Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-60 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Think of a photo, chart or video that made you believe something you had doubted. What did it show you that words alone could not?"

   Take four or five answers and sort them on the board under three headings: It explained something, It proved something and It made me want to pay attention. Tell students that SL.8.5 asks for all three jobs: media in a presentation should clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest. It also asks students to integrate media, which means weaving each one into what they say instead of just putting it on a screen.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: The words of the standard. Give students the table below to keep.

   The words of SL.8.5

   Term	What it means	Example
   Multimedia	Anything besides the speaker's voice that listeners see or hear, such as a photo, chart, video clip, sound recording or object	A short video the speaker recorded
   Visual display	Something listeners look at: a slide, poster, chart, map, model or object held up	A bar chart on a slide
   Integrate	Weave a component into the talk: introduce it, tell listeners where to look, explain what it shows and connect it to the claim	"This photo shows the meter on one computer. Look at the number on its screen."
   Clarify information	Make facts, steps or numbers easier to understand	A calculation that appears one line at a time
   Claim	The position the speaker wants listeners to accept	"The district should shut down the lab computers at night."
   Evidence	The facts, measurements, counts, quotations or observations that support a claim	"Over five nights we counted 125 computers left on."
   Strengthen claims and evidence	Make listeners more likely to believe the claim, for example by showing proof, the source of the data or that a result happened more than once	A photo of the meter reading, taken by the speaker
   Add interest	Make listeners want to keep paying attention, without pulling them away from the claim	An opening video of a dark room full of glowing screens
   Source	Where a fact, number, image or quotation came from	"The district's business office told me..."

   Part 2: A model presentation. Read Model Presentation A aloud while a student holds up copies of Diagram 1 at the right moment. Act out the bracketed notes. As you read, students write C (clarifies information), S (strengthens the claim or evidence) or I (adds interest) next to each numbered paragraph. A component can earn more than one letter. Tell students that one slide in this talk weakens it instead, and that they will find it on their own later.

   1[Video: before she says a word, Talia plays a 10-second clip she recorded at 6:10 p.m. last Tuesday while walking into the computer lab with the night custodian, Mr. Farris. The room is dark, and row after row of screens glows blue.] That was our computer lab at Hollis Creek Middle School, two hours after the last student left. Good afternoon, members of the technology committee. My name is Talia Brooks, and I am in eighth grade. My claim is that the district should set every lab computer to shut down automatically in the afternoon, because leaving them on overnight wastes electricity and money.

   2[Slide 1: a table, "Lab computers still on at 6 p.m.": Monday 27, Tuesday 25, Wednesday 22, Thursday 26, Friday 25.] One night could be an accident, so Mr. Farris and I checked the lab at 6 p.m. every school day for a week. As the table shows, it was not one night. Every evening, most of the lab's 32 computers were on. Over five nights we counted 125, an average of 25 computers a night.

   3[Slide 2: two photos Talia took, side by side. On the left, a plug-in electricity meter sits between one lab computer and the wall outlet, and it reads 61 watts. On the right, the same meter reads 1 watt after the computer was shut down.] I borrowed a plug-in electricity meter from the library. It shows how many watts a device is using, and watts measure how fast a device uses electricity. In the left photo, the computer and its monitor are running the screen saver: 61 watts. In the right photo, they are shut down: 1 watt.

   4[Slide 3: a bar chart, Diagram 1 on this page, with one bar for each setting: on, asleep and shut down.] This chart adds sleep mode, so all three settings are side by side. Look at the gap between the tall bar and the two short ones. Sleep mode helps, but shutting down saves the most: 60 watts for every computer.

   5[Slide 4: the math appears one line at a time as Talia explains it.] Twenty-five computers times 60 watts is 1,500 watts. The lab is locked from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m., 16 hours, so that is 24 kilowatt-hours every night. A kilowatt-hour is the electricity a 1,000-watt device uses in one hour. Over 180 school nights, that is 4,320 kilowatt-hours. The district's business office told me it pays 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, so that is $648 a year, and I have not counted weekends.

   6[Slide 5: in red capital letters, "SCHOOLS WASTE BILLIONS ON ELECTRICITY EVERY YEAR!" There is no source on the slide.] And this is a problem everywhere. [A committee member asks where that number comes from. Talia says she saw it online but does not remember where.]

   7[Slide 6: a photo of a lab headset with a cracked earpiece held together with tape, next to the line "$648 = a new headset for every computer in the lab."] This headset is from our lab, and many look like this. A basic school headset costs about $20, so $648 is enough to buy a new one for all 32 computers.

   8[Slide 7: the still frame from the opening video, the glowing lab at 6:10 p.m., with one line under it: "Shut down at 4 p.m. Save 4,320 kilowatt-hours a year."] Our technology coordinator, Ms. Iqbal, told me the district can schedule every lab computer to shut down at 4 p.m. and start again at 8 a.m. It is one setting. Please make it district policy. Thank you.

   Part 3: What does each component do, and how does Talia integrate it? Work through the five examples below. For each one, ask: Which jobs does it do, and what does Talia say to weave it into her talk?

   • A video that adds interest and strengthens the evidence (paragraph 1)

     Why does Talia start with a video before she even says her name?

     Result: The dark lab full of glowing screens makes the committee curious right away, so it adds interest. It is also proof: she recorded it herself at 6:10 p.m., two hours after the last student left, so it strengthens her evidence that computers are left on. She integrates it by explaining it the moment it ends ("That was our computer lab at Hollis Creek Middle School") and then stating her claim.

   • A table that strengthens the evidence (paragraph 2)

     A committee member could say, "Maybe someone just forgot one night." How does Slide 1 answer that?

     Result: The table shows five school days in a row, from 22 to 27 computers each night, not one bad night. Talia says what it shows ("it was not one night") and gives the total: 27 + 25 + 22 + 26 + 25 = 125 computers, or an average of 125 ÷ 5 = 25 a night. Counting more than once makes a finding harder to dismiss.

   • Photos that clarify how she measured and strengthen the evidence (paragraph 3)

     What do the two meter photos add that the words 61 watts and 1 watt do not?

     Result: They clarify information: listeners see what a plug-in meter is and where it goes, between the computer and the outlet. They also strengthen the evidence, because the committee can see the readings for themselves, on a real lab computer, in photos Talia took. She integrates them by telling listeners which photo to look at first ("In the left photo...").

   • A chart and a step-by-step slide that clarify the numbers (paragraphs 4 and 5, Diagram 1)

     How do Slide 3 and Slide 4 make Talia's numbers easy to follow?

     Result: The bar chart puts the three settings side by side, drawn to scale, and Talia tells listeners where to look: "the gap between the tall bar and the two short ones," 61 - 1 = 60 watts. Slide 4 then shows the math one line at a time as she says it: 25 × 60 = 1,500 watts; 1,500 watts × 16 hours = 24,000 watt-hours, or 24 kilowatt-hours a night; 24 × 180 = 4,320 kilowatt-hours; and 4,320 × $0.15 = $648. Seeing each step while hearing it clarifies a calculation that would be hard to follow by ear alone.

   • A closing slide that ties the talk together (paragraph 8)

     Slide 7 reuses the still frame from the opening video. Why is that a good choice?

     Result: Listeners recognize the glowing lab from the first ten seconds, so the talk ends where it began, and the image keeps their attention on the problem. The one line under it clarifies exactly what Talia is asking for: a shutdown time and the yearly savings. She states the request aloud at the same moment, so her words and the slide match.

   Four steps to integrate any component. Write these on the board: Introduce it (what it is and where it came from), Point (tell listeners where to look), Explain (say what it shows) and Connect (say how it supports the claim). Ask: "Which slide in Talia's talk would you ask her to fix, and why?" Students answer on their own in the quiz, so collect ideas without confirming one.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Draft Talk C, a group's history talk with no media at all. Each pair (1) writes the claim in one sentence, (2) plans one component that clarifies information, one that strengthens the claim or evidence and one that adds interest, and (3) writes one sentence that integrates each component, using the four steps. Pairs sketch the component that clarifies on grid paper.

   1Good morning. Our group studied the Pony Express. Our claim is that it was the fastest way to send a letter across the West in 1860, but that a new invention made it outdated in about a year and a half.

   2In 1860, people in California waited a long time for news from the East. Mail carried by the overland stagecoach line took more than 20 days. The Pony Express began on April 3, 1860. Its riders carried mail about 1,900 miles between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, in about 10 days.

   3The secret was the relay. Every 10 to 15 miles, a rider reached a station, where a new horse stood saddled and waiting, and he was back on the trail in minutes. Each rider usually covered about 75 to 100 miles before handing the mail to the next rider. The letters rode in a mochila, a leather sheet thrown over the saddle, with a mail pocket at each of its four corners.

   4The fastest trip on record carried the text of President Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, the speech he gave when he took office, in March 1861. It took about seven days and seventeen hours.

   5Then, on October 24, 1861, workers finished the first telegraph line across the country. It sent messages as electric signals along a wire, so news could travel from coast to coast almost as fast as an operator could tap it out. Two days later, the Pony Express officially ended. It had lasted only about 19 months, but it became one of the best-known legends of the Old West.

   One possible media plan for Draft Talk C (share after pairs finish)

   Part of the talk	Component	Its job
   The route (paragraph 2)	A map the group draws of the route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, with a few stations marked	Clarifies information: listeners see how far 1,900 miles is and which way the mail went
   The relay (paragraph 3)	A drawing of one leg of the trip: a station every 10 to 15 miles, and a new rider after about 75 to 100 miles	Clarifies information: how the relay kept the mail moving without long stops
   The claim that it was fastest (paragraphs 2 and 4)	A bar chart the group draws of travel times: stagecoach more than 20 days, Pony Express about 10 days, the record trip about 7.7 days	Strengthens the claim: the comparison shows the speed instead of only saying it
   The ending (paragraph 5)	A timeline from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, with the telegraph line finished on October 24	Strengthens the claim that the telegraph made the Pony Express outdated: the two dates are two days apart
   The opening	A 20-second relay in the classroom: one student "rides" to a chair, and another grabs a backpack standing in for the mochila and keeps going	Adds interest, and it connects to the claim because it shows the relay idea

   Debrief. Ask two pairs to share one integrating sentence each. Then ask: "Could a historical photo of a Pony Express rider from a library's online collection strengthen this talk? What would you have to say about it?" Students should name the library as the source, say what the photo shows and connect it to the talk. Point out that the classroom relay only adds interest if the group explains it right away; otherwise it is just a break in the talk.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read Model Presentation B on their own, an eighth grader's talk to a public library board about keeping its makerspace (a room with tools and machines where people design and build things) open on Saturdays. They mark each component C, S or I, or W if it weakens the talk or distracts, then work alone on the quiz. Questions 1-10, 15 and 16 are about Model Presentation B and Diagram 2, questions 11, 12, 18, 19 and 20 are about Model Presentation A and Diagram 1, and questions 13, 14 and 17 ask students to use the standard in new situations.

   1[Slide 1: the title "Save the Makerspace!" plays over a 20-second video Declan found online. It shows a makerspace in a different city, with fast cuts of robots, sparks and a laser cutter, set to loud music. Declan waits for it to end.] Good evening, members of the board. I'm Declan Ortiz, and I'm in eighth grade at Fairmount Middle School. Next month, you will vote on a plan to close the library's makerspace on Saturdays to save staff hours. My claim is that the makerspace should stay open on Saturdays, because Saturday is the day it serves the most people.

   2[Slide 2: a bar chart, Diagram 2 on this page, titled "Makerspace Visitors." It shows the average number of visitors on each day the makerspace was open last fall.] Look at this chart. Saturday is way bigger than every other day. It's not even close. [A board member, Ms. Chen, asks where the numbers come from. Declan says they come from the makerspace sign-in sheets, but that fact is not on the slide.]

   3[Slide 3: a photo of Declan and two friends smiling next to the 3D printer.] Lots of kids use the makerspace. Here's me and my friends.

   4[Declan holds up a phone stand he designed and printed in the makerspace. He hands it to the board member at the end of the table and asks the board to pass it down while he keeps talking.] I made this. On Saturday mornings, the makerspace librarian, Mr. Abara, teaches a free design class, and that's where I learned the design software. A lot of kids have school all week and sports or jobs after school, so Saturday is the only day they can come. [While Declan talks, board members turn the phone stand over in their hands and pass it along.]

   5[Slide 4: a time-lapse video Declan recorded last Saturday from a back corner of the makerspace, with Mr. Abara's permission. In 15 seconds, it shows the room from 9:55 to 11:00 a.m. The eight worktables go from empty to full, and a line forms at the door.] I recorded this last Saturday. It's one hour, sped up. Watch the tables. [Declan stops the video on its last frame.] At 9:55 the room was empty. By 10:30 people were working at all eight tables, and at 11:00 four people were waiting at the door. When I came on a Wednesday afternoon at 4:00, people were working at three of the eight tables.

   6[Slide 5: a quotation in large type, with a name under it: "Saturday is the only day many families can come together, and parents and kids build side by side." Mr. Abara, makerspace librarian (shared with his permission).] Mr. Abara runs the makerspace, and he said I could share this with you.

   7[Slide 6: a list of prices for 3D printer supplies, in small type.] Also, on Saturday mornings a lot of students come for the volunteer homework tutors, and some of them stay to try the makerspace afterward. [The board members squint at the price list while Declan talks about tutoring.]

   8[Slide 7: the words "THE END" with a fireworks animation and a cheering sound.] So, yeah. Any questions?

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: "Name one component you could use in a talk about a problem at our school. Say which job it would do (clarify information, strengthen your claim or evidence, or add interest) and write the sentence you would say to integrate it."

   Teacher note. The students, adults, schools, district, library, counts, meter readings, the electricity rate and the headset price in Model Presentations A and B are invented. The definitions in Talia's talk are real: a watt measures how fast a device uses electricity, and a kilowatt-hour is the energy a 1,000-watt device uses in one hour. The facts in Draft Talk C are real: the Pony Express began on April 3, 1860, ran about 1,900 miles between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, carried mail in about 10 days, and officially ended on October 26, 1861, two days after the first transcontinental telegraph line was finished. Its fastest trip carried Lincoln's first inaugural address in about seven days and seventeen hours; like other urgent news, it rode between the ends of the growing telegraph lines, so it did not cover the full St. Joseph-Sacramento route. Relay stations stood about 10 to 15 miles apart, and each rider usually covered 75 to 100 miles. This page describes media in words and embeds none. Ask students to make their own photos, charts and recordings, to ask permission before recording people or private spaces, and to name the source of any fact, quotation or image they did not make.

   Homework. Students plan, make and present media for a short talk of their own. Show them the directions and the rubric before they leave.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does the video on Slide 1 of Model Presentation B do little to strengthen Declan's claim?

   AIt shows a makerspace in another city, so it proves nothing about this one BIt lasts only 20 seconds, which is far too short for the board to follow it CIt is a video, and a formal board meeting should use only printed charts DIt plays after he states his claim, so it interrupts his opening sentence

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does Diagram 2 make Saturday look far busier than it was?

   AThe Saturday bar is drawn in a brighter color than the other five bars BThe chart leaves out Sunday, so the week it shows is not complete CThe vertical axis starts at 45 visitors instead of starting at 0 DThe days of the week appear in the wrong order along the bottom

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Use the numbers in Diagram 2. About how many more visitors came on an average Saturday than on an average weekday (Monday to Friday)?

   A20 B23 C52 D16

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which revision of Slide 2 would best strengthen Declan's claim?

   AStart the axis at 0, add the sign-in sheets as the source, and say both averages aloud BKeep the axis as it is, but make the Saturday bar red and add an arrow pointing at it CTake the numbers off the axis so the board looks at the shapes of the bars instead DReplace the chart with a photo of the sign-in sheet from one busy Saturday

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does the photo on Slide 3 do little to strengthen the claim that "lots of kids use the makerspace"?

   AIt is a photo, and a photo can never count as evidence in a talk BIt shows only three people, and one of them is the speaker himself CIt shows the 3D printer, which is a machine that most visitors never use DIt was taken by a friend of Declan's instead of by a librarian

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What is the main problem with the way Declan uses the phone stand in paragraph 4?

   AAn object a student made can never add interest to a formal talk BHe should have printed a much larger object that the whole room could see CThe board passes it around while he talks, so they stop listening DHe never tells the board who made the phone stand or where it was made

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why is the time-lapse on Slide 4 the strongest component in Model Presentation B?

   AIt is the longest video in the talk, so it holds the board's attention best BHe recorded it in this makerspace, then stops it and explains what it shows CIt plays loud music that makes the board feel excited about building things DIt shows every Saturday of last fall instead of showing only a single day

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why is the quotation on Slide 5 stronger evidence than Declan's own sentence "Lots of kids use the makerspace"?

   AIt appears in larger type than the words on any other slide in the talk BIt is longer than his sentence, so it gives the board more information CIt is a direct quotation, and quotations on slides are always accurate DIt names a source who runs the makerspace, and Declan has his permission

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What is wrong with Slide 6?

   AThe slide shows supply prices while Declan is talking about tutors BIt has numbers on it, and a library board cannot follow numbers during a talk CIt comes too late; a list of prices should always be the first slide of a talk DIt is the only slide in the talk that shows no picture, chart or video at all

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which closing would best replace Slide 7?

    AThe same fireworks slide, with the cheering sound turned off BA slide listing every single fact from the talk in small type CThe last frame of his time-lapse, with his request in one line DThe Slide 1 video again, with the music turned up louder

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Diagram 1, how many watts does one computer save by sleeping instead of staying on?

    A57 B60 C3 D65

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does Slide 5 of Model Presentation A weaken Talia's talk?

    ARed capital letters are too informal for a district technology committee BIt makes a huge claim with no source, and she can't say where it came from CIt is about schools everywhere, and a talk may mention only its own school DIt comes right after her calculation instead of right before it

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student claims that many eighth graders carry backpacks that are too heavy. She weighed 40 backpacks in her grade with the owners' permission. Which component would add interest and stay connected to her claim?

    AA cartoon turtle wearing a backpack that spins across every slide BA loud thud sound effect that plays each time she changes slides CA photo from a website of a famous climber carrying a huge pack DLetting a volunteer lift the heaviest backpack she weighed

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which of these is an example of integrating a chart into a talk, not just showing it?

    AShowing the chart while reading every number on it aloud, from left to right BNaming its source, pointing to the key bar and saying how it supports the claim CSaving the chart for the last slide so listeners can study it during questions DPrinting the chart as a handout and passing it out before the talk begins

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite what Declan says in paragraph 2 so that his chart is integrated and his evidence is accurate. Introduce the chart and its source, tell the board where to look, and describe the difference between Saturday and the weekdays using the real numbers. Then describe how you would redraw the chart.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Name one component in Model Presentation B that adds interest but does not strengthen Declan's claim, and one that adds interest and strengthens it. Quote the transcript to explain each choice.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Your class claims that the town should add benches along the walking path around Mill Pond, because many older residents stop to rest there. Plan three components, one that clarifies information, one that strengthens the claim or evidence and one that adds interest. Then write the sentence you would say to integrate the one that strengthens the claim.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Talia did not count weekends. She wants to add one line to Slide 4 about a single Saturday, when the lab is empty for all 24 hours. Using her numbers (25 computers left on, 60 watts saved per computer, 15 cents per kilowatt-hour), find how many kilowatt-hours and dollars shutting down would save on that one Saturday. Would adding this line strengthen her claim? Explain.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain the difference between a component that clarifies information and one that strengthens a claim or evidence. Give one example of each from Model Presentation A and say what each one does.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Evaluate Slide 6 of Model Presentation A, the taped headset. Does it add interest, does it stay connected to Talia's claim, and does her math on the slide hold up? Explain.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to SL.8.5: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.