Performance Task:

Name: Date:

Goal: In the following performance task you will demonstrate how well you understand the
impact of rhetoric on argumentative texts and how evaluating rhetoric can allow for you to be a
critical consumer of information.

Scenario: You have determined a change that you would like to see happen at your school and to
make this change occur, you need the support of your peers. Therefore, you will create an ad
(print, audio, or video) applying what you have learned about the persuasive power of rhetoric
to convince your peers to support your proposed school change.

Task: Your task here is: to plan and conduct an investigation to determine which rhetorical
appeals are most persuasive to your peers at school. Then, design an ad informed by knowledge Commented [HK1]: I’m thinking about totally deleting this
part and just having students design an ad based on their
gained from your investigation to persuade your peers of the school-level change you wish to knowledge of rhetoric from class. The investigation aspect
see happen that they should support. The challenge in this situation is to accurately determine of this PT seems to get into other learning objectives that
aren’t really being assessed in this unit. Thoughts on this?
which rhetorical appeal(s) are most effective and implement these to garner support for your
proposed change. You will share your ad with peers and employ your skills as a critical consumer
of information to evaluate the effectiveness of your peers’ ads (aka, arguments). Then, you will
engage in discussion as to which proposed school changes you will support and which you will
not, using descriptions of rhetoric employed in the various ads to support your reasoning.

Timeline for task: Commented [HK2]: Do you think this section is necessary?
Class 1 Determine school change you would like to see happen
Investigate appeals to rhetoric that are most persuasive to your
peers at school
Class 2-4 Design ad
Class 5 Post ads
Class 6 Discussion of ad effectiveness and self-reflection for unit on
rhetoric

Resources needed:
 Class notes and other materials on rhetoric and rhetorical appeals
 If creating a print ad: poster board, writing utensils, etc.
 If creating an audio ad: recording device, computer
 If creating a video ad: appropriate technology

Success Criteria: See rubric.

Rubric for Performance Task:

1 2 3 4

Investigation of Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation

impacts of rhetoric demonstrates a demonstrates a demonstrates an demonstrates a
on peers limited/minimal developing understanding understanding of thorough understanding
understanding of of rhetorical terms and rhetorical terms and of rhetorical terms and
rhetorical terms and appeals and the ways in appeals and the ways in appeals and the ways in
appeals and the ways in which rhetoric can be which rhetoric can be which rhetoric can be
which rhetoric can be used as a persuasive tool used as a persuasive tool used as a persuasive
used as a persuasive tool
tool
Advertisement— Advertisement is Advertisement is Advertisement is aligned Advertisement is
applies knowledge misaligned to somewhat aligned to to knowledge gained strongly aligned to
of investigation knowledge gained from knowledge gained from from investigation knowledge gained from
investigation investigation investigation
Advertisement— Advertisement is Advertisement is Advertisement is Advertisement is highly
final product ineffective in using somewhat effective in effective in using effective in using
rhetoric and rhetorical using rhetoric and rhetoric and rhetorical rhetoric and rhetorical
appeals as a persuasive rhetorical appeals as a appeals as a persuasive appeals as a persuasive
tool persuasive tool tool tool
Discussion Seldom used Occasionally used Usually used Consistently used
understanding of understanding of rhetoric understanding of understanding of
rhetoric and rhetorical and rhetorical appeals to rhetoric and rhetorical rhetoric and rhetorical
appeals to support one’s support one’s statements appeals to support one’s appeals to support
statements and make and make decisions as to statements and make one’s statements and
decisions as to which which proposed changes decisions as to which make decisions as to
proposed changes to to support proposed changes to which proposed
support support changes to support
Unit Grading Plan:

Weight Assessment Assessment Evidence/ Rationale Detail

5% Formative Goal of assessment: These are formative Including:
assessments assessments which will allow the student to  Response to rhetoric (lower prep
demonstrate evidence of learning throughout the FA2)
course and for the teacher to accurately assess  Soapstone analysis (higher prep
student learning. Specific details about the FA)
assessments themselves can be found with the
formative assessment section of the portfolio.

15% Exam Goal of assessment: The exam will be an individual Topics assessed:
assessment which students will take after  Rhetorical appeals
completion of Lesson 8. This assessment will allow  Rhetorical strategies
for the teacher to assess student knowledge of key  Analysis of rhetoric as a tool for
topics for the unit. persuasion
Format:
 Matching
 Multiple-choice
 Constructed-response, with focus
on making and explaining
informed choices through an
examination of rhetoric

25% Rhetorical analysis Goal of assessment: Students will compose a Frameworks or strategies used may
rhetorical analysis demonstrating their include:
understanding of key topics through the use of  OPTIC
frameworks/strategies for analyzing rhetoric. The  SOAPSTone
analysis will be assigned after the completion of  Joliffe’s
Lesson 10, prior to the performance task.
40% Performance Task: Goal of assessment: This assessment will allow the Including:
Advertisement student to demonstrate how well they understand
the impact of rhetoric on argumentative texts and
how evaluating rhetoric can allow for them to be a
critical consumer of information. Further, this
assessment builds on the learning objectives that
students have worked toward throughout the unit.
As such, this assessment brings together their
knowledge of rhetoric, rhetorical terms, and
rhetorical appeals and requires students to apply
this knowledge as a persuasive tool and then
evaluate the ways in which rhetoric effectively
persuaded them.
15% Reflective Essay/ Goal of assessment: The goal of this assessment if
Action Plan for students to consider all that they have learned
about the persuasive power of rhetoric. Students
will reflect upon what they have learned about
rhetoric and the ways in which their performance
task could have been modified to appeal to other
aspects of rhetoric. Finally, the action plan
students will create is intended to support
students in considering ways in which they can
be/continue to be critical consumers of
information in the real-world.
 Investigation of effectiveness of
rhetorical appeals
 Alignment of advertisement to
investigation findings
 Effective use of rhetoric in
advertisement as persuasion tool
 Discussion to support
advertisement and decisions of
which peer ads to support
Including:
 What has been learned about
rhetoric through unit (big take-
aways)
 Reflection on how advertisement
could have appealed to other
aspects of rhetoric
 Action plan of how student
intends to become (or continue
being) a critical consumer of
information
Grading Philosophy

Grading Purpose of grading

The main purpose of grading for a teacher is to be able to communicate what a student
knows, understands, and can do to the appropriate stakeholders (e.g., students and their
parents/guardians). While it is crucial for a teacher to be able to accurately determine what a
student knows, understands, and can do, I argue that this requires assessment, but not
necessarily grading. Therefore, it is important that teachers communicate this information in
ways that students and other relevant stakeholders can make sense of.
Roles grades play in learning
As we have read and discussed this semester, earning good grades can be a motivator for
students; however, this may come at the expense of learning as students are more concerned
about the letter grade than the learning associated with said grade. On the other hand, for some
students, grades can be a source of discouragement essentially telling a student that they do not
know something, which can lead to students believing that they are not good at school and
discourage students in future learning opportunities. When I think of the number of times my
students asked if a particular task was for a grade or how many points an assignment was worth,
this suggests the ways in which many students view grades, not as a representation of their
learning but as their status in regard to school. Personally, I do not believe this way of thinking is
the way in which grades should be viewed. However, this is important to acknowledge so that
the ways in which teachers (myself included) use grades to communicate what a student knows,
understands, and can do can be aligned with the purpose of grading, rather than reinforcing
attitudes towards grades that seem to be common in schools today.
With this in mind, there is a clear distinction between the roles grades currently play in
learning in many classrooms compared to roles grades should play in learning. Ultimately, grades
should support learning, as that is the ultimate goal of school. For example, formative
assessments should be used to help a teacher determine student mastery of identified learning
goals so that this information can then be used to support future instruction. While I believe that
formative assessments can contribute a small percentage to a grade (See Unit Grading plan),
graded summative assessments can also be used to support learning. For instance, if students
perform poorly on an exam, this shows the teacher that the students struggled to master the
learning objectives or perhaps the assessment was not well-aligned to the learning goals and
objectives. Regardless, this provides the teacher with an opportunity to re-teach and re-assess,
improving her instruction and supporting student learning and mastery of learning objectives.
How I will grade and why
In my future hopes of being a pre-service teacher (PST) educator, I will be grading future
teachers. As such, I plan to implement good assessment practices that I have learned in this
course to support my students learning, as well as model best assessment practices that my
students will then be able to apply in their own classrooms. Specifically, I will have frequent
formative assessments to gauge student learning. However, I will actually grade students based
on summative assessments, such as a performance task, using rubrics so that students have clear
expectations set forth prior to the assessment. Using rubrics will support me in being a more
consistent grader as well as clearly demonstrating to students their areas of strength as well as
areas of growth. I will grade this way because this will make it clear to me as the teacher and to
my students what the students know, understand, and can do and in turn, I can use this
information to guide future instruction.
Grading Philosophy