7th Grade ELA Lesson Plan for RI.7.

6 Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her point from that of others. Guiding Questions: What makes argument writing effective? How do authors present their arguments? What is a claim/counterclaim? How can I use opposing claims to strengthen my own argument? Learning Objectives: Students will be able to: -Explain what the term claim means and be able to identify what the claim(s) is in a variety of argument texts. -Identify the opposing claim(s) or counterclaim(s) in argument writing. -Explain how the author uses opposing claims to support his or her own argument. -Acknowledge an opposing claim in their own writing. Assessment: -Students will be given a sample piece of argument writing and be asked to identify a claim and the counterclaim. -Students will practice presenting a claim and using the counterclaim to their advantage through mini-debates. -Students will produce and present their own written speeches in which they acknowledge an opposing claim and use it to their advantage. Activities for the Lesson: -We will brainstorm as a class to come up with a definition of claim and discuss what an example of a claim might be and how it supports an overall argument. -We will discuss what an opposing claim or counterclaim might be and come up with potential counterclaims for the examples we previously brainstormed. -Students will be given pieces of argument writing and be asked to identify the claim and counter claim. -Students will pull arguments out of a hat and read pieces of articles that support and oppose that argument. They will come up with at least 1 claim that supports their position. They will use the articles/claims in mini-debatesone group will present a claim while the other listens and brainstorms ways to argue against that specific claim and use it to fuel their argument. Hook Activity: -Students will discuss definitions and examples of claims and counterclaims for arguments that are relevant and engaging to themcell phones in school, longer lunch periods, etc. Plan for Differentiation: -Students who show high proficiency in this skill will be given more advanced articles to read and may have to support multiple claims during the debate.

-Students who show a lower proficiency in this skill will be given small, more manageable articles and will have teacher guidance during debate preparation. Plan for Student Feedback: -Students will write reflections at the end of the unit. -Students may use the stoplight (My learning was stopped when, I still have questions about, I am confident I learned.) to provide immediate feedback. Lesson Plan for RI.7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. Guiding Questions: What makes argument writing effective? How do authors use emotion to persuade readers? What techniques can I use in my speech to appeal to my audiences emotions? Learning Objectives: Students will be able to: -Provide the connotation and denotation of a word. -Identify the use of figurative language in a textmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, repetition, etc. -Describe the authors tone in a text. -Explain how word choice and tone in argument writing can be used to appeal to the audiences emotions. -Compare and contrast how two texts on the same topic use word choice and tone to appeal to emotions. -Use an appeal to emotion in their own speeches. Assessment: -In group discussions, students will be asked to explain connotations of words and point out the use of figurative language as we read texts out loud. -Students will create and maintain T-charts to help compare and contrast the word choice, tone, and emotional appeal in the various speeches we read. -Students will be given an imaginary product and use Think, Pair, Share to discuss what emotions they would appeal to and how they might do that. -Students will produce and perform a speech on a societal issue of their choosing. Activities for the Lesson: -Students will look at advertisements, both print and video to analyze how they appeal to emotion. As a class, we will generate a list of methods they use (word choice, tone, etc.). -We will look at a short piece of argument writing, i.e. an editorial, and look at some of the word choices and use this discussion to define and identify connotations and denotations.

-Students will take notes on examples of figurative languagemetaphor, similie, hyperbole, and repetition (many of these will be a review from a short story unit) and identify them in the mentor text from the previous activity. -We will analyze 2-3 sets of speeches on the same topic using the text, The Greatest American Speeches: The stories and transcripts of the words that changed our history. They will look at speeches on the Civil Rights movement by MLK and Malcolm X, speeches on womens suffrage by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth, and speeches on terrorism by George W. Bush and Rudolph Giuliani (subject to change) and discuss the way each uses connotations, figurative language, and tone to appeal to emotion. They will maintain a T chart or Venn diagrams to keep track of these elements. Hook Activity: -Students may keep a Commerical Journal to jot down some examples of advertisements that use emotion to persuade the viewer to buy their product. -In class, students will analyze a few ads for appeals to emotion. Plan for Differentiation: -Students who show high proficiency in analyzing and discussing the speeches will work more independently. We may do the first set of speeches as a class, but students will look at the last set on their own. I may supplement the speeches with other articles. -Students who show a lower proficiency will work in small groups with me offering guidance. They may look at only pieces of the speeches instead of the entire text. Plan for Student Feedback: -Students will write reflections at the end of the unit. -Students may use the stoplight (My learning was stopped when, I still have questions about, I am confident I learned.) to provide immediate feedback. Lesson Plan for W.7.1b Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible, sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text. Guiding Questions: What makes argument writing effective? How do I support my claims with evidence? What makes a source credible? How do I pull out information from credible sources? Learning Objectives: Students will be able to: -Search MARVELs Points of View Reference Center to find an article supporting their argument and an article opposing their argument. -Use PDF document tools (highlighter, notes, etc.) to read and annotate the articles. -Find at least 5 quotes, facts, or statistics that support their argument. -Find at least 2 counter claims from the opposing argument that they are confident they can argue against. Assessment:

-I will collect and provide feedback on the annotated articles and list of evidence. -Students will share their findings with a partner for peer feedback. -Students will share out with the whole group the best piece of evidence they found. Activities for the Lesson: -Demonstrate using MARVELs database. -Demonstrate the READER tool on student laptops and how to save the document as a PDF. -Provide time for students to search the database for articles. -Model using the PDF tools to highlight and annotate. -Provide time for students to work through their own articles, while being monitored by the teacher. Hook Activity: -Before this lesson, students will have brainstormed a list of issues they see in society that they think need to be changed. -Students will have read some informational articles to familiarize themselves with the issues. -Students will have chosen the issue they are most passionate about. Plan for Differentiation: -Students who show high proficiency in this skill can be prompted to conduct a wider search for their topic, i.e. look for newspaper and magazine articles. -Students who show a lower proficiency in this skill can be given articles ahead of time and annotate them in a small group with teacher guidance. -Most of the articles in the MARVEL database are given a lexile levels that can be used to differentiate the reading portion of this lesson. Plan for Student Feedback: -Students will write reflections at the end of the unit. -Students may use the stoplight (My learning was stopped when, I still have questions about, I am confident I learned.) to provide immediate feedback.