Are zoos good or bad for animals? Ask Mrs. Bentley’s 8th grade Language Arts students. Students used a short article about zoos to learn about argumentative writing. Students had to take a stand after reading the article, support their claim based specific evidence from the text, and make counterclaim to their stance. Today, students focused on planning their thoughts using a graphic organizer. Students will then take these thoughts to use them to write an essay based on their claim.