by Samantha Meeks
Method: Direct Instruction
Bloom’s Level: Conceptual/Procedural – Apply
Materials Needed: They Say, I Say, 4 debatable famous quotations
Objective: English 1023 students will be able to utilize summary in debates and writing with 70 percent accuracy.
Introduction
Focus – take roll
Review previous lesson
Introduce the book, walk through introduction
Development
Students should have read They Say, I Say pages 1-16 for homework. Discuss these pages with students.
Guided Practice – Have the class stand and group near you at the front of the class. Read the first quotation. Have everyone that agrees with the quotation stand on the left of the room. Have everyone that disagrees with the quotation stand on the right side of the room. Give them three minutes to come up with a statement that shows why they agree or disagree (as a group). Have the agree side say their statement. Give the disagree side two minutes to decide as a group how to summarize the agree side’s statement. Have the disagree side say, “They say (insert summary statement of agree side). We say (insert disagree statement).”
Repeat activity with second quotation, but let the disagree side start.
Independent Practice
Put the class in partners, and have them decide who will be agree or disagree (a side they must come up with a reason for, regardless of their actual feelings about the following quotations).
Read the third quotation. Have the agree partner write down their statement. Have the disagree partner follow the “They say/I say” template to write their statement following the agree partner.
Repeat with the fourth quotation, but let the disagree side start.
Conclusion
Review lesson.
Tell whether they met the objectives – evaluate based on their class and group discussions.
Ask for any questions.
Assign homework.
- This activity, the spoken debate part, worked exceptionally well for my class. I chose quotations that were about topics we had discussed that I knew would elicit debatable responses.
- I added the written portion for this lesson plan, because the class did tire quickly of the back and forth of the physical participation, so I feel that having them write down their responses would be a positive addition to this lesson.
S. Meeks is a PhD student with interests in 18th and 19th century British Literature. Her Teaching Assistant position at the University of Arkansas allows her the opportunity to foster student growth and encourage developing writers, as teaching is one of her passions.
Hooray for our first post! 🙂
I like the idea of having the students do this in groups, then in pairs. For whatever meaning-making or personality reasons that exist, it seems like students get different things out of an activity by doing the same thing in both small and large groups.