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In John Reynolds’s eighth grade Global Studies class, there’s no simple multiple choice exam at the end of the semester. Instead, each student is expected to research the position of a nation involved in the tension between North Korea and the rest of the world. Students write individual “white papers” summarizing the position of the countries they’re assigned and then work in teams of three to prepare arguments for a solution to the conflict that draws on factual information and represents the actual positions of the countries they represent. On the day of the exam, the students gather around a large table and conduct six-party talks while Mr. Reynolds plays the role of facilitator and takes notes on each student’s contributions.

Because this is an exam, Mr. Reynolds needs to assess each student. The final grade includes several components, each of which has its own rubric: a score for the white paper, a score for contributions to the discussion, an individual self-assessment, and a reflection written by each student that discusses the effectiveness of his or her contributions.

Here is the reflection written by Sam, who took on the role of South Korea. While Sam never uses the words claim or counterclaim in this reflection, those ideas are clearly present:

In order to positively contribute to the group, I knew that I had to have a goal and understanding of what South Korea, my assigned country, would desire. The first day of deliberation, I brought forth several points, but specifically a main issue in North Korea that their population is starving. The response to my point was surprising; argumentative debate and disorder broke out. I realize now that the tone and accusation I made came out incorrectly; I was intending on bringing up a way to show that North Korea needs other countries’ help. The following day, I made sure to react to comments with a calmer and less aggressive manner, and I used my notes to prepare to respond to other views to reach a compromise. I proposed that North Korea should rejoin the six-party talks and start to denuclearize their weapons, and as more trust is gained, South Korea would take action in removing the United States troops from their border. While discussing in small groups on the first day, I found out that each country had different objectives and main concerns, which made forming a solution harder, but after talking and presenting evidence, overall, all of the countries contributed to making a final, peaceful compromise.

By allowing his students to work together and discover the consequences of argument, evidence, and counterclaims in action, Mr. Reynolds creates a sense of relevancy and practicality. He also gives students a valuable discussion experience with enough structure to ensure learning.

“When the girls do a project with several assessment pieces, as Sam did in her reflection,” John told us, “they deconstruct their learning, and this, to me as a teacher, is the essence of creating and nurturing exemplary students. The written piece of argument as content is important, but the self-assessments, reflections, and peer evaluations demonstrate how students learn where their arguments succeeded, failed, and could be improved.”