Persuasion in Democratic Politics

Classroom Activities / Lesson Plans

Sample Lesson Plan 1

Title: Ain't A I Woman- Identifying Ethos, Logos and Pathos

Grade Range and Subjects: 6th – Social Studies / Literacy (Reading and Writing):

Duration of Lesson: 2-4 Class Periods of at Least 45 Minutes.

The specific goal(s) are: Students will be able to identify the rhetoric (ethos, logos, pathos) found in Truth's speech Ain't I A Woman. Students will be able to complete a proficient constructed response describing the ethos, logos and pathos found in a speech.

The materials and resources: print, electronic versions of Truth's biography and speech, pre-formatted or teacher generated graphic organizers (vocabulary squares).

Inquiry Question: What persuasive tools did Sojourner Truth use in the famous speech Aint I a Woman?

Do Now Activity – Quick Write – Do women have equal rights and opportunities as men?

Can women do the same jobs as men? In their journal books, students will write brief paragraph describing how women do or do not have the same rights as men. Student may consider how women fair in employment, education, and government opportunities.

Mini Lesson – Ethos, Logos, Pathos Vocabulary Squares:

Teacher should provide a mini-lesson describing the 3 main tools of Rhetoric: ethos, logos and pathos. Teacher should explain that ethos is argument by character. Ethos is the character of speaker or writer. Is the speaker credible or reliable? Logos is arguments by logic or reason. Lagos includes facts, judgments, and policies. Pathos is argument by emotions. Pathos may include emotions such as anger, sympathy, shame, etc.

The teacher will guide students on completing vocabulary squares for terms ethos, logos, and pathos. Using 4 squares, students will provide examples, non examples, illustrations and a brief definition in their own words for the terms ethos, logos, and pathos. This should go in students' notebooks.

Activities – Guided Reading – Ain't I a Woman Persuasion Tools:

In small –guided- reading groups students will be assigned to read a brief biography of Truth and her speech Ain't I a Woman. Students will read the speech aloud in unison. In the reading groups students should select a leader and recorder to summarize the rhetoric (ethos, logos, pathos) found in the speech. The reading team will select one member responsible for tracking the ethos in the speech, one member to track the logos, and one member to track the pathos- found in the speech. After students have identified examples of persuasion, students will record the rhetorical elements in the speech Ain't I a Woman. Students will do a closer reading of the speech. Using a rhetorical graphic organizer, students will identify 3 examples each of, pathos, logos and ethos found in the speech.

Wrap-up or Extension— Constructed Response Ain't I a Woman:

As wrap up students could respond to an open ended prompt about of the rhetoric used in the speech. Prompt: Describe the how Sojourner Truth uses ethos, logos or pathos to persuade her audience in her speech Ain't I a Woman at the 1851 Women's Convention in Akron Ohio. Provide at least 3 examples to support your response.

Rubric - Constructed Response – Ain't I a Woman

Sample Lesson Plan 2

Title: Douglass and Obama – The more things change the more they stay the same.

Grade Range and Subjects: 6th – Social Studies / Literacy (Reading and Writing):

Duration of Lesson: 4-6 Class Periods of at Least 45 Minutes.

The specific goals are: Students will use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast Douglas' and Obama's biographies. Students will synthesize their understanding of Douglas' and Obama's racial identity by completing a tiered choice board activity.

The materials and resources: picture books, print, electronic versions of biographies and speeches of Douglas and Obama, pre-formatted or teacher generated graphic organizers Venn diagrams, comic life or other comic making software.

Inquiry Question: Does Barack Obama's biography parallel Frederick Douglass's?

Warm Up Activity – Cloze Reading Douglas and Obama:

Students will complete a cloze reading activity of Douglas and Obama's narratives. Students will use the following key terms to complete this task: Confederacy, Kansas slave, Dreams of my Father, writer, Caucasian, Massachusetts, father, offices, Lincoln, slavery, first, former, Civil, north, Kenya, Indonesia, Community Organizer, graduated, Harvard Law, Great newspaper, school, president, Columbia, abolish, Hawaii

Cloze Biography 1 - Douglass was born into slavery; his mother was a ___________ and his _____________ was white. In 1838, he escaped slavery in Maryland and moved _________ to __________ where he soon became an international figure in the fight against slavery. During the __________ War, Douglass met with U.S. President Abraham _______________ many times, discussing Lincoln's efforts to ___________ slavery and the arming of _________ slaves to fight the _____________. In 1847, Douglass started an anti-slavery __________ called the North Star. Douglass' autobiography, "Life and Times of Frederick newspaper," was published in 1882. (www.enchantedlearning.com)

Cloze Biography 2- Obama was born in state of _________ during the civil rights movement in 1961; his mother was white from ________ and his father was black from ___________. In 1967, he moved to ______________with his mom and her 2 ^nd husband. Obama graduated from __________ University in 1983 and worked as a __________ in Chicago, Illinois. He ________ from Harvard Law School (1991) and was the first African-American __________ of the Harvard Law Review. Barack has written two books, ____________(1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006). Obama won the Nobel Peace.

Mini Lesson – Obama and Douglas Evoke the Constitution:

A mini-lesson should be conducted to demonstrate how both Obama and Douglass used the U.S. Constitution to address issues related to race in American society. Excerpts of speeches "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro," and "A More Perfect Union" should be reviewed to show how the Constitution was used as logos in both speeches.

Activities – Venn Diagram:

Using a Venn diagram, students will compare and contrast the biographies of Douglass and Obama and the logos used in their speeches about race. Student may visit the www.enchantedlearning.com website for summary biographies for both Douglass and Obama. Students may view other websites, picture books or reference materials to help complete their Venn diagrams. See the resource section for suggested materials.

In small groups students may use an interactive Venn diagram located on the Read-Write-Think website. Groups could display their Venn diagrams on an interactive white board. Students will use construction paper to create a hard copy Venn diagram. The Venn diagram should summarize at least 4 different ways each Douglass and Obama had to deal with racism or identity, and 4 similar ways both Douglass and Obama had an impact on society. In small groups, students will present their Venn diagrams and discuss how Douglass and Obama addressed issues of race and black identity.

Wrap-up or Extension— Douglass and Obama Choice Board:

Students will have different choices for showing what they learned about the biographies of Douglass and Obama. Students may works in groups of 3's or work individually. Each choice will meet a different tier or level of intelligence (visual, creative writing, acting, musical, etc).

Sample Lesson Plan 3

Title: Deliberation on Race in Post Racial America

Grade Range and Subjects: 6th – Social Studies / Literacy (Reading and Writing):

Duration of Lesson: 2-4 Class Periods of at Least 45 Minutes.

The specific goals are: Students will be able to read excerpts of Obama's speech on race and identify examples of ethos, logos and pathos. Students will be able to use their own rhetoric to deliberate and debate using assertion, reasoning, and evidence. Students will be able to use media tools to create a persuasive response to Obama's speech on race.

The materials and resources: picture books; print and electronic versions of biographies speeches and debates of Washington, DuBois, King and Obama; pre-formatted or teacher generated graphic organizers; garage band, I Movie, video camera, PowerPoint, Comiclife or other media making software.

Inquiry Question: Has Obama's presidency given rise to a new -black identity- post racial America.

Warm Up Activity – Booker T and W.E.B. what was the debate really about?

Students will read the poem Booker T and WEB by Dudley and write a brief response in their notebook explaining what the central argument was in debate between Washington and DuBois.

Mini Lesson – Debating Race in the Classroom

The teacher should review and discuss the ground rules for debating race in the classroom. Students will be guided on the process for deliberating a controversial topic. The teacher should model how ethos, logos and pathos can be applied when using the ARE approach for deliberating or debating. The teacher should describe how debating requires three parts, (1) An Assertion, (2) Reasoning, and (3) Evidence. The teacher could give examples how ethos could be used during the assertion; logos could be used during reasoning and pathos could be used during closing evidence of a debate.

The teacher should provide background for the "A More Perfect Union" speech; context should be provide to explain that the speech was giving as a response to criticism Obama received for his association with the controversial pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Activities – Viewing and Responding To "A More Perfect Union"

Students will copy and circles agree or disagree the with Anticipation Guide statements:

Before reading excerpts of Obama's speech, students will view or listen to video or audio clips and monitor their Anticipation Guide statements. As a whole class, students should discuss whether hearing or seeing the speech changed their earlier views. After listening or viewing parts of the speech, students will be placed into 6 groups to do a closer reading of the speech. The Race for Bridges for School website, referenced in the students' resource section provides a 6 part excerpted version of A More Perfect Union speech. Students will read the speech aloud in unison. In reading groups students should select a leader and wordsmith to use context clues or dictionary to define important, interesting or difficult words in the text. The reading team will select one-two members to be responsible for tracking the ethos in the speech, one-two member to track the logos, and one-two members to track the pathos- found in the speech. Students may use a similar graphic organizer used to analyze Truth's speech.

The whole class should be brought back for discussion. The group leaders or designate should share important, interesting or difficult words, and summarize how Obama used ethos, logos and pathos in the excerpt of the speech their group read.

Wrap-up or Extension— Digitally Responding, Deliberating and Debating About Race.

This unit may culminate with students responding and deliberating about race through multiple digital formats. With support from a media arts partner such as Temple University's Media Education Lab, students' work may be presented at outside venues. Students may create podcast that take lines, phrases words from Obama speech that persuades an audience that Obama is qualified or not qualifies lead a post-racial society.

The teacher or media artist could model how to use storyboards for planning podcasts or other media products. Students may use royalty free images and audio in their projects.

Students may choose to work in groups to document their deliberations on Obama's speech about race. Prior to video recording their deliberations students would have to frame their debate question i.e. Resolved that: Barack Obama presidency provides proof that racism does not exist in America. Students should plan, draft and write their script using the ARE model Assertion, Reasoning, and Evidence. Students should practice their oral deliberations prior to recoding their talks. A Flip Camera could be used or other digital recording students' projects. Students could also create blogs, digital comics or digital presentations reflecting on their deliberations about race and black identity.

The teacher can develop a rubric for evaluating the aesthetics of the projects with input from students. A sample rubric for evaluating the content of students' responses to Obama's presidency and their deliberations about race is included in the appendix.