Answer:
Claim: Children should spend more time outside
Reason: Time outdoors encourages exercise.
Counterclaim: Accidents are more likely to occur outside
.
Rebuttal: The benefits outweigh the possible negatives.
Explanation:
When we write an essay in which our purpose is to convince the audience of our opinion, we need to follow a few steps.
<u>First, we must make a claim, state what our opinion is</u>. The instructions in the question told us that this blog writer thinks it is important for children to spend more time outside. That is, therefore, <u>his claim: Children should spend more time outside
.</u>
T<u>he next step is to give a reason for that claim, that is, to explain why that claim is righ</u>t, why that idea should be followed. In the case of the blogger, the best statement to support his claim is: <u>Time outdoors encourages exercise. Exercise is associated with health and happiness. Thus, it is a good reason for children to spend time outdoors.</u>
Then, we must think of<u> what people could possibly say to contradict our claim, to say that our claim is not right. In this case, the counterclaim is: Accidents are more likely to occur outside
</u>. The possibility of accidents taking place is good reason to NOT allow children to spend time outdoors.
Finally, we must think of<u> a response to the counterclaim, an answer to rebut its idea and prove our claim right.</u> For the blog writer, the best rebuttal would be: <u>The benefits outweigh the possible negatives. Even though there is the possibility of accidents happening, they are small in comparison to the benefits of spending time outdoors.</u>