explanatory writing questions.
Writing prompts
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Gates or Driver Lessons at Skirrow Creek: A Flood Argument Prompt
Students argue whether a fictional town should spend flood-safety money on automatic road gates or on teen driver lessons and alerts, using injury-prevention evidence.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Tiverly Park Pool in the Sorrelford Drought: An Argument Prompt
Students argue whether a fictional town should close its only public pool to save water in a drought, weighing heat illness, swim lessons, and water quality.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Halverton County's Next CTE Pathway: A Funding Argument
A grade 10 careers argument prompt in which students advise a fictional school board on funding a water technology pathway or expanding health sciences.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Teasdale Irrigation: Retrain the Crew or Hire New Technicians?
A grade 9 careers argument prompt: students advise a fictional irrigation district's board on retraining its ditch riders or hiring certified irrigation technicians.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Ashenmoor's Workforce Budget: Apprentices or Signing Bonuses
A grade 10 careers argument prompt asking students to recommend how a water utility should spend its workforce budget, with a planning organizer, exemplar, and rubric.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
How Should Silverbeck Spend Its Training Budget?
A grade 9 argument prompt asking students to recommend how a fictional water authority spends one training budget: a degree for one employee or six license upgrades.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Should Tarnley Township Approve the Data Center Wells?
A grade 10 argument prompt on a fictional township's vote on a data center's groundwater agreement, with drawdown and tax data, an exemplar, and a rubric.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Should Ryecroft County Fund a Water Operator Academy?
A grade 9 argument writing prompt in which students weigh a fictional county's operator training academy against an open scholarship fund, using BLS workforce data.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Should Bellow Ford Pay Landowners to Protect Its Watershed?
A grade 10 argument writing prompt weighing a filtration upgrade against paying upstream landowners for buffers, with an organizer, a full exemplar, and a rubric.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Should Pennerly Require Septic Inspections at Sale?
A grade 10 ELA argument prompt on a fictional township's proposal to require septic inspections before a home sale, with two-sided background, an exemplar, and a rubric.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Wren Valley's Water Conservation Rule: An Argument Prompt
A grade 10 argument prompt where students take a position on a fictional town's proposed water conservation mandate, using real household water-use figures as evidence.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Should Lindenmoor High Add a Water-Operator Pathway?
A grade 9 argument prompt asking whether a fictional high school should add a water-operator career pathway, with real workforce data, an exemplar, and a rubric.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Should Marrowdale Remove the Quillon Mill Dam? An Argument Prompt
A grade 9 argument writing prompt on a fictional town's choice between repairing an old mill dam and removing it, with a planning organizer, exemplar, and rubric.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Should Ryehope Valley Meter Every Irrigation Well? Grade 9 Prompt
A grade 9 argument writing prompt on a fictional district's proposal to meter all irrigation wells, with background, a planning organizer, an exemplar, and a rubric.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Should Halstead Ban Water Shutoffs for Unpaid Bills?
Grade 9 argument prompt on whether a fictional city should stop shutting off water for unpaid bills, using real affordability and rate-trend figures as evidence.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Should Fairview Fund Extra PFAS Filtration Early? A Writing Prompt
A grade 10 argument writing prompt on whether a fictional town should install PFAS filtration ahead of the federal deadline, using the actual EPA limit as evidence.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Mirror Lake's Algal Blooms: A Grade 9 Argument Writing Prompt
A grade 9 argument prompt on whether a lake town should require farm buffer strips to reduce nutrient runoff, addressing a farmer's counterclaim about cost.
Debate kits
Grade 10 Debate kit
Dunnesford Operator Trainees: A Degree Requirement Debate
A grade 10 careers debate kit on whether a water utility should require an associate degree of operator trainees, with two-sided evidence and a four-level rubric.
Grade 10 Debate kit
Kirtlebrook Water District: A Contract Operations Debate Kit
A grade 10 careers debate kit on whether a small water district should hire a contract operations firm or keep in-house staff, with two-sided evidence and a rubric.
Grade 10 Debate kit
Sattermill's Night Shift: A Remote Monitoring Debate Kit
A grade 10 careers debate kit on whether a utility should replace its staffed night shift with remote monitoring and an on-call operator, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 9 Debate kit
Should Ashenford Require a Degree for New Operator Hires?
A grade 9 debate kit on whether a fictional water district should require a two-year degree for entry-level operator jobs, with two-sided evidence on hiring.
Grade 9 Debate kit
Should Weatherhill Require Both Water and Wastewater Licenses?
A grade 9 debate kit on whether a fictional regional authority should require every new operator to earn a drinking water license and a wastewater license.
Grade 10 Debate kit
Cardwell County's Cistern Ordinance: A Grade 10 Debate Kit
A structured debate on requiring rainwater cisterns in new homes, with a resolution, role notes, two-sided evidence with named sources, and a four-level rubric.
Grade 10 Debate kit
Quarry Bend Reservoir Drought Allocation: A Debate Kit
A grade 10 ELA debate kit on whether a drought-stricken authority should cut farm irrigation to protect city drinking water, with two-sided evidence and a rubric.
Grade 10 Debate kit
Should Wistmore Install Hourly-Reading Water Meters?
A grade 10 ELA debate kit on a fictional district's proposal to replace manual-read meters with hourly-reporting meters, with two-sided evidence, roles, and a rubric.
Grade 9 Debate kit
Buffer Strips on Hartcliffe County Creeks: A Debate Kit
A grade 9 debate on whether a fictional farming county should require fertilizer buffer strips along its creeks, with two-sided evidence on water and farm costs.
Grade 9 Debate kit
Who Pays for Pellcott's Private-Side Lead Lines? A Debate Kit
A grade 9 debate kit on whether a fictional city should cover the full cost of private-side lead line replacement, with two-sided evidence, roles, and a rubric.
Grade 9 Debate kit
Should Redmarley Treat for PFAS Now or Wait for the Deadline?
A grade 9 debate kit on whether a fictional town builds PFAS treatment now or waits for a grant round and a federal decision on extra time that is still pending.
Grade 10 Debate kit
Who Pays to Replace a Lead Service Line? A Grade 10 Debate Kit
A grade 10 debate kit on whether homeowners or the utility should pay to replace the private-property portion of a lead service line, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 9 Debate kit
Should Copper Bluff County Borrow to Replace Water Mains Now?
A grade 9 debate kit on whether a fictional county should issue a bond to replace aging water mains now, with two-sided evidence on need and affordability.
Projects
Grade 10 Project
The Farrowgate Ledger Water Tank Opinion Portfolio
A five-session grade 10 ELA project in which students research a fictional town's aging water tank and publish an op-ed, an opposing rebuttal, and an editor's note.
Grade 9 Project
Answering the Thrapton Drought Surcharge Comments
A five-session grade 9 ELA project in which students restate eight fictional public comments on a drought surcharge and draft the water board's formal written reply.
Quizzes & test questions
Grade 10 Quiz & test questions
The Elvaston Recycled Water Agreement: An Argument Quiz
A grade 10 quiz on claim, reason, concession, and rebuttal, built on two fictional documents arguing over recycled water for orchard irrigation.
Grade 10 Quiz & test questions
Four Sources on the Yarrowby Well Field PFAS Result
A grade 10 quiz on evaluating and synthesizing four short sources about a PFOA result in a fictional town's wells, with ten items and a full answer key.
Grade 9 Quiz & test questions
The Brenmere Lead Line Op-Ed: A Grade 9 ELA Quiz
A thirty-point grade 9 quiz on claim, counterclaim, concession, and evidence, built from a fictional op-ed and a letter to the editor about lead service lines.
Graphic organizers
Grade 10 Graphic organizer
Inglemoor Dam Relicensing: A Claim and Rebuttal Organizer
A grade 10 argument organizer that separates claim, reason, evidence, concession, and rebuttal, with a completed exemplar built on a fictional dam license decision.
Grade 9 Graphic organizer
Four Voices at the Ostrey Dam Relicensing Hearing
A grade 9 organizer sorting four fictional hearing statements by speaker, audience, appeal, and loaded wording, then building a claim and the counterclaim to answer.