Evaluating with a Pro-Con Chart

When you want to evaluate the good and the bad of something, you can use a pro-con chart. A student created this pro-con chart to think about the good and bad aspects of the U.S. Westward Expansion during the 1800s. You can create a similar chart to think about the positive and negative traits of a character in a novel, the benefits and drawbacks of a school policy, or the things you like or dislike about a certain basketball shoe.

Your Turn Create a pro-con chart to analyze the good and bad aspects of a topic you are studying. These instructions tell how to make a pro-con chart by hand, but you can also download the pro-con chart template at the bottom of this minilesson.

1. Write the topic at the top of a piece of paper.
2. Under the topic, draw a vertical line down the middle of the page.
3. Draw a horizontal line near the top of the page, crossing the vertical line.
4. Above the horizontal line, write "Pro" on the left and "Con" on the right.
5. In the pro column, list the good things about your topic.
6. In the con column, list the bad things about your topic.
7. Show your pro-con chart to a classmate and discuss your evaluation of the topic.