Learning how to write opinion and persuasive papers is essential. Your students performance on state assessments and their overall development as young writers depends on their ability to handle this demanding genre. In Crafting Opinion and Persuasive Papers, Tim Clifford explains the instructional steps needed to develop both opinion and persuasive papers. From evaluating positions to adding support, he presents lessons with the genre-specific Target Skills(r) you need to support your students progress. Invaluable for content-area and language-arts teachers, this book will help you teach your students to examine the validity of claims, comprehend the differences between fact and fiction, support positions with evidence, and understand audience and author s purpose. Instruction in the craft of opinion and persuasive writing will also enable your students to make informed judgments about the validity of the messages to which they are exposed, a vital skill in this information-rich age."