Lesson 1: For or Against?

 Lesson Plan

Tuning In

• Read the narrative text, I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff, to the class. Alternatively, watch a video reading of the text on YouTube. After reading, ask the students:
  • What is the situation that Alex and his mother are discussing in their letters?
  • What is Alex’s point of view about the situation?
  • What is his mother’s point of view about the situation?
  • Based on what happens at the end of the story, which character has been convinced by the other’s point of view? How do you know this?
  • Do you agree with Alex, or with his mother? Why?

Teacher Instruction

• Explain to the students that people often have different points of view about certain situations or issues, just like Alex and his mother in the story. Ask the students to share their points of view about some everyday issues that they can relate to. Encourage the students to explain and justify their reasoning to the class. Some common issues might include:
  • whether dogs are friendlier than cats
  • whether chocolate ice cream is more delicious than vanilla ice cream
  • whether siblings are allies or enemies
  • whether sunny days are more fun than rainy days
  • whether students work harder than teachers.
• As a class, brainstorm some other situations that family and friends might have different points of view about e.g. how to spend leisure time, what television shows to watch, what to have for dinner. Encourage the students to suggest strategies that might be used to convince other members of their family to agree with a particular point of view.

Guided/Independent Learning

• Choose a topic card from the Persuasive Topic Cards – Lower Grades or the Persuasive Topic Cards – Upper Grades (depending on the ability level of the students). Read the card aloud to the class, then attach it to the middle of the board. On one side of the card, write ‘for’. On the other side, write ‘against’.
• Provide each student with a post-it note. Ask each student to think carefully about how they feel about the topic on the card. Once they have had some time to think, ask them to write their point of view about the topic (either for or against) on the post-it note e.g. I agree because… .
• Once they have finished, ask each student to stand and read their statement to the rest of the class. Once each statement has been read, encourage the class to decide whether the student is for the topic or against the topic. Attach each post-it note to the board on the appropriate side of the topic card.
• Once all of the students have had their turn, encourage them to comment on the distribution of the post-it notes. Ask the students:
  • As a class, do you think we are for or against this topic? How do you know this?
  • Were any of the points of view on the board repeated? Which ones?
  • Did any of the points of view on the board convince you to change your mind about the topic?

Wrapping Up

• Ask the students to stand in the middle of the classroom. Explain that the front of the classroom is ‘for’ and the back of the classroom is ‘against’.
• Choose another topic card and read it to the class. The students must move to the front or the back of the classroom, depending on their point of view of the topic. Extend the activity by asking particular students to provide reasons which support their point of view.

 Differentiation

Extending Students

• Challenge more confident students to write additional point of view statements during the guided learning activity.

Supporting Students

• Allow students with lower literacy levels to work with a peer scribe during the guided learning activity.

 Assessment Strategies

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• used strategic whole class or individual questioning
• observed student participation during learning activities
• recorded student progress on a checklist
• annotated student work samples
• collected and reviewed student work samples
• facilitated whole class or peer feedback sessions
• encouraged student self-reflection
• administered formal assessment tasks.

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