Unit Plan Cover Page

The unit begins by having students practice taking a stance on a topic/issue. This will be
an important skill and is often overlooked or it is assumed that students know how to do this. I
chose to begin my unit with students practicing how to take a clear stance and articulating why
they chose that stance. Many times students will feel indifferent about a topic or feel in the
middle and cant choose a side. I want students to move away from that so they will be able to
create a clear, strong argument in their Public Awareness Campaign. The Four Corners
Activity is a great dialogic activity that will get students thinking about arguments in an
inductive way. They will be making claims and using evidence to support their claims without
even necessarily knowing (or knowing what to call it). We will discuss the things students are
already doing such as making claims, addressing counterarguments, etc. and begin defining those
terms and other parts of argument. I want students to get familiar with arguments and what
makes a strong argument so I dedicate some lessons to analyzing arguments. Since students will
be creating their own Public Awareness Campaign, essentially a Public Service Announcement, I
will have students analyze many PSAs. We will also look at written and spoken arguments such
as political speeches and essays. I also have a lesson where students will work in pairs to practice
creating and refuting counterarguments. This is an important skill to have and will determine
how strong an argument it.
In addition to recognizing counterarguments, I think it is important for students to
recognize good evidence. We will spend an ample amount of time discussing what good
evidence is and where it comes from. Students will participate in activities that require them to
search texts and the internet for good evidence and credible sources to support their claims.
Before students practice arguing by having an in class debate, I decided to do a mini grammar
lesson on transitions. Its important for students to be able to use appropriate transitions that
clearly connect their ideas. I also decided to have a lesson where students have a chance to
evaluate the strength of an argument. My hope is that this will help students recognize the
difference between a weak argument and a strong one to encourage them to develop strong
arguments.
After students practice debating and writing arguments they will work in groups to use
technology as a way to present their argument. The PowerPoint activity is a way to help students
utilize technology in a creative way to present a message to persuade their audience. This lesson
will help prepare students for their individual Public Awareness Campaign. Another lesson that I
felt was very important to incorporate in my unit was a lesson on debatability. Students are often
used to being assigned prompts and topics to write about, so when they receive the assignment
sheet that asks them to come up with their own topic/issue, that could be overwhelming for them.
With the project I wanted to give students the agency to choose something they were interested
in to research but I know that would need some scaffolding. I chose to dedicate a lesson to
brainstorming possible topics by discussing debatable vs. non-debatable topics. I want students
to choose topics that are arguable in order allow students to use all the elements of argument they

learned in the unit. Having an arguable topic will also help students create a Public Awareness
Campaign that is compelling.
Some common core standards I plan to address throughout the unit:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient
evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.C
Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between
claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately
through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.C
Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among
complex ideas and concepts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of
technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Assignment Sheet:
Research Project: Public Awareness Campaign
Throughout this unit we looked at and analyzed several forms of arguments such as
written, spoken and visual arguments. We defined and identified claims, evidence,
counterarguments and rebuttals to help us understand the parts of an argument. We also spent
time analyzing the effectiveness of particular arguments. Now that you have had a chance to
explore argumentative texts, its your turn to create your own argumentative research project!
For this project you will be conducting research to create a Public Awareness
Campaign. The purpose of a Public Awareness Campaign is to inform the general public
about a particular issue or topic in society. You will conduct research on a topic or issue of your
choice to help you present an awareness campaign to the class. We are surrounded by public
awareness campaigns all the time like PETA ads advocating for animal rights or anti-smoking

commercials by TRUTH. These sorts of advertisements serve as a way to educate the general
public as well as persuade their audience in some way. For your project you will want to do the
same. The way you choose to present your findings and share your position on the topic/issue is
up to you so long as your project meets the following criteria:

Public awareness campaign is multimodal and engaging (i.e. requires audience to listen,
view, and/or touch, etc.)
Presentation is 7-10 minutes
Has a clear stance on the issue/topic being presented (argument)
Makes at least 3 strong claims supported by evidence
Addresses at least 2 counterarguments and provides rebuttals for each
Has a clear purpose and effect on the audience
Uses supporting visuals (graphs, pictures, etc.)
Includes credible statistics and/or quotes that are cited correctly
Provides at least 1 thoughtful solution and at least 1 thing the audience can do to make a
change (It is OK if these two overlap)
Overall presentation is creative, informative and persuasive!

I encourage you to choose your own topic to research, preferably something you genuinely have
an interest in! However, feel free to choose from one of the topics listed below to help you think
of an issue:
Animal Testing
Education
Global Warming
Obesity Smoking
Recycling Cloning
Cancer
Social Injustices
Endangered Species
Censorship Gun Control
Gender Norms
Death Penalty Stem Cell
**Things to think about to help you get started

What issues are important to you?

What problems do you see in your community or in society in general?
Remember the goal for this assignment is to argue why your audience needs to invest in
some way (action/solution) for a particular cause (your topic/issue)

Mode: multimodal project (i.e. Prezi, video, brochure, PowerPoint, blog, poster, commercial,
etc.)
Audience: general public, classmates, teacher, school, community
Purpose: to inform your audience about a topic/issue and persuade them to take action in some
way
Situation: school, community, worldwide

Day 1: Taking a Stance

Objective: Students will be able to take a clear stance on a topic and justify their position.
Activity: To get students to practice taking a stance on a topic, I will have them do a Four
Corners activity. I will read several statements about controversial topics, and students will have
to decide whether they strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree or disagree. Each corner of the
classroom will represent one of the four positions and students will physically move to a corner
depending on their stance on the topic. I will then facilitate a large group discussion by asking
students to dialogue about their stances. There will be a handout to guide the discussion and
scaffold students to be able to argue for or against the controversial statements. This activity will
serve as an introduction to forming strong arguments. In many ways this activity is inductive
learning where students will begin making claims, supporting claims with evidence and even
creating warrants. In the next lesson the things students were already doing will be given a
name.
Day 2: Introducing Arguments
Objective: Students will be able to identify and define claims, evidence, counterargument and
rebuttal.
Activity: We will define claims, evidence and warrants as a class by looking at a 2 sample
arguments. As a class we will label each part of the argument and discuss what makes the
argument effective and how it could be made even more effective. I want students to look at an
argument that does a good job of making/supporting a claim and counter arguing as well as one
that doesnt do all of those aspects well. I think it will be beneficial for students to discuss what
effective arguments look like and what they do so they can be more prepared to create their own
arguments later. Students will also fill out a worksheet to practice identifying and explaining the
importance of warrants.
Day 3: Unpacking a Spoken and Visual Argument
Objective: Students will be able to identify the claims, evidence, warrants, counterarguments
and rebuttals used in an argumentative speech, an argumentative commercial and a PSA.
Activity: Students will listen to a speech that takes a stance on a topic and makes an argument.
Students will fill out worksheets to identify each part of the argument and recognize the
importance of each component. After listening to the speech, allowing time to fill out worksheet,
and sharing out, students will do the same thing for a commercial. This days activities will
show students how arguments are used in everyday life and can take all sorts of forms (written,
visual, spoken, etc.) This lesson will also give students a chance to look at Public Service
Announcements which is what they will be creating at the end of the unit as their assessment.

Students will begin to see how this particular genre works. Students will become aware of what
PSA do, who the audience, and even possible topics for their own projects.
Day 4: Considering the Other Side
Objective: Students will be able to address counterarguments and create rebuttals to refute them
in order to make their argument stronger.
Activity: Students will engage in a Think-Pair-Share activity to practice strengthening their
claims by addressing opposing views. Independently students will develop their own claim
about a book we have read thus far in the class (i.e. Romeo and Juliet). Then students will find a
partner, exchange papers with them and write at least 2 counterarguments for the claim. (The
original writer of the claim can also help their partner come up with a counterargument, as it is
important for students to recognize possible counterarguments as they form a claim). Students
will then discuss and come up with ways to effectively address the counterarguments as well as
ways the original claim could be made stronger.
Day 5: Searching Texts for Support
Objective: Students will learn what good evidence looks like and will be able to search texts (or
conduct online research) for support for their claims.
Activity: As a whole class we will examine a few texts that have good evidence and some that
lack good evidence. Students will recognize what makes evidence good and believable. We
will also use the computers in the classroom to explore the internet finding credible websites
students can use and cite.
Day 6: Grammar lesson: Transitions
Objective: Students will be able to use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion, and
clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
Activity: As a whole class we will make a list of transition words they might use in their
writing, projects, etc. and identify each transition words function. By understanding the
transition words function, students will know when they should use a particular transition.
Students will create posters in groups that will be posted in the classroom as an anchor board for
students to refer to when they create arguments.
Day 7: Practice Writing Argument through In Class Debate
Objective: Students will be able to write their own arguments using all components of
arguments they have learned.

Activity: To get students thinking about multiple sides of an issue, the class will be divided in
two with each side taking a different stance on the topic. Students will practice writing their own
argument for the following prompt:
Should your high school require school uniforms?
One side of the class will be in favor of school uniforms and the other side will be against it.
Students will be given an ample amount of time to create their arguments in groups and use
conduct some online research to help make their arguments more effective. To help students
organize their thoughts (claims, evidence, warrants, counterarguments and rebuttals), they will
fill out worksheets. We will then share out in class by having a mini in class debate.
Day 8: Practice Formulating Argument with Technology
Objective: Students will work in groups to take a stance on a controversial topic and conduct
online research for evidence to support their claims.
Activity: Students will complete an in class writing where they will write a brief essay to answer
the following prompt or something similar:
Should talking on cell phone while driving be illegal in Michigan?
After students form an opinion and answer the prompt, students will be split into groups with
people who took a similar stance as them. Each student will have completed a brief essay which
will prepare them for working in a group to create a short presentation. Students will work
together to do some online research to gather evidence in order to make their arguments even
stronger.
Day 9: Formulating an Argument with Technology Continued
Objective: Students will work in groups to create a PowerPoint that has a clear and strong
argument on a controversial topic.
Activity: In groups, students will continue to gather evidence to support their arguments as well
as find opposing views on their topics and will then begin to create their PowerPoint. Students
will use classroom laptops to create a PowerPoint slideshow where they will make and argument
about the topic given to them in class. They will also provide evidence in the slideshow as well
as counterarguments and rebuttals to refute them. Each presentation will be required to have at
least 3 claims and evidence to support each as well as at least 1 counterargument and a rebuttal.
This group work will serve as a way to scaffold students to formulating a strong argument as
well as utilizing technology to present their argument in a creative way. Students will essentially
be practicing what they will be asked to do on their own in the end of the unit project.
Day 10: Evaluating Arguments

Objective: Students will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of arguments.

Activity: Students will finish their PowerPoints if they havent already so they can peer review
with a different group. Each group will print out their slides so feedback can be provided
directly on each slide. Students will provide their partner with feedback on their slideshow and
will use highlighters to highlight to identify the elements of argument their partner uses in their
presentation (claims, evidence, counterarguments, and rebuttals). This will help the author and
the reviewer easily identify what the writer is doing well in their presentation and also what they
are missing or what could be added to improve it.
Day 11: Introducing Summative Assessment/Determining Whether a Topic is Debatable
Objective: Students will learn about the end of unit project and will receive the assignment
sheet. Students will also learn what a debatable topic looks like.
Activity: Students will be given the assignment sheet for the Public Awareness Campaign project
and will learn about the criteria for the project. There will be an ample amount of time dedicated
to answering any questions students might have about the project. Once everyone feels
comfortable with what the project is, we will have brainstorm possible topics/issues that students
could choose to use for their projects. In order to do this, students will need to know what it
means for a topic/issue to be debatable and examples of a few. We will discuss what makes
certain topics debatable and what makes a topic not debatable (or less debatable and probably not
a good topic for their Public Awareness Campaign)
As a whole class we will have a discussion about debatable/non-debatable topics. For example:
Drinking and Driving: non-debatable topic since most people would agree that drinking and
driving is dangerous.
Single-Sex schools: debatable topic since there can be arguments made for or against having
single-sex schools.
Students will then work on a worksheet that asks them to determine whether a statement is
debatable or non-debatable. This worksheet will serve as a formative assessment to check for
student understanding of debatability. When students complete the worksheet and share out
answers, students will be given independent work time to begin working on their projects.

Day 12-16: Working on Project

Objective: Students will be introduced to their summative assessment. Students will be given
all the information they need to begin working on their projects in class.
Activity: Students will have time to work on their projects.

Day 17-18: Students present their Public Awareness Campaigns