5E Lesson Plan: How to argue (March 28-29, 2019)

Emerson Avery
Your Name
Lesson Subject Area U.S. History

Specific Topic Parsing and constructing arguments concerning American

historical conflicts during the early Republic
Appropriate 8.1.9.B: Compare the interpretation of historical events and
Standards being sources, considering the use of fact versus opinion, multiple
addressed perspectives, and cause and effect relationships

8.3.9.D: Interpret how conflict and cooperation among groups and

organizations have impacted the growth and development of the
U.S.

CC.8.6.9-10.A: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific

content.
Instructional At the end of this lesson the students will be able to:
Objectives (Bloom 1. Discern the subject of a disagreement
Level) 2. Characterize participants’ positions
Minimum of three 3. Construct an argument on the subject at hand
ENGAGE Modern argument: Pizza vs. burgers
Activities  Texts representing an argument for both sides are
presented
o Both of which are entertaining in their exaggerated
polemics
 Students are responsible, in this first case, only for
identifying the subject of the disagreement (Which is
better: burgers or hot dogs?) and which argument each
side is making
EXPLORE Modern argument: PUBG vs. Fortnite
Activities  This time, only the text presenting a pro-PUBG argument
is provided
 Students are responsible for inferring the other position on
the basis of references in the provided text
 They are then to isolate and identify specific arguments in
the pro-PUBG paragraph as well as offer three arguments
for a pro-Fortnite side

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.

There must be a will to produce a superior thing.
John Ruskin
EXPLAIN Mini lecture:
Activities  Discussion of the fact that these arguments all turn on
differing valuations of a single set of facts
 Except for those which are simply ad hominem attacks,
which are present in both example arguments
o Discussion of the fact that these arguments are
valid, in the sense of potentially strong, but not
legitimate: they do not address the factual basis of
the argument

ELABORATE Modern argument: Cell phones in school

Activities  Students are presented with an argument for having cell
phones in school. They must:
o identify the subject of the argument;
o characterize the two sides involved;
o isolate the arguments made for their presence;
o and, finally, write a paragraph making the opposite
argument
 This extends the previous activity in two
regards:
 Most students do want to have their
phones available, meaning that they
must view the issue analytically
rather than passionately in order to
formulate their argument
 The argument must be in connected
prose, rather than a series of bullet
points
Historical argument: Cabinet Battle #3
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MadmQvJezDA)
 Students are presented with the “arguments” offered by
Jefferson and Hamilton in Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Cabinet
Battle #3”, on the subject of slavery
 Here, both arguments are written out in connected prose
already. Students are responsible for deconstruction this
time:
o Isolate both sides’ arguments
o Indicate the shared factual basis from which they
part
o Write 3-5 sentences explaining which they feel is
the better argument
EVALUATE Historical position: Calhoun for Nullification
Activities  Student are confronted with their most complicated text
Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.
There must be a will to produce a superior thing.
John Ruskin
 yet: a primary source. Calhoun’s case for nullification,
which we saw, briefly, during an earlier lesson on Andrew
Jackson
 Using the skills learned during the lesson, students are
tasked with generating a contrary case
 This writing will form part of the unit summative exam,
given next class
References Cabinet battle #3 link above
Materials & Smartboard
Equipment Class Chromebooks
Handouts (attach) Graphic organizer: How to argue

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.

There must be a will to produce a superior thing.
John Ruskin