The effects of explicit instruction utilizing traditionally-printed and digital mentor texts to teach evidence-based written arguments to fifth grade students

Using a mixed methods research design, this study investigated the effects of explicit instruction scaffolded through the study of traditionally-printed and digital mentor texts on fifth-grade students’ writing performance of a well-developed evidence-based argument. A single-subject multiple-baseline with multiple probes approach tracked changes in students’ writing performance over time and a single case study approach provided an opportunity to examine how instruction utilizing mentor texts affected the quality of students’ evidence-based arguments. The study’s findings are framed in terms of the theoretical perspectives of social constructivism and multimodality. The effects of this intervention indicate that mentor texts not only contribute to the development of a better understanding of the structural elements of an evidence-based argument but also provide useful examples for students to emulate throughout the writing process.