Overview

Lesson Procedure

65-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Students write for three minutes, then compare answers with a partner. Collect four or five answers and sort them on the board into two columns: "reasons to trust" and "reasons to doubt."

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Think of a time someone tried to talk you into something: a friend, an ad, a coach, a video. What did they say that made you trust them, and what, if anything, made you doubt them?"

   Students usually name the speaker ("she knew what she was talking about"), the reasons ("it made sense"), the facts ("he had numbers") and the delivery ("it sounded too good to be true"). Tell them that SL.9-10.3 turns those instincts into four things to evaluate, point of view, reasoning, evidence and rhetoric, and adds two warning signs to listen for: fallacious reasoning and exaggerated or distorted evidence (Diagram 1).

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: The vocabulary of evaluation. Present Diagram 1 and the table below. A speaker's point of view is where the speaker stands and what the speaker has at stake. Reasoning is how the reasons lead to the claim. Evidence is the facts, numbers, examples and quotations offered as support. Rhetoric is the craft of persuasion: word choice, repetition, questions, allusions and appeals to feeling. A fallacy is a flaw in reasoning that can make a weak argument sound strong. Evidence is exaggerated when it is stretched beyond what it shows, and distorted when it is cut, framed or selected so that it seems to show something else.

   Warning signs for SL.9-10.3 and the question to ask about each

   Warning sign	What it does	Question to ask
   Attack on the person (ad hominem)	Attacks the speaker instead of the reasons	"Even if that is true of the person, is the idea wrong?"
   Straw man	Restates an opponent's view in a weaker, false form	"Is that what the other side really said?"
   False dilemma	Offers two choices when there are more	"What other options are left out?"
   Slippery slope	Predicts a chain of results with no support for each link	"What evidence connects each step to the next?"
   Hasty generalization	Draws a broad rule from one or two cases	"How many cases is this based on?"
   False cause	Assumes that what came first caused what came after	"What else could explain it?"
   Bandwagon	Says to agree because others do	"Is the claim true, or only popular?"
   Circular reasoning	Uses the conclusion as its own reason	"Does the reason say anything new?"
   Exaggerated evidence	Stretches a fact beyond what it shows	"What are the actual numbers?"
   Distorted evidence	Cuts a quotation, picks a small sample or frames a graph to mislead	"What is missing or cut?"

   Part 2: A model speech. Students cannot hear a speech on the page, so they read a transcript. Read Model Speech A aloud with feeling, the way a speaker would give it at a microphone. It is a public comment at a city council meeting in an invented city of about 38,000 people, written for this page with some sound points and some planted flaws. Students highlight sound reasoning in one color and warning signs in another.

   1Good evening. My name is Glenn Harker, and I have lived on Birch Street, right across from Lindell Park, for twenty-two years. I am here to ask the council to vote no on the skate park.

   2First, the cost. The plan in tonight's packet puts the price at $480,000. That is more than the city spent on repairs in all of its parks last year, which the budget lists as $410,000. Before we build something new, I think we should fix the playground we already have.

   3Second, safety. When Riverside opened its skate park, police calls to that park doubled. Doubled! Anyone who wants that across the street from their house has not thought it through.

   4Councilmember Ortiz is the one pushing this plan, and she lives on the other side of town. Of course she doesn't mind noise she will never have to hear.

   5My neighbor's grandson broke his wrist at a skate park in Fresno last summer. These places are dangerous, period.

   6And if we give in on this, what comes next? A BMX track, then a dirt-bike course, and before you know it Lindell Park is one big racetrack.

   7Everyone I have talked to on Birch Street is against this. Forty-one people signed my petition. The people have spoken.

   8So the choice tonight is simple. You can protect this neighborhood, or you can hand it over to the skateboarders. I ask you to vote no. Thank you.

   After the reading, give students the facts behind paragraph 3, from the invented Riverside police log that Mr. Harker is describing. Diagram 2 shows the same numbers to scale.

   What the Riverside police log shows (invented data)

   Year	Calls to the skate park area	Noise complaints among them	Calls to all nine city parks
   Year before the skate park opened	3	2	128
   Year after it opened	6	4	131

   • Point of view (paragraph 1)

     Mr. Harker has "lived on Birch Street, right across from Lindell Park, for twenty-two years."

     Result: His point of view is a nearby homeowner's, and it shapes what he stresses: cost, noise and safety on his street. A stake is not a flaw. It tells listeners what to ask next, such as who else uses the park and whether he mentions any benefit to the teenagers who would skate there. He never does.

   • Sound evidence and reasoning (paragraph 2)

     "The plan in tonight's packet puts the price at $480,000. That is more than the city spent on repairs in all of its parks last year, which the budget lists as $410,000."

     Result: This evidence is specific, relevant and checkable: both numbers come from the city's own documents, and $480,000 is $70,000 more than a full year of park repairs. His conclusion, fix the playground first, is a judgment about priorities that the numbers support. Evaluating a speech includes saying what works.

   • Exaggerated evidence (paragraph 3)

     "When Riverside opened its skate park, police calls to that park doubled. Doubled!"

     Result: The claim is true but misleading. The log shows 3 calls rising to 6, an increase of 3 calls in a year, and 4 of the 6 were noise complaints. Calls to all nine parks rose only from 128 to 131, about 2 percent. Repeating "Doubled!" and hiding the small base turns a tiny change into a crime wave.

   • Fallacious reasoning (paragraphs 4 and 6)

     "Councilmember Ortiz [...] lives on the other side of town." "A BMX track, then a dirt-bike course, and before you know it Lindell Park is one big racetrack."

     Result: Paragraph 4 is an attack on the person: where Ortiz lives says nothing about whether her plan is good. Paragraph 6 is a slippery slope: no evidence links a skate park to a BMX track, or a BMX track to a racetrack. Neither paragraph gives the council a reason it can check.

   • Evaluating a historical speaker (first Henry excerpt)

     Patrick Henry: "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience." Later: "Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it?"

     Result: Henry's reasoning is an argument from experience: ten years of British conduct and "warlike preparations" are his evidence that the petition's friendly reception means nothing. His rhetorical question dares opponents to offer another explanation for the fleets and armies; when none comes, he concludes, "They are meant for us." This is strong reasoning that Henry states with total certainty, which listeners should notice even when they find it convincing.

   Part 3: The historical speech. Introduce Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention of March 23, 1775, where he urged delegates to arm Virginia's militia against Britain. Explain that no one wrote the speech down that day: the text we read was reconstructed by William Wirt in 1817 from the memories of people who heard it, so we are evaluating Henry's reasoning as Wirt printed it. Read the first excerpt aloud; the last worked example above comes from it. Paragraphs are numbered for citation.

   1I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And, judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?

   2Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation, the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us. They can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted?

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Groups of three read the second Henry excerpt, the end of the speech. One student reads it aloud as a speech; the others track it with the Diagram 1 questions. Each group marks one place where Henry reasons well, one place where his evidence is exaggerated, and one place where his choices are too few.

   1They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversary; but when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature hath placed in our power.

   2Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable, and let it come! I repeat, it, sir, let it come!

   3It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace! but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

   Debrief with three questions. (1) In paragraph 2, Henry says "Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty [...] are invincible." Is this evidence exaggerated? Yes. Historians' estimates put the thirteen colonies' population at roughly 2.5 million in 1775, about one in five of them enslaved people whom no one proposed to arm, and "invincible" claims a certainty no speaker could have; the war that followed lasted more than eight years. (2) What choices does Henry offer in "There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!"? Only two: fight or be enslaved. Many delegates who opposed his resolutions still hoped for reconciliation, and Henry does not answer that option here; he renames it "submission." Students should call this a false dilemma, then decide whether Henry's evidence in the first excerpt earns it. (3) Is "The war is actually begun!" (paragraph 3) accurate for March 23, 1775? No battle had yet been fought; the first, at Lexington and Concord, came on April 19, 27 days later. British troops did occupy Boston, which is the fact Henry stretches. Point out that Wirt, writing in 1817, knew how events turned out.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read Model Speech B, a campaign speech for junior class president at an invented school where the junior class has 312 students. They answer quiz questions 1-10 on their own with the transcript open, then questions 11-20, which return to Henry's speech, add new short examples and ask for one rewrite of Model Speech B.

   1Hi, everyone. I'm Tessa Brandt, and I'm running for junior class president. I've been class treasurer for two years, so I know where our money goes, and I want to tell you where it should go next.

   2Here is a fact from the treasurer's report I wrote in June: the vending machine in the commons earned $1,260 for our class last year. Right now all of it sits in a general fund. I want to spend $600 on a junior study lounge with charging stations and save the rest for prom.

   3My opponent, Marcus Webb, wants to cancel the Winter Formal. That's right: he wants to take away the one dance we all look forward to.

   4Last year, right after the school switched to the new bell schedule, our class's average GPA went down. The new schedule is hurting us, and I will fight to change it.

   5I also asked juniors what they want. Eighteen of the twenty people I asked at my lunch table and in the hallway said they want a study lounge. That's ninety percent of our class!

   6Some people say Marcus has good ideas. But let's be honest: Marcus quit the robotics team after one semester. Do you really want a president who quits?

   7Everybody on the soccer team, in the band and on the yearbook staff is voting for me. Don't be the one who gets left out.

   8If we don't get a study lounge this year, juniors will keep failing tests, colleges will turn us down, and we'll go down as the class that gave up.

   9A vote for me is a vote for a class that plans ahead, a class that looks out for each other, and a class that finishes strong. Thank you.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: "Write one sentence from any speech we read today that you found convincing and one that you did not. For each, name the part of Diagram 1 it belongs to and give your reason." Use the tickets to form pairs for Activity 1: one student who chose a Henry sentence with one who chose a model speech.

   Teacher note on Henry's language and point of view. Henry uses "slavery" and "chains" for political subjection to Britain, and "Three millions of people" for the colonists. Henry himself enslaved people, and his count does not reckon with the enslaved people who lived in the colonies. The words are quoted exactly as printed. Students can treat this as part of evaluating the speaker's point of view: whose liberty does the speech have in mind? Keep the discussion on the text and its historical context.

   Homework. Tonight students evaluate Model Speech C, the closing statement from an invented class debate below, and one real speech of their choice. Show them the directions and rubric before they leave.

   1Thank you, judges. I'm Jordan Okafor, and my partner and I have argued that our school should replace printed textbooks with tablets next fall. I want to close by answering the other team.

   2The other team says tablets cost too much. But the district's quote is $329 per tablet, and our biology textbook alone costs $142. Buy three books and you have already paid for a tablet.

   3They also quoted Dr. Ana Hale's article, which says tablets "can distract students." They left out the rest of her sentence: "when schools skip teacher training, which is why training has to come first." We have a training plan, and it is on page 4 of our handout.

   4Tablets are better for learning because students learn more with them. That is why every student here deserves one.

   5A famous quarterback said on a podcast that he studies game film on his tablet every night. If it's good enough for a champion, it's good enough for us.

   6At Northfield High, test scores went up the same year the school handed out tablets. Obviously, the tablets did it.

   7And think about your back. Students here carry thirty-pound backpacks every single day. Tablets would end back pain for every student in this building.

   8So vote for the future, not the past. Vote for tablets.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement best describes Tessa's point of view in paragraphs 1-2 of Model Speech B?

   AShe speaks as a neutral observer with no stake in how the class spends its money BShe speaks as the class treasurer who wants vending money spent on a study lounge CShe speaks mainly as a critic of the bell schedule and of the school's principal DShe speaks as a prom planner who wants every dollar saved for the spring dance

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How strong is the evidence in paragraph 2 of Model Speech B?

   AWeak, because any speech that uses numbers is trying to trick its listeners BIrrelevant, because a report about a vending machine says nothing about the lounge CExaggerated, because the transcript shows the machine earned less than she says DRelevant and specific, though listeners could ask to see the report she wrote

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Marcus Webb's written platform says: "Hold the Winter Formal in the gym instead of a hotel ballroom, and use the savings to lower ticket prices." With that in mind, what is wrong with paragraph 3 of Model Speech B?

   AShe restates Marcus's plan as canceling the dance, then attacks that version BShe attacks Marcus's character instead of discussing any of his plans CShe predicts that one small step will lead to a chain of disasters DShe says the dance is popular, so any change to it must be a bad idea

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which flaw appears in paragraph 4 of Model Speech B?

   ACircular reasoning: her conclusion simply repeats her reason in other words BFalse cause: she assumes the schedule caused the drop that came after it CStraw man: she describes the new bell schedule unfairly before attacking it DBandwagon: she claims the whole class already agrees that the schedule is bad

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 5 of Model Speech B, Tessa says eighteen of twenty is "ninety percent of our class." The junior class has 312 students. What is wrong with this evidence?

   AEighteen of twenty is really 80 percent, so the percentage she gives is simply wrong BSurveys are only opinions, so they can never count as evidence in any speech CShe asked 20 people she chose herself and presented them as all 312 juniors DNothing, because a result from 20 people always holds true for all 312 juniors

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 6 of Model Speech B, Tessa says, "Some people say Marcus has good ideas." How does she answer that view?

   AShe attacks Marcus's past on the robotics team instead of answering his ideas BShe quotes Marcus's ideas accurately and then gives evidence against them CShe says that choosing Marcus will start a chain of events ending in failure DShe argues that Marcus's ideas must be good because so many people like them

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 7 of Model Speech B, what does Tessa ask listeners to base their vote on?

   AEvidence that a junior study lounge is affordable this year BA careful comparison of the two candidates' written plans CMarcus Webb's record as a member of the robotics team DThe fear of being left out while other groups vote for her

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which evaluation of paragraph 8 of Model Speech B is most accurate?

   AIt gives a reason taken directly from the treasurer's report BIt predicts a chain of worse results with no support for each link CIt cuts a teacher's quotation so that the lounge seems more necessary DIt attacks the people who oppose the lounge instead of their reasons

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Tessa's closing sentence in paragraph 9 repeats "a class that" three times. Which evaluation of this rhetoric is most accurate?

   AIt is a fallacy, because repetition is never allowed in a persuasive speech BIt is evidence, because it proves the class will plan ahead if she wins CIt makes the ending memorable and hopeful, but it adds no new reasons DIt is a straw man, because it misstates what her opponent wants

10. Question 10 of 20 · Short Answer

    Which paragraph of Model Speech B gives the strongest reasoning and evidence, and which gives the weakest? Explain both choices in three or four sentences, quoting each paragraph.

    Show model answer

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 1 of the second Henry excerpt, Henry answers "They tell us, sir, that we are weak" with a string of questions, beginning "but when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year?" What is the reasoning behind these questions?

    AWaiting will not make the colonies stronger; it will let Britain disarm them first BThe colonies are too weak to fight, so they should wait a year to prepare CThe delegates should choose a date for the war, either next week or next year DHis opponents are cowards, so their argument does not deserve an answer

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 2 of the second Henry excerpt, Henry says, "There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us." How should a listener in 1775 evaluate this as support for going to war?

    AIt is strong evidence, because a claim about God cannot be questioned BIt is a false cause, because it blames Britain for events it did not cause CIt is a distorted quotation of a British minister's promise to send help DIt is an appeal to faith and hope, not evidence the delegates could check

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Henry's opponents have said the colonies are weak. How does "The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave" (second Henry excerpt, paragraph 2) answer them?

    AIt admits the colonies will lose, but says that losing bravely is enough BIt changes what counts as strength, so the colonists' smaller forces matter less CIt gives a count of the British and colonial troops that proves the colonies stronger DIt attacks the delegates who are not brave enough to vote for his resolutions

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 1 of the first Henry excerpt, Henry calls the reception of the colonies' petition an "insidious smile" and warns, "Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss." How does this rhetoric work on his listeners?

    AIt likens Britain's courtesy to Judas's kiss, so kindness looks like a trap BIt proves with numbers that the ministry has rejected every single petition CIt praises the ministry's gracious reception as a sign that peace is near DIt shows that Henry has changed his mind and now favors more petitions

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A candidate shows a bar graph of two schools' average test scores, 82 and 86. The vertical axis starts at 80, so the second bar looks three times as tall as the first. What is the problem with this evidence?

    AThe scores must be invented, because 86 is not a possible test average BNothing, because the second bar really is three times as tall on the graph CThe graph is a false dilemma, because only two schools are compared DStarting the axis at 80 makes a 4-point difference look like a huge gap

16. Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A speaker at a school board meeting says: "Either we ban phones from every classroom, or we admit that nobody at this school will ever learn anything again." Which flaw does this sentence contain?

    AIt attacks the people who disagree instead of their reasons BIt restates its conclusion as if the conclusion were a reason CIt offers only two extreme choices when many others exist DIt relies on one story to make a claim about everyone

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Before a vote on the lunch schedule, the student council's survey report said: "Most students are satisfied with lunch, though many want more vegetarian options." A council member then tells the school board: "Our survey found that most students are satisfied with lunch, so no changes are needed." Explain how the speaker distorts the evidence, and write an accurate version of the sentence.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite paragraph 5 of Model Speech B so that the evidence is accurate but still supports Tessa's plan. Then explain in one sentence what you changed.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    In paragraph 2 of the first Henry excerpt, Henry asks, "Shall we try argument?" and "Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication?" and answers that both have been tried in vain. In October 1774, the First Continental Congress had agreed to a boycott of British goods, which was still in effect when Henry spoke. Evaluate his reasoning: does he show that fighting is the only choice left? Answer in three or four sentences.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    A classmate says, "Henry's speech contains an exaggeration and a false dilemma, so everything he argues must be wrong." Do you agree? Explain in three or four sentences, pointing to one part of either Henry excerpt that you find sound and one that you find flawed.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to SL.9-10.3: 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.