Stage One – Desired Results
Content Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Writing.W.11–12.1: Write arguments to support claims in analyses of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2012).
Understandings:
My students understand that …
Essential Questions:
· How does one construct persuasive arguments that engage a chosen audience?
· What techniques of persuasion should be chosen to have the most impact on an audience?
Student Objectives (Outcomes):
Students will know and be able to …
· Formulate a clear position on an issue that has a personal impact on them.
· Clearly state the reasoning on both sides of an issue
· Conduct research on an issue using digital sources and verify the validity of the source.
· Identify a specific audience to target.
· Select evidence that best supports their reasoning and that will best persuade their chosen audience.
· Determine the best genre to influence their chosen audience.
· Analyze an issue in order to determine the best way to argue for their side of the issue.
· Utilize rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos) in order to persuade the audience.
Students will build relationships by …
· Working in collaborative groups
· Peer-edit a classmate’s paper
· Guided instruction in small groups
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence Directly Aligned to Content Standard
Performance Task:
· Students are to compose a persuasive text about an issue of justice that is important to them and will choose an appropriate audience and genre for their argument.
· Prior to the task, students will review and analyze several persuasive pieces in a multitude of genres in order to determine the features of each genre.
· During the writing process, students will also work with peers to refine their thinking about the issue, audience, and genre and develop an appropriate thesis. After an initial draft is completed, students will peer-edit each other’s piece.
· Finally, students will reflect on the product they have created and what they have learned about constructing a persuasive argument.
· An essay rubric will be used to assess the summative assessment.
Self-Assessments:
· Students will be given the rubric ahead of time
· Collaborative groups will work together and give feedback to each other
· Students will refer to model texts to help structure their own arguments
Other Evidence:
· Formative Assessments – analysis of persuasive pieces from several genres (speech, editorial, essay, letter, drama, song, visual art)
Differentiated Assessment Approaches:
This project is closely tied to student choice as each student will determine an issue of personal interest to them and then select a genre to convey their message. I will guide students in selecting genres that meet their needs and will offer scaffolded support as needed for various ability levels.
Stage 3 – Learning Plan – Directly Aligned to Content Standard AND Assessments
Learning Activities:
This is the core of your lesson plan and includes a listing describing briefly (usually in easy-to-follow bulleted or numbered form) what:
· Write to Learn + Classroom Talk (10 minutes): This lesson begins with a series of “quick writes” focused on consequences for hypothetical crimes and whether different cultures might have different consequences. Students will respond to each question independently in writing, and then will transition to small group share-outs of responses and then to whole group share outs. (Curiosity, Connection)
o Imagine that you, an American teenager, went out one night with some friends and vandalized a car and street signs. Imagine then that you were arrested by the police. What do you expect your punishment would be? Would it involve jail time, repairing the damage, or some other penalty? How do you think justice would be best served?
o What is the attitude toward vandalism of this nature in your family? In your school? In your community?
o In Unit 3, when you read the novel Things Fall Apart, you may have thought about what happens when cultures have different perspectives on issues of justice. What do you think might be the response to this kind of vandalism in another country?
· Presentation of Content Learning Objective (5 minutes): Students will analyze an issue of justice in order to identify author’s purpose including biases and an author’s use of reasoning and evidence to persuade through small group collaboration, marking the text, and note-taking. (Coherence, Connection, Context)
· Mini-Lesson – Background Information & Forms of Evidence (10 minutes): Students will be introduced to the Michael Fay Caning Controversy prior to reading two articles covering the different perspectives on the relative justice of the situation. The idea of editorial bias as well as the three primary forms of evidence (empirical, logical and anecdotal) will be introduced through direct instruction. (Coherence)
· Small Group Analysis of Article 1 (10 minutes): Each group of three will read the first article, marking the text for the different types of evidence and determining the effectiveness of the evidence as well as the bias of the author. During this time, I will circulate the room and confer with each group to check for understanding. After about 8 minutes, I will use a Whip-Around for each group to call out what they think the bias is and what evidence from the text lead them to their determination. (Concentration, Context, Coherence, Coaching)
· Small Group Analysis of Article 2 (10 minutes): Same procedure as above. (Concentration, Context, Coherence, Coaching)
· Exit Ticket (5 minutes): After reading and analyzing both of the articles, students will revisit their initial Write to Learn from the beginning of the lesson and write whether they still have the same ideas about consequences for a crime, especially as it relates to justice across different cultures. They will add onto the writing and submit the whole page as an exit ticket. (Context, Curiosity, Connection)
Stage 4 – Feedback Strategies (Entire Unit Plan)
Students will know what they need to improve and work towards mastery by through…
· Essay rubric
· Learning targets
· Peer-editing comments
· Teacher’s comments on formative assessments
Content Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Writing.W.11–12.1: Write arguments to support claims in analyses of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2012).
Understandings:
My students understand that …
- Collaborative discussions and the diversity they reveal aid individuals’ observational abilities.
- Argumentative writers successfully use text evidence to examine and convey complex ideas to specific audiences.
Essential Questions:
· How does one construct persuasive arguments that engage a chosen audience?
· What techniques of persuasion should be chosen to have the most impact on an audience?
Student Objectives (Outcomes):
Students will know and be able to …
· Formulate a clear position on an issue that has a personal impact on them.
· Clearly state the reasoning on both sides of an issue
· Conduct research on an issue using digital sources and verify the validity of the source.
· Identify a specific audience to target.
· Select evidence that best supports their reasoning and that will best persuade their chosen audience.
· Determine the best genre to influence their chosen audience.
· Analyze an issue in order to determine the best way to argue for their side of the issue.
· Utilize rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos) in order to persuade the audience.
Students will build relationships by …
· Working in collaborative groups
· Peer-edit a classmate’s paper
· Guided instruction in small groups
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence Directly Aligned to Content Standard
Performance Task:
· Students are to compose a persuasive text about an issue of justice that is important to them and will choose an appropriate audience and genre for their argument.
· Prior to the task, students will review and analyze several persuasive pieces in a multitude of genres in order to determine the features of each genre.
· During the writing process, students will also work with peers to refine their thinking about the issue, audience, and genre and develop an appropriate thesis. After an initial draft is completed, students will peer-edit each other’s piece.
· Finally, students will reflect on the product they have created and what they have learned about constructing a persuasive argument.
· An essay rubric will be used to assess the summative assessment.
Self-Assessments:
· Students will be given the rubric ahead of time
· Collaborative groups will work together and give feedback to each other
· Students will refer to model texts to help structure their own arguments
Other Evidence:
· Formative Assessments – analysis of persuasive pieces from several genres (speech, editorial, essay, letter, drama, song, visual art)
Differentiated Assessment Approaches:
This project is closely tied to student choice as each student will determine an issue of personal interest to them and then select a genre to convey their message. I will guide students in selecting genres that meet their needs and will offer scaffolded support as needed for various ability levels.
Stage 3 – Learning Plan – Directly Aligned to Content Standard AND Assessments
Learning Activities:
This is the core of your lesson plan and includes a listing describing briefly (usually in easy-to-follow bulleted or numbered form) what:
· Write to Learn + Classroom Talk (10 minutes): This lesson begins with a series of “quick writes” focused on consequences for hypothetical crimes and whether different cultures might have different consequences. Students will respond to each question independently in writing, and then will transition to small group share-outs of responses and then to whole group share outs. (Curiosity, Connection)
o Imagine that you, an American teenager, went out one night with some friends and vandalized a car and street signs. Imagine then that you were arrested by the police. What do you expect your punishment would be? Would it involve jail time, repairing the damage, or some other penalty? How do you think justice would be best served?
o What is the attitude toward vandalism of this nature in your family? In your school? In your community?
o In Unit 3, when you read the novel Things Fall Apart, you may have thought about what happens when cultures have different perspectives on issues of justice. What do you think might be the response to this kind of vandalism in another country?
· Presentation of Content Learning Objective (5 minutes): Students will analyze an issue of justice in order to identify author’s purpose including biases and an author’s use of reasoning and evidence to persuade through small group collaboration, marking the text, and note-taking. (Coherence, Connection, Context)
· Mini-Lesson – Background Information & Forms of Evidence (10 minutes): Students will be introduced to the Michael Fay Caning Controversy prior to reading two articles covering the different perspectives on the relative justice of the situation. The idea of editorial bias as well as the three primary forms of evidence (empirical, logical and anecdotal) will be introduced through direct instruction. (Coherence)
· Small Group Analysis of Article 1 (10 minutes): Each group of three will read the first article, marking the text for the different types of evidence and determining the effectiveness of the evidence as well as the bias of the author. During this time, I will circulate the room and confer with each group to check for understanding. After about 8 minutes, I will use a Whip-Around for each group to call out what they think the bias is and what evidence from the text lead them to their determination. (Concentration, Context, Coherence, Coaching)
· Small Group Analysis of Article 2 (10 minutes): Same procedure as above. (Concentration, Context, Coherence, Coaching)
· Exit Ticket (5 minutes): After reading and analyzing both of the articles, students will revisit their initial Write to Learn from the beginning of the lesson and write whether they still have the same ideas about consequences for a crime, especially as it relates to justice across different cultures. They will add onto the writing and submit the whole page as an exit ticket. (Context, Curiosity, Connection)
Stage 4 – Feedback Strategies (Entire Unit Plan)
Students will know what they need to improve and work towards mastery by through…
· Essay rubric
· Learning targets
· Peer-editing comments
· Teacher’s comments on formative assessments