Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 43915
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - An Intro to
Analysis & Argumentation Part II of III
In this lesson students will independently read, outside of class, chapters 8-14 of Ismael Beah's memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy
Soldier. In class, students will learn how to create position statements as they read several informational articles and speeches about a variety of
topics. Students will also participate in a Philosophical Chairs discussion and use a SOAPTone strategy to help them with their creation of position
statements.
Subject(s): English Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 8
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Document Camera,
Computer for Presenter, Computers for Students,
Interactive Whiteboard, LCD Projector, Overhead
Projector, Speakers/Headphones, Adobe Flash Player,
Microsoft Office
Instructional Time: 9 Hour(s) 20 Minute(s)
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, argumentation, Philosophical Chair,
SOAPSTone, tone words, position statement
Resource Collection: CPALMS Lesson Plan Development Initiative
ATTACHMENTS
IntroductionEvidenceExplanation for Quizzes.pdf
Lesson 2_ Position Statement on War.docx
Position Statement Frame.pdf
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: General Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Students will read chapters 8-14 of A Long Way Gone and determine the central ideas and explain how they progress in and across these chapters.
Students will read informational texts and analyze the central idea and other aspects of each text using the SOAPSTone analysis.
Students will produce a position statement for a number of informational texts to help them clarify their thinking about the texts they have read.
Students will use the Philosophical Chairs format to verbalize their claims and their suppositions in order to learn from one another and reflect about the texts.
Students will write position statements to cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the articles explicitly state as well as draw inferences
from the text.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
1. Understand what is meant by the following terms:
textual evidence
analysis of a text
central idea
page 1 of 5 speaker or author
purpose of a text
occasion for a text
subject/topic of a text
tone
2. Understand the elements of argumentation (claim, support- reasons and evidence, opposing claim/alternate claim)
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
How does Ismael Beah develop his central ideas in each chapter for chapters 8-14?
Do you see any overarching central ideas across chapters 8-14? If so, what are they and how does Beah support them?
In what ways do authors present their position on arguments?
How does writing position statements consistently help you, the writer, in creating augments?
Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
Note- This section blends both the Teaching Phase and Guided Practice together.
Order of Lesson (Examples below use a block schedule, if a teacher's school schedule is different, please make adjustments as needed)
Day 11. Hook:
--Share pictures of child soldiers & discuss the purpose (why did the photographer choose to display this image? Was it to persuade, inform or explain?) and audience
(for whom is this image meant? children, adults, poor, rich, voters, etc.) Teachers can use links to these photos or locate links of their own:
Photo
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
--Model how to analyze pictures of child soldiers using SOAPSTone (Explanation and example and tone words).
Ex. Looking at the image, what is the subject of this picture, what is the picture about? Why would the photographer want to share this picture? Who is this picture
for? What is the purpose (persuade, inform, explain) of sharing this picture?
When asking students questions, ask them where in the text the information was provided. This will get them used to finding support for their statements.
Ask students what kind of tone is presented; happy, sad, neutral? Then ask students to choose the best word to describe the tone and have them explain why they
chose this.
--Students will work collaboratively to read/analyze pictures using the graphic organizer SOAPSTone. They will write their responses and discuss their thoughts.
2. Read articles by dividing the class in groups, each group gets one article from the New York Times to analyze using SOAPSTone. Due to the high Lexile levels of
these articles, the teacher may need to provide scaffolding and support to assist students in comprehending the texts. Based on student need, teachers may decide to
read the articles as a class and then have students get into groups and analyze their article using SOAPSTone.
The French Ways of War (Lexile 1520)
Africa Must Take Lead in Mali, France Says (Lexile 1480)
UN Refugee Agency Warns of Crisis in Mali (Lexile 1550)
3. Have students share and discuss their articles and responses derived from using SOAPSTone.
4. The teacher should then model how to write a position statement. A resource to assist with modeling can be found here. The teacher could model how to write a
position statement using one of these articles, an article of their own choosing, or one of the opening chapters from A Long Way Gone (chapters 1-7 were read in
lesson one of this unit).
5. Have groups write a position statement for their articles. Students can use a sentence frame if needed. Teachers should model using this sentence frame before
giving it to students.
6. Home Learning: Students will read chapter 8-9 in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier to prepare for the next day's quiz.
Day 21. Students will take a quiz on chapters 8-9 of A Long Way Gone. Teachers will need to create their own questions for the quiz. At least one quiz question that
teachers create should ask students to determine the central idea of each chapter and explain how Beah uses specific evidence to develop the central idea.
2. Discuss position statements that groups created yesterday. Teachers can provide feedback as necessary on group's position statements.
3. Read speeches in groups of three (due to the Lexile levels- teachers may need to provide additional support):
Barack Obama's 2002 Speech against the Iraq War (Lexile 1210)
Text of George W Bush's Speech on Iraq (This speech is 2,277 words long. Using the Lexile Analyzer, the first 989 words have a Lexile of 1130.)
4. Students will analyze the speech using SOAPSTone.
5. Students will write a position statement using the article they were assigned. The teacher should provide feedback on the students' position statement.
6. Home Learning: Students will read chapters 10-11 in A Long Way Gone to prepare for the next day's quiz. Students could also take the speech they were not
already assigned and analyze the speech using SOAPSTone and write a position statement for that speech.
Day 31. Students will take a quiz on chapters 10-11 in A Long Way Gone. Teachers will need to create their own questions for the quiz. At least one quiz question that
teachers create should ask students to determine the central idea of each chapter and explain how Beah uses specific evidence to develop the central idea.
2. The teacher will provide directions and model Philosophical Chairs (Text resource and video available to help teachers with this modeling) for students. The teacher
can use one of the speeches read in day 2 to create questions or prompts and model with students.
page 2 of 5 --Explain to students that one of the purposes of Philosophical Chairs is to visually see an argument as their thinking process unfolds. When showing the video example
to students have them discuss their opinions about how the process works and what their role is as a student.
--Give the students their Philosophical Chairs assignment (this assignment can utilize any of the articles read in day one or two and/or could also use chapters 8-11 in
A Long Way Gone). Then start a Philosophical Chairs discussion.
--This activity will help students look at text for support of their thoughts, analyze their own opinions about a work, and cite the author in support of their opinion, or
use textual evidence for refutation of another's argument.
3. Home Learning: Students will read chapters 12-14 in A Long Way Gone to prepare for the next day's quiz.
Day 41. The students will take a quiz on chapters 12-14 in A Long Way Gone. Teachers will need to create their own questions for the quiz. At least one quiz question that
teachers create should ask students to determine the central idea of each chapter and explain how Beah uses specific evidence to develop the central idea.
2. Students will look at the political cartoon and read the article individually and analyze using SOAPSTone:
Jim Morin from the Miami Herald 3/26/13: Paths to Citizenship
http://news.yahoo.com/grenada-revive-program-selling-citizenship-173927232.html Grenada to Revive Programs Selling Citizenship
3. Students will write a position statement on the article.
Day 51. Share the images from day one above and ask the students to choose one to write about and answer the following questions:
Who is the main character?
What would his/her name be, why?
What elements should you pay attention to, why?
What is being hidden, why?
What is the argument proposed by the picture? Do you agree? Why or why not?
Are the colors and placement of images surrounding the main character significant? Why or why not?
3. Have students share their responses.
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
In preparation for the summative assessment, students will practice utilizing and synthesizing several texts and write a position statement. The assignment:
War has been an organized conflict that has pervaded many countries and impacted many citizens throughout the world. Carefully review the following sources, which
you have already used. Then synthesize information from at least three of the sources and incorporate it into a coherent, well-developed position statement that
argues a clear position on whether war should be a solution to meet the needs of a country’s problems, and if so, why. Make sure your argument is central; use the
sources to illustrate and support your reasoning.
Avoid merely summarizing the sources. Indicate clearly which sources you are drawing from, whether through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. You may cite
the sources as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the title or author of the text.
Source A- Beah text, chapters 8-14
Source B- The French Ways of War article
Source C- Africa Must Take Lead in Mali, France Says article
Source D- UN Refugee Agency Warns of Crisis in Mali article
Source E­ Barack Obama’s 2002 Speech against the Iraq War
Source F­ Text of George W. Bush’s Speech on Iraq
The teacher should collect the student's work and provide feedback. If the teacher wanted to provide a grade for this activity, he or she could use this rubric (the same
rubric that could be used for the summative assessment). This will give students a better idea of how their summative assessment writing will be evaluated and
assessed.
Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
Lesson Review Activity
In journals, students will write a reflection on the guiding questions and share their responses in a Think-Pair-Square-Share.
Summative Assessment
Please note: This lesson is the second part in three-part unit aimed at using a literary non-fiction text to teach students how to analyze and create arguments. In
lesson one, students read chapters 1-7 of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah.
Summative Assessment for lesson two:
1. After reading chapters 8-14 of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, students will read several articles about gun control and write a
position statement (an extended response-not an essay) where they will determine their position on the issue of gun control covered by the articles and write about
this issue using supporting details from the texts to create their mini argument by:
introducing their claim
acknowledging and distinguishing the claim from alternate or opposing claims
organizing the reasons and evidence logically
page 3 of 5 they must also support the claim with logical reasoning and relevant evidence and demonstrate an understanding of the topic
Teachers can use this rubric to assess students' writing or they can create a rubric of their own.
To complete this assessment students will need their previously written position statements (to serve as examples), work done in connection with A Long Way Gone:
Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and articles on gun control. Teachers can have students read and use these articles below for this assessment or teachers may select their
own articles on gun control instead.
1. Miami Herald Leonard Pitts: "Bitter Tears, Inaction after Gun Violence" article (Lexile 940)
2. Miami Herald Carl Hiassen: "NRA's Tactic is to Frighten, Sell More Guns" article (Lexile 1120)
3. New York Times: "Critical Week in the Senate for Gun and Immigration Bills" article (Lexile 1490)
Formative Assessment
During the Lesson:
1. Quizzes on Beah Text- Let students know that these quizzes will focus on the chapters read and there are no more than 3 questions per quiz. Teachers will need
to create their own questions for these quizzes and it is optional if they want to make these quizzes open book. Model Introduction-Evidence-Explanation to allow
students to write paragraphs using evidence to support their analysis and respond to the quiz questions. (Explanation and Example).
2. Philosophical Chairs- Students will have ample opportunities to respond to the text by reading and writing but it is also important for them to learn from each
other, discuss their own thoughts about a text and process orally. The Philosophical Chair format should allow them to do this.
3. Position Statements- Students will use the information from the text, articles read, their own thoughts about the texts, and the Philosophical Chairs information
to write for/against position statements. The statement includes their opinion about the position the articles take on a particular point and the support for their opinion
and reasons why the opposing views are not sufficient. The statements should be modeled first by the teacher; students should practice with the teacher and then be
given an opportunity to practice individually.
Support Materials:
1. Philosophical Chairs directions examples and rubric.
2. YouTube Video that shows Philosophical Chairs in action in a middle school classroom.
3. Position Statement handout
4. iRubric: Position Statement Rubric
5. Position Statement Sentence Frame
6. SOAPSTone: Students will use this acrostic to analyze the articles presented to understand the central idea. SOAPSTone Analysis Explanation & Example and tone
vocabulary word list.
Feedback to Students
--Written Feedback will be given by way of the quizzes on the Beah text and through feedback given on student's position statements. This will help teachers to see
how students are processing the nuances of the Beah text and the articles they read.
--An Exit Slip (an end of class activity to see what knowledge students gained during the lesson) could be done for each chapter or a few chapters at a time to see if
there is something that the whole class missed in comprehension or analysis. Teachers should use no more than three questions in an Exit Slip. Exit Slip questions
may focus on elements of plot, rhetoric, etc. Feedback will be given based on these elements. If the bulk of the class misses a question, teachers may use this as a
reason to do a mini-lesson for the whole class. It is recommended that mini-lessons take no more than 15 minutes. The steps of a mini-lesson are below:
1. Explain/Define the concept.
2. Give an example from the text.
3. Work with students to give another example.
4. Redefine the concept explaining why the example produced was sufficient.
5. Have students work in pairs to find another example and explain.
6. Have two or three groups share orally.
7. Give explicit feedback.
Note: If only a few missed a question, teachers may use this as a reason to pull those students and do a mini-lesson with them as the other students are working
independently.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
Teachers could use this slide show to help students with using SOAPSTone Strategy.
Teachers could allow students to make revisions to their position statement in the independent practice activity based on teacher feedback and score on the rubric and
resubmit for a new evaluation. Then students could proceed to the summative assessement.
Teachers could also allow students to make revisions to their position statement in the summative assessment based on teacher feedback and score on the rubric and
resubmit for a new evaluation.
page 4 of 5 Extensions:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-news/february-2011/unrest-in-middle-east.html Choose one of the countries facing civil unrest, research the reason for unrest
and create a position statement based on the arguments. Be sure to support your statements with evidence.
Suggested Technology: Document Camera, Computer for Presenter, Computers for Students, Interactive Whiteboard, LCD Projector, Overhead Projector,
Speakers/Headphones, Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Office
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: Keisha McIntyre McCullough
Name of Author/Source: Keisha McIntyre McCullough
District/Organization of Contributor(s): Miami-Dade
Is this Resource freely Available? Yes
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
Related Standards
Name
LAFS.8.RI.1.1:
LAFS.8.RI.1.2:
LAFS.8.SL.2.4:
LAFS.8.W.1.1:
LAFS.8.W.3.9:
Description
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to
supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound
valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the
reasons and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating
an understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims,
reasons, and evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes,
patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including
describing how the material is rendered new”).
b. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific
claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize
when irrelevant evidence is introduced”).
page 5 of 5