In our mini-lesson, Laura and I co-taught how to develop an argument to our Curriculum class. We began the lesson by modeling an argument based on our content area. We took on the roles of an anti-federalist and a federalist, debating the importance of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. We dressed the part; I wore a colonial wig. I was pleased with this part of the lesson. I think we captured our students' attention and got them excited for the lesson. It also showed them what was expected of them as students. We gave them our script and highlighted the thesis, our reasons (with transition words), and conclusion. Then, we divided the class into two groups and they had to work together to develop an argument on their own. The question we asked was: Should books be censored in schools?
I thought our lesson was very engaging. Students seemed to stay focused and they seemed to have fun with the debate. As seen on the attached worksheets, students clearly understood the process of developing an argument. Both sides successfully wrote a thesis, thought of three reasons to support their claim, and came up with a conclusion. Also, while they were debating, they included argumentative language, while transitioning from reason to reason. I was pleased with how the debate went, but there are some adjustments I would make for next time. Firstly, Laura and I did not provide both sides with sufficient evidence. We provided the pro-censorship side with a list of books that were banned and why, but the against side did not have a resource that supported their argument. This was a major overlook. Next time, I would give both sides at least two resources that supported each side. Additionally, I would have reviewed the modeled script from the beginning of class with my students before they started their own debate. This was mainly due to the time constraint. Overall, I think Laura and I created an engaging lesson.
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