Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 44785
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier- An Intro to
Analysis & Argumentation Part III of III
In this lesson (part 3 of 3 in a unit), students will read chapters 15-21 of Ismael Beah's memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier while
learning how to create an argumentation essay using a Socratic Seminar discussion, a SOAPTone Strategy, Opinion/Proof Two Column Notes,
reading articles and graphics.
Subject(s): English Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 8
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Document Camera,
Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection,
Interactive Whiteboard, LCD Projector, Overhead
Projector, Speakers/Headphones, Microsoft Office
Instructional Time: 12 Hour(s) 50 Minute(s)
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: argumentation, SOAPSTone, Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, rehabilitation,
refutation, peer editing
Resource Collection: CPALMS Lesson Plan Development Initiative
ATTACHMENTS
Position Statement SentenceFrame.pdf
Introduction Evidence Explanation for Quizzes.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 15-21 of A Long Way Gone and analyze the central idea to determine its progression in those chapters in their daily quizzes. Students
will read articles/graphics and analyze the central idea.
Students will write an argumentation essay by using evidence from the literary non-fiction piece, Socratic Seminar and articles to distinguish their own suppositions
about the work.
Students will use the Socratic Seminar format to verbalize their claims and their suppositions in order to learn from one another and reflect about the text.
Students will write an argumentation essay to cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what articles and media explicitly says, as well as draw
inferences drawn from the text.
The students will produce clear and coherent writing through their argumentation essay to develop an essay, organize a style that is appropriate for the purpose and
audience, as well as meet the grade specific expectations for writing.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
Understand what is meant by:
page 1 of 5 textual evidence
analysis
central idea/theme
argumentation
refutation
Understand the elements of argumentation: claim, support, findings, opposing claim (refutation)
Be able to write minimally
Be able to speak publicly
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
How does Ismael Beah develop the central idea of the damaging effects of war throughout chapters 15-21?
In what ways do authors present their position on arguments?
How does writing arguments consistently help you, the writer, in thinking about how to create arguments?
Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
(This order is developed with a block schedule in mind. If your school does not use a block schedule, please adjust the schedule below to fit your needs.)
Note: Activities below are designed to help students look carefully at text, analyze their own opinions about a text, use text evidence to support their opinions, cite the
author in support of their opinion, as well as how to write coherently using text based evidence.
Day 1
1. Share sample argumentation essay and discuss purpose, audience, refutation, and evidence. Divide the class into groups of three and give each group a question.
Questions:
Purpose-why did the author choose to write this essay?
Audience-Who is the target audience for this essay?
Refutation-where does the author disprove others?
Evidence-what evidence does the author provide to support his points?
Ask the group to analyze the sample essay according to the term/question they have been given.If needed, first model how to analyze the essay. After students have
analyzed the essay and answered their question, have students share and discuss their findings.
2. Begin reading chapter 15 aloud from A Long Way Gone and have students ask the same questions in step 1 about Beah's work (purpose, audience, refutations, and
evidence).
3. Home Learning: Students will read chapter 15-16 from A Long Way Gone to prepare for the quiz. (Teachers will need to create their own quizzes throughout this
lesson. Suggestions were provided in the previous lessons in this unit for creating the quizzes. Those lessons have been attached as related CPALMS resources so
teachers can easily refer to them as needed.)
Day 2
1. Quiz on chapters 15-16.
2. Discuss argumentation (what are the elements of an argument). Students will read the following article and use two column notes to record their findings (They
should put "Opinion" in one column and "Proof" in another). The two column notes should focus on whether or not the rehabilitation of child soldiers works. Article:
Nepal: Rehabilitation Challenge for Child Soldiers. Students will also study the graphic at the bottom of the page from The New York Times Upfront: children at war.
The teacher may need to model how to fill out the two column notes before releasing students to do this on their own. Teachers should provide support as needed
while students are working and allow time for discussion after students have completed their notes. (Teachers may wish to have students work in partners or small
groups as they fill out their notes.)
3. Students will write a Position Statement using the article, graphic, and what they have covered in A Long Way Gone. (Teachers may need to review writing a
position statement. Students practiced this skill in lesson 2 in this unit.)
4. Home Learning: Students will read chapter 17-18 from A Long Way Gone to prepare for the quiz.
Day 3
1. Quiz on chapters 17-18.
2. Give students the instructions for how to conduct a Socratic Seminar. Explain that its purpose is to visually see an argument as their thinking process unfolds. Have
the students watch the YouTube clip below and discuss their opinions about how the Socratic Seminar process works and what their role is as a student during the
seminar. Work with students to conduct a seminar on the article and graphic studied on day 2, and chapters 15-18 of A Long Way Gone. Teachers may wish to use
these Socratic Seminar directions, example, and rubric:
Directions: http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/socratic-seminars-30600.html
YouTube video: Example of conducting a Socratic Seminar
Rubric: http://www.studyguide.org/socratic_seminar_student.htm
3. Home Learning: Students will read chapter 19-21 to prepare for the quiz.
Day 4
1. Quiz on chapters 19-21.
2. The students will read information on child soldiers. Articles: CNN-Child Soldiers Battle Traumas in Congo Rehab and UNICEF-Unicef Opens Transit Centre for Child
Soldiers Freed by LTTE. Work with students to analyze these articles using the SOAPSTone strategy. Teachers may want to provide students with this tone list to
assist them in this process. (Students practiced using the SOAPSTone strategy in lesson two in this unit. Depending on students' needs, the teacher may wish to model
the process again using the first article and then have students work individually or in partners to complete the second article.)
page 2 of 5 3. Students will write a Position Statement using these informational articles and what has been covered in A Long Way Gone.
Day 5
1. Teacher and students will conduct a Socratic Seminar on the informational articles examined on day 4 and chapters 19-21 in A Long Way Gone.
Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?
For Days 1-4- guided practice is built into the steps above in the teaching phase section.
Day 5 continued
2. To prepare students for writing their own summative assessment essay, the teacher will select a topic and model how to write an argumentation essay using
chapters 15-21 of A Long Way Gone. They should use the GraphicOrganizerforArgument.pdf and essay rubric to show students how to organize their thoughts and
how to use the rubric as a checklist as they draft, write, and revise their essay to ensure they are meeting the criteria. Another option is to review the sample essay
used on day 1 again and go over purpose, audience, refutation, and evidence.
Day 6
1. Have students create their own graphic using the argumentation graphic for their opinion on child soldiers and their rehabilitation. Students will reflect on the
information they have learned in days 1-4 and decide whether or not the rehabilitation of child soldiers works. Students will use evidence from the material studied
during days 1-4 to support their opinion. Students can also use any other appropriate informational texts studied in previous lessons in this unit. The teacher should
examine students' completed graphics and provide feedback before students begin drafting their essay.
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
Day 7 and following (the number of days to complete the essay will be based on each teacher's discretion):
1. Students will use their argumentation graphic, notes from this lesson (and where appropriate, from the other two lessons in this unit), informational text from this
lesson (and where appropriate, other articles from the other two lessons in this unit), the essay rubric, and A Long Way Gone to write an essay on whether or not they
believe the rehabilitation of child soldiers works.
2. When students' drafts are complete, students can peer edit using different colored highlighters in groups of four to provide feedback on their peers' use of
refutation, evidence, claim and style.
3. Teachers are encouraged to collect students' drafts and provide written feedback. For students needing more support, the teacher may wish to conference
individually with those students.
4. Students will then use the feedback from the teacher and their peers to revise their essay.
5. The teacher will use the rubric (or one of their own creation) to assess students' final drafts.
Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
In journals, students will write a reflection on the guiding questions and share their responses in a Think-Pair-Square-Share.
Summative Assessment
After reading chapters 15-21 of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, and articles/graphics about rehabilitation challenges for child soldiers,
students will write an argumentation essay where they will determine their position on the issue of whether or not the rehabilitation of child soldiers works. They will
write about the issue using supporting details from each of their texts to create their argument by:
1.) Introducing their claim(s)
2.) Acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims
3.) Organize the reasons and evidence logically
4) They must also, support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrate an understanding of the topic or
text.
An essay organizer and a rubric have been included:
GraphicOrganizerforArgument.pdf
Rubric (teachers may wish to adapt this rubric in order to enhance the focus on students' ability to distinguish their claims from alternate claims)
**More information on the summative assessment is located in the independent practice portion of this lesson.
Note: This lesson is the third part in a three lesson unit aimed at using a literary non-fiction text to teach students how to analyze and create arguments.
Formative Assessment
1. Daily Quiz- Let students know that these quizzes will focus on the chapters read, they are no more than 3 questions, they are open book, and they will be modeled
on the question stems and topics which will help them to read the chapters with a purpose. Model Introduction-Evidence-Explanation to allow students to write
paragraphs using evidence to support their arguments. (Explanation and Example attached)
2. Socratic Seminar- 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. They will need rules and multiple opportunities to practice this behavior. Students may use their journals to
engage in the seminar.
Feedback to Students
1. Written Feedback will be given daily by way of the quizzes and through the essay writing process. This is an additional means to see how students are processing
the nuances of the text.
2. Exit Slips can also be used to provide feedback to students. An exit slip is an end of class activity to see what knowledge students gained during the lesson. This can
be done for each chapter to see if there is something that the whole class missed in comprehension or analysis. It is recommend to limit Exit Slip questions to three
page 3 of 5 questions. Exit Slip Questions may focus on elements of plot, rhetoric, or argumentation. Feedback will be given based on these elements. If the class demonstrates
confusion based on their responses on the exit slips, you may use this as a reason to do a mini lesson for the whole class. The steps of a mini-lesson are below
(recommended no more than 15 minutes).
Explain/Define the concept.
Give an example from the text.
Work with students to give another example.
Redefine the concept explaining why the example produced was sufficient.
Have students work in pairs to find another example and explain.
Have two or three groups share orally.
Give explicit feedback.
Note: If only a few students showed confusion on their exit slip responses, you may use this as a reason to pull those students and do a mini-lesson with them as the
other students are working independently.
3. Essay Writing Written Feedback: the feedback should be specific. Use the rubric to guide your feedback notes.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
For struggling writers, teachers may want to provide extra support by working with a small group of students that are struggling to write the summative assessment
essay and utilize this argumentation PowerPoint: www.umhs.eduhsd.k12.ca.us/owl/argumentation.ppt Depending on the needs of the class, teachers may wish to use
this PowerPoint with the whole class.
Extensions:
Choose one of the 50 argumentation topics and create an essay based on the arguments. Be sure to support your statements with evidence.
Suggested Technology: Document Camera, Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection, Interactive Whiteboard, LCD Projector, Overhead Projector,
Speakers/Headphones, Microsoft Office
Additional Information/Instructions
By Author/Submitter
Lesson 1 and 2 in this unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.
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.SL.2.4:
LAFS.8.W.1.1:
LAFS.8.W.2.4:
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.
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.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,
and audience. (Grade­specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
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
page 4 of 5 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