D4.1.6-8: Constructing Arguments from Multiple Sources

Overview

Lesson Procedure

65-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20-25 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Should our classroom get a pet fish? Write one reason for your answer and one fact that backs it up. Then write one thing your argument does not answer."

   Take three or four answers. Point out the parts: the answer is the claim, the "because" is a reason, the fact is evidence, and "one thing it does not answer" is a limitation. Tell students that today they will build a full argument from historical sources, and that admitting a limitation makes an argument more believable, not less.

2. Direct Instruction20-25 minutes

   Part 1: The question and some key words. The compelling question is "Should Americans have tried to get rid of the English sparrow?" The sparrow debate is a vehicle for the skill of building an argument. A few words from the sources need defining.

   • Native birds are birds that already lived in America, such as bluebirds, robins and swallows.
   • Granivorous (Source 1) means grain-eating.
   • Naturalization (Source 1) of an animal means its settling in and breeding in a new place.
   • Molestation (Source 3) means bothering or attacking.
   • Span-worms and canker worms (Source 3) are caterpillars that eat the leaves of trees.
   • An ichneumon fly (Source 3) is a small insect. Source 3 says one had already "lessened very materially the number of span-worms" (paragraph 4).
   • Noxious means harmful, and beneficent means doing good.
   • Subsistence means food and the means of staying alive.
   • Prejudice means an unfair dislike formed before looking at the facts.
   • A naturalist is a scientist who studies plants and animals.
   • A controversy is a long public disagreement.

   Source Information: who made each source, when, and from what position (from the sources and their source notes)

   Source	Maker and position	When	Side it mostly supports
   1: Coues's essay	Elliott Coues, a naturalist who wrote about North American birds, urging the West to stop the sparrow	1885	Get rid of the sparrow, at least in the West
   2: Hicks's letter	John D. Hicks, who watched sparrows near his home at Old Westbury, Long Island	May 18, 1880	Leave the sparrow alone
   3: The record	Four entries chosen for this page from the list Coues compiled and summarized: T. M. Brewer, a farm paper, C. Bendire and C. J. Hampton	1874-1875 (printed 1885)	Both sides, chosen and summarized by Coues
   4: Sample arguments	Invented students (written for this page)	Invented	Practice; one argument is deliberately weak

   Part 2: Read the sources. Read Sources 1-3 in pairs. In the margin, students mark each paragraph R (supports removing the sparrow), L (supports leaving it alone) or M (mixed). Remind them that Coues, who is on one side, compiled the list behind Source 3 and wrote each summary, although he says it includes articles on both sides.

   1Now that the enormous increase and rapid dispersion of the European house-sparrow in America have resulted in the appearance of this objectionable bird in various portions of the Western States and Territories, it is time to consider what means may be taken to check its westward extension; for the agriculturists of that portion of our country have already enough to do to contend with the grasshopper scourge, without having to guard their crops against a plague only less formidable and imminent. Should the noxious birds become as numerous and as widely diffused in the West as they are already in the thickly settled portions of the United States, they would there prove even more destructive to the crops than they are known to be in the East. For here they still live, for the most part, in cities, towns, and villages, where they derive their subsistence chiefly from street-garbage, especially horse-manure; but in the West, where such supplies are more limited, these granivorous birds would at once and continually prey upon the crops. [...]

   2This may seem an extreme course, to the few who still look favourably upon the presence of the sparrow in America; but such may be assured that it is no more than the exigencies of the case demand. Unless the sparrows can be made to devour grasshoppers there is absolutely no occasion for their naturalization in the West, not even the flimsy excuse for them that we sometimes hear made in the East. That they will not subsist upon grasshoppers to any extent, or upon potato-beetles, may be regarded as a foregone conclusion; and in the absence of other sources of food-supply, they will infallibly fall upon the crops.

   1AS the habits and value of the English sparrow are now being investigated in various parts of the country, I submit the results of my own observations made during the last three or four years, or since the bird became abundant in this locality. The charge frequently made, that the English sparrow drives our native birds from their accustomed haunts, does not apply to this vicinity. The sparrows are very numerous, are noisy and sometimes aggressive in their habits, but appear to quarrel much more among themselves than with other species of birds. I have not noticed any superior combative power which would enable them to do that which they are charged with doing. They are with us during the year—about our grounds and dwellings in great numbers. They are companions of the song-sparrow, snow-bird, woodpecker, chickadee, creeper, nuthatch, etc. There is no conflict or dispute among them. During the inclement weather of winter I feed the birds frequently, sometimes daily, and have watched their movements with great interest. I have not seen a dispute in their efforts to obtain the coveted food. The woodpeckers and chickadees gathered the bits of meat, the fringilla the seeds, which I scattered.

   [...]

   2[...] Sparrows have not driven our native birds away, neither have they given cause for any serious complaint on account of destroying our grain, as they seem to have done in some other places. I think, in this particular, it would be well for people to observe carefully for themselves. [...]

   3I have not observed that they eat berries, grapes, or other small fruits, but have seen them picking the soft grains of sweet-corn. If their food were scanty or unsuitable, it is probable that they would feed more freely on the valuable grains. The birds which do most damage to farmers in this vicinity are blackbirds, robins, cat-birds, and a few other species, which feed on cherries, blackberries, grapes, and similar fruits. When the fruits are ripe, the trees and bushes swarm with these birds, but we hear of no prejudice against them on that account, while the sparrows are freely condemned for like offenses.

   11874. Brewer, T. M. The European House Sparrow [Passer domesticus]. Amer. Nat. viii. No. 9, Sept. 1874, pp. 556, 557. The opening of the controversy on the part of Dr. Brewer. 'I regret very much that a naturalist generally so well informed as Dr. Coues should aid in giving what my own observations compel me to believe to be an altogether wrong statement in regard to the house-sparrow, published in the July number of the Naturalist. … I submit that this is too important a question to be thus dismissed, especially by a gentleman like Dr. Coues, who has enjoyed no opportunity of knowing from his own observations whether the opinions he is so free to express are well founded or not. The statement of Mr. Gentry I entirely discredit.' Dr. Brewer's own observations and opinions follow.

   [...]

   21875. Anon. Sparrows [Passer domesticus] and Fruit Growers. Amer. Agric. Feb. 1875. 'That they destroy insects there is no doubt, but their work is not entirely beneficent; and melancholy accounts have been told of loss to the farmers by the havoc sparrows make in their grain.'

   31875. Bendire, C. The Sparrow [Passer domesticus]. Amer. Sportsm. v. Jan. 9, 1875, p. 227. Results of two years' observations of sparrows at St. Louis, Mo. No molestation of native birds observed. 'I must say, however, that in my opinion the usefulness of the English sparrows as insect-destroying birds is greatly overrated, and that we have many native species who destroy more noxious insects in a single day than a sparrow will in a week.'

   41875. Hampton, C. J. English Sparrows [Passer domesticus] and the Canker Worms. Moore's Rural New Yorker, Jan. 23, 1875. 'English sparrows have had no agency in the disappearance of the worms' in Seneca County, N. Y. Editor continues: 'At the very time of their introduction into New York City and Brooklyn, a small ichneumon fly had already lessened very materially the number of span-worms, which were so disagreeably abundant in these cities, and it is very probable that the insects would have disappeared without the aid of the birds.'

   Part 3: Build an argument together. Model the Argument Builder (Diagram 1) aloud: a claim, two reasons that each rest on evidence from a different source, a sentence that explains how the evidence supports the claim, and a closing statement of the argument's strengths and limitations.

   • Claim and two reasons from two sources (remove the sparrow)

     Build the start of an argument that Americans should have tried to stop the sparrow, using two different sources.

     Result: Claim: Americans should have worked to stop the sparrow from spreading. Reason 1: it could harm crops in the West, where Coues says it would "prey upon the crops" (Source 1, paragraph 1). Reason 2: some observers doubted it did much good against insects; an 1875 writer at St. Louis says many native birds "destroy more noxious insects in a single day than a sparrow will in a week" (Source 3, paragraph 3). Two sources, two different reasons.

   • Claim and two reasons from two sources (leave the sparrow alone)

     Build the start of the opposite argument, again from two different sources.

     Result: Claim: Americans did not need to get rid of the sparrow. Reason 1: in one place it did not drive away native birds; Hicks says "The charge frequently made, that the English sparrow drives our native birds from their accustomed haunts, does not apply to this vicinity" (Source 2, paragraph 1). Reason 2: an observer in another city agreed; Bendire reports "No molestation of native birds observed" in two years at St. Louis (Source 3, paragraph 3).

   • Explaining how evidence supports a claim

     A student quotes Hampton's entry (Source 3, paragraph 4) but does not explain it. Write the explaining sentence.

     Result: The entry says span-worms in New York and Brooklyn were already being reduced by "a small ichneumon fly" when the sparrows arrived. Explaining sentence: "This weakens the idea that the sparrows were needed to protect city trees, because the worms might have disappeared anyway." The explanation names which claim the evidence supports and why.

   • Acknowledging strengths and limitations of an argument

     Take the "leave the sparrow alone" argument above. Write one strength and one limitation of the argument as a whole.

     Result: Strength: both reasons rest on people who watched the birds themselves, in two different places (Long Island and St. Louis). Limitation: neither source measures what the birds ate on farms, and even Bendire calls the sparrow's usefulness against insects "greatly overrated" (Source 3, paragraph 3), so the argument shows less harm to native birds but not much good.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Source 4, two invented sample arguments. Tell students one is deliberately weak. Pairs label each part of each argument with the Argument Builder (claim, reasons, evidence, explanation, strengths and limitations), then rewrite the weak argument so that it uses two sources and acknowledges a limitation.

   1These two arguments were written for this page by invented students who read Sources 1-3. One of them is deliberately weak, for practice. Neither is a model to copy.

   2Mia's argument: "Americans should have tried to stop the sparrow from spreading. First, the birds threatened crops: Coues warns that in the West they 'would at once and continually prey upon the crops' (Source 1, paragraph 1). Second, farmers in the East already complained: a farm paper reported 'loss to the farmers by the havoc sparrows make in their grain' (Source 3, paragraph 2). My argument is strongest on the danger to crops. It is weaker because Coues was predicting what might happen in the West, not describing what had happened."

   3Noah's argument: "The sparrows were fine. Hicks says so. He watched them for years. So everyone who complained was wrong."

   Teacher key (discussion points). Mia's argument has every part: a claim, two reasons from two different sources, and a strength and a limitation. Its limitation is honest, since Coues is predicting. Noah's argument is the deliberately weak one. It rests on a single source, gives no quotation or paragraph number, never explains how the evidence supports the claim, and ends with an overstatement ("everyone who complained was wrong") instead of a limitation. A good rewrite keeps Noah's side but adds a second source and admits that one person's observations cover one place.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student writes an argument of one or two paragraphs answering the compelling question. It must include a claim, at least two reasons, evidence from at least two different sources with paragraph numbers, a sentence explaining how the evidence supports the claim, and one strength and one limitation of the argument. Frame for students who need it: "I argue that ___. One reason is ___, as Source ___ shows: ___. Another reason is ___, as Source ___ shows: ___. This evidence matters because ___. My argument is strongest on ___, but it is limited because ___."

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: "Underline the limitation in your argument. Then write one source you would want to find to fix it."

   Teacher note on the sources: Source 3 comes from a list that Coues compiled and summarized himself. He calls it “very incomplete” but says it was compiled “without partiality or prejudice” and that articles on both sides “have been collated with equal care”; in the same sentence he judges the articles in the sparrow’s favor “so few and weak in comparison” with the others. Coues opposed the sparrow and wrote the wording of each summary, so students should treat Source 3 as one side’s record even where it quotes the other side. The four entries on this page were chosen for this lesson, not by Coues. The “…” inside Brewer’s entry is in the book. Farmers’ own voices appear only through the farm-paper entry. The question asks about a decision in the past; students may argue either side, and the rubric scores the argument.

   Quiz passage. Questions 11-14, 19 and 20 use Source 5, an invented town scenario.

   1This scenario is invented for this page. The town, the people and all the numbers are invented.

   2The invented town of Brookdale is deciding whether to turn part of Elm Field into a fenced dog park.

   3Source 5A, a town survey: 300 residents answered, and 174 said they favor the dog park. The survey was posted online for two weeks.

   4Source 5B, a letter from Mr. Ortiz, who lives next to Elm Field: "The barking will start at six in the morning. My family will never get any sleep."

   5Source 5C, the parks department report: building the fence, gates and water fountain would cost $42,000. The report says Elm Field's soccer area would not be affected.

   6Source 5D, a dog owner quoted in the town newsletter: "Right now the nearest place to let a dog run is twenty minutes away by car."

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement is an argument (a claim with evidence), not just a claim?

   AThe English sparrow was a real problem for the country BSparrows hurt grain, as a farm paper reported losses CThe English sparrow came to America from Europe DMany people in the 1870s did not like the sparrow

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which pair of evidence comes from two different sources?

   ASource 1, paragraph 1, and Source 1, paragraph 2 BSource 2, paragraph 1, and Source 2, paragraph 3 CSource 2, paragraph 1, and Source 3, paragraph 3 DSource 1, paragraph 2, and Source 1, paragraph 1

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Coues claims that the sparrow's spread to the West must be checked. Which reason for western farmers in particular does he give in Source 1, paragraph 1?

   AThey had already lost all their grain BThey had asked Congress to ban the bird CThey had brought the birds west themselves DThey already had the grasshopper scourge

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Coues writes, "This may seem an extreme course, to the few who still look favourably upon the presence of the sparrow" (Source 1, paragraph 2). How does this sentence help his argument?

   AIt shows that he has changed his mind BIt proves that every reader agrees CIt answers readers who may object DIt gives new numbers about crops

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Hicks says the sparrows "appear to quarrel much more among themselves than with other species of birds" (Source 2, paragraph 1). Which claim does this sentence support?

   ASparrows fought mostly with other sparrows BSparrows drove off every one of the native birds CSparrows never made any noise at all DSparrows ate more insects than robins

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Hicks ends: "we hear of no prejudice against them on that account, while the sparrows are freely condemned for like offenses" (Source 2, paragraph 3). What kind of reasoning is he using?

   ASparrows did harm, so all of the birds should go BFarmers were wrong about every single type of bird CSparrows did no harm to any farm anywhere in America DOther birds did similar harm but went unblamed

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Brewer writes, "The statement of Mr. Gentry I entirely discredit" (Source 3, paragraph 1). What is Brewer doing?

   AAgreeing with every single point that Coues makes BAdding Gentry as a witness for himself CRejecting a witness that Coues relied on DAdmitting that sparrows harm crops

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The farm paper says "melancholy accounts have been told of loss to the farmers" (Source 3, paragraph 2). What is a limitation of this as evidence?

   AIt reports stories but no amounts BIt is about city trees, not farms CIt comes from a sparrow defender DIt was written after Coues's essay

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which ending for an argument acknowledges a limitation instead of overstating the case?

   ASo the sparrow ruined every single farm and city in America BSo the defenders of the sparrow were all simply wrong about it CMy sources end in 1885, so they cannot show later results DSo there is no doubt at all that my claim is right

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Hicks writes that in winter "I feed the birds frequently, sometimes daily, and have watched their movements with great interest" (Source 2, paragraph 1). What is a limitation of evidence gathered this way?

    AHicks never actually saw any of the birds BBirds may act differently at a feeder CFeeding birds is against the law in New York State DWinter is the only season Hicks describes

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Source 5, which pair of evidence supports building the dog park and comes from two different sources?

    ASource 5A and Source 5D BSource 5B and Source 5C CSource 5B and Source 5D DSource 5A and Source 5B

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    What is a limitation of Source 5A, the survey?

    AIt shows that most of the people answered no BIt counts only those who chose to answer CIt was written by Mr. Ortiz next door DIt gives the cost of building the park

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    An argument against the park uses Source 5B, Mr. Ortiz's letter. What is a strength of this evidence?

    AHe gives the exact cost of the new fence BHe speaks for every resident in the town CHe measured how loud the barking was DHe is a neighbor who would be affected

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    An argument for the dog park uses the survey in Source 5A. Which sentence states the survey evidence accurately?

    A42 percent of those who answered favor the park B58 percent of those who answered favor the park C58 percent of all Brookdale residents favor the park D174 percent of those who answered favor the park

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Construct an argument that answers the compelling question, "Should Americans have tried to get rid of the English sparrow?" Use a claim and evidence from at least two different sources.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Name one strength and one limitation of the argument you wrote for Question 15.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Hicks compares the sparrow with blackbirds, robins and cat-birds (Source 2, paragraph 3). Use this comparison as one reason in an argument, and explain how it supports your claim.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain why an argument with evidence from two sources is usually stronger than one with two quotations from the same source. Use an example from Sources 1-3.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Use Source 5 to construct an argument for or against the Brookdale dog park. Use evidence from at least two parts of the source (5A-5D), and name one strength and one limitation of your argument.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Mr. Ortiz writes, "My family will never get any sleep" (Source 5B). How could someone use his letter fairly in an argument against the park? Name one limitation of the letter as evidence.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to D4.1.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.