Lesson Two:
Preparing Arguments
Aim: How can we prepare arguments to support our persuasive essay?
Materials: Computers with Internet access and word processing program, notebook.
Instructional Objectives: Students will be able to prepare a variety of arguments to support their request to have a class trip to Wild Safari at Six Flags Great Adventure; students will be able to foresee counterarguments and negate them.
Do Now: Students copy the following:
- Academic benefits
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Social benefits
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The negative results of not going to Wild Safari
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Avoiding foreseeable problems: preparation, planning
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Expenses
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Follow up activities
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Benefits to teachers
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Students' responsibilities
Motivation: Students are asked to number the items in their lists from the "Do Now" in the order in which they might appear in a persuasive essay. Then they are asked to star those items on the list that may be called counterarguments.
Homework Review:
The class is surveyed and a list of reasons why going to Wild Safari at Great Adventure is not a good idea, according to a hypothetical school official. These are listed on the board.
Development:
- Students are grouped in pairs. They are instructed to write a dialogue in the form of a debate between a representative of the student council and a school
official opposed to the trip. The debate is a joint effort so that both students may contribute to the arguments for and against the trip.
- After 15 minutes, pairs of students are asked to act out their debates.
- The class is asked to name a winner for each debate.
Homework: Students are given copies of the "Animal Tour" from the Six Flags web
site (http://www.sixflags.com/wildsafari/animal/)
They are to scan the entire tour; however the eight sections of the tour are individually assigned to specific students. Each student is asked to write a two-paragraph summary of his part of the safari.
Lessons:
Lesson One: The Art of Persuasion
Lesson Two: Preparing Arguments
Lesson Three: Services For The Disabled At Wild Safari
Lesson Four: Drafting an Essay
Lesson Five: Assessment Rubric
