EXAMPLES OF PERSUASION DAY TWO LESSON PLAN

Objective: SWBAT identify counter arguments in a written article. SWBAT identify and address to arguments in their own writing.

Materials: Extra copies of persuasion article (incase students lost their copy), overhead of persuasion article, Outline Argument handout (15 copies)

Adaptations/Modifications: Check for understanding frequently with all students due to ELL status. Kari (IEP) to pre-teach material, reinforce vocabulary, and extend time for homework up to two days. Erika (IEP) extended time, regular breaks, quiet setting for testing, and shortened assignments. Brianna has the option to test in an alternative environment.

Literacy: Students will be reading and analyzing a persuasive argument. They will apply what they learned from this article to their own writing, and begin outlining their final essay.

Set: “So yesterday we spoke about how to look up words that we do not know. Does anyone remember what some strategies we can use to find out the meaning of a word? Please turn to a partner and power talk for the next sixty seconds about one strategy your remember.” (context clues, look it up in a dictionary, ask for help) (5 min).

Application:

“Can everyone please pull out the article that we read yesterday?” Check to make sure students still have it, hand out extra copies if they do not.

“Now that we have finished reading this argument, I would like you to think to yourself for a minute, and you can certainly look over your notes from yesterday. Was this a good argument or a bad argument?  Would anyone like to say what they believe and why?” (5 min)

“Great! Now as a class I want to pretend that we don’t believe the same way the author of this argument does. Just like a lawyer would in court , we are going to come up with counter arguments to this idea. What might someone believe if they believed the opposite of this argument?” I will write up counter arguments on the white board as we discuss them as a class. “Now that we have come up with some counter arguments, let’s go back to this article and look at the second paragraph. Can we see how the author knew what the counter arguments were, but then addressed them? In order for an argument to be effective, we need to recognize the other side of the argument, and then tell the audience why those counter arguments are wrong. An easy way to look at this is shooting down the other side.” (10 min).

Students seemed very confused by this concept, so I frequently checked for understaning by thumbs up/down. I decided to try another example, and began to act out an impromptu skit about two cowboys who stood on opposite sides of an argument. They could see the other side, and they needed to "shoot down" the other cowboys argument. This example seemed to really help students understand, and they also enjoyed my antics and faked southern drawl.

“Let’s practice some more. If my argument is that we should leave early for lunch, what is one counter argument?” Students will shout out their answers. I am looking for ideas similar to-the cafeteria is not ready- or- we need to use class time wisely.

“What if my argument is that students should have classes until 7pm?” (5 min).

 “Great! I also want to take a minute to look at an expert opinion.” I will point to the example on the overhead of the essay. “Do you all remember when we took notes on an expert opinion? Here is this author’s use of an expert opinion in her essay. “

“Great! Now please pull out the notes and information you have been compiling on your own argument. I want you to spend the next part of class writing counter arguments for your topic. If you’d like to, you can work with a partner or you can work alone. If you are off task, however, I will ask you to work alone. Please make good use of your time. I expect to see at least three counter arguments and then your response to that argument.  I will walk around and work with students one-on-one to help them come up with ideas or answer questions. (15 min)

Once again I noticed that once students tried to come up with counter arguments the concept was still somewhat hazy. As a class, we all moved from one side of the room to another depending on whether or not we agreeed or disagreed with a studnet's argument. Then the disagreeing side had to say why they disagreed. The agreeing side then had to "address" the disagreement by saying why that specific argument was incorrect. We began using the sentence frame: Some people believe........... I diagree with them because..............  This really helped students understand not simply the counter argument, but also addressing the counter argument.

Evaluation: Students will quick write in their journal to demonstrate understanding of the topics learned. “In your journal, please spend the next few minutes writing about counter arguments. Why is it important to discuss counter arguments someone might have?” (5 min).

Closing:

Tonight I want you to look at that argument again and begin adding in more information. For tomorrow I would like you to have an outline of what your argument is. Please fill out this worksheet for tomorrow’s class. ” I will hand out the worksheet and explain it to them, as well as walk through how I expect it to look (5 min).

Reflection: The concept of counter argument was much more difficult for the students to understand than I expected. When I checked for understanding (thumbs up/down), students seemed confused by the concept and how to apply it to their own argument. I decided to break down the idea even further by making a story out of it about a good and bad cowboy facing off. The good cowboy needed to shoot down the bad cowboys arguments. Next I would share an argument with the class with two possible sides to take. The students would stand on one side of the room if they agreed with that opinion, and on the other side of the room if they agreed with the opposing opinion. I would ask side one to give a reason why their argument was better. Side two had to come up with an opposing or counter argument. This seemed to help students understand better. I need to address this again  tomorrow, and if teaching this again, I would definitely need to spend more time teaching this concept.