Grade 5 · Argumentative · short classroom practice
A student-designed walking map
Write an argumentative essay making a claim about whether the school should support the student walking-map project. Develop logical reasons with relevant evidence from both sources and elaboration, and use an organizational structure with varied transitions.
These two original fictional classroom sources are shorter than official B.E.S.T. Writing stimuli, which use 2–4 texts totaling 800–1,300 words. This exercise is not a full-length test simulation.
Source 1: The Mapping Team's Proposal
A student team wants to make a walking map of the school grounds. The map would show classroom buildings, the garden, water fountains, and accessible paths. New students could use it during orientation. Team members propose interviewing staff before drawing the routes because a path that looks shorter may have stairs or a locked gate. They would test an early map with volunteers and revise confusing symbols. The team asks for two supervised meetings during activity time and permission to post a digital version.
Source 2: A Teacher's Questions
A teacher believes students could learn from designing a map, but warns that an inaccurate map might confuse visitors. A staff member should check every route before publication. Directions must remain clear when printed in black and white, so color alone cannot distinguish paths. Students would also need a plan for updating the map when construction changes a route. The teacher suggests a small first version showing only the library and main office, followed by a larger map if testing succeeds.
Plan your response
- Choose a focused claim, including a staged trial if it supports your position.
- Connect relevant evidence from both sources to logical reasons and explain your reasoning.
- Attribute source evidence and use varied transitions that show real relationships.
- Check tense and number consistency, clauses and earlier sentence conventions. A counterclaim is optional.
The word count is information for revision, not a required essay minimum or a score.
Manual self-review
Use these checks to revise your writing. They do not calculate a score. The official rubric has three domains, each with 0–4 possible points, for 12 total: Purpose/Structure, Development and Language.
Identify your sources when using their evidence. Under the official rubric, Development cannot exceed 2 without citation. Source titles or numbers help you practice attribution. Counterclaims are optional in Grades 4–6 argumentative writing.