Mini Lesson 3 and Reflective
Mini Lesson 3 and Reflective
Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 9/10th grade
Subject: Language Arts
Topic: Argumentative Writing
Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1.B
Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing
out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience's
knowledge level and concerns.
Objective: To teach students how to effectively write to an intended audience, and have
them demonstrate those skills in their argumentative writing essays.
Materials:
Pen
Paper
A computer/tablet/iPad
Google Document
Handout on audience awareness
Audience assignment slips
Procedures:
1. Introduce the lesson by saying As we continue our unit on argumentative
writing, we are going to focus on writing to specific audiences before you write
your essays.
2. Handout iPads to the students.
3. Instruct students to log on to the class Wiki page.
4. Open the link for the Google Document.
5. As a class, brainstorm reasons why or why not students should be allowed to have
cell phones in the classroom.
6. Have the students type reasons into each column on the Google doc.
7. After the students have come up with at least three reasons in each column, end
this portion of the lesson.
8. Give students the handout on audience awareness.
9. Read the handout with the students.
10. Instruct the students to get into pairs.
11. Assign each pair an audience.
12. Have the students write an argumentative paragraph to their audience based on the
discussion had in class.
13. Ask students to share their paragraphs to the class and discuss what makes the
arguments different.
14. Instruct the students to use audience awareness when writing the first draft of
their argumentative essay.
Rationale
assess their understanding of audience if they effectively wrote to their audience in their
essay.
Annotated Bibliography
Fisher, Douglas, and Nancy Frey. "A Range Of Writing Across The Content Areas."
Reading Teacher 67.2 (2013): 96-101. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov.
2014.
The authors of this source are both professors at San Diego University. This source
discussed the importance of writing to a variety of subject in various disciplines. The
authors suggest teaching students to write to various audiences and in different styles. In
order for students to be successful, the authors suggest teachers have students write often
and in a diverse manner.
Kesler, Ted. "Writing With Voice." Reading Teacher 66.1 (2012): 25-29. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
This is a teaching tips article on developing students voices. There are several writing
examples included. He provides five principals for establishing a writing voice in his
students. One of his main points is the importance of establishing community in his
classroom through writing workshops and talking to students about their writing.
Wiggins, Grant. "Real-World Writing: Making Purpose And Audience Matter." English
Journal 98.5 (2009): 29-37. Academic Search Complete. Web.
The article discusses the importance of assessment in writing and how to make writing in
the classroom effective in the real world. The author discusses the importance of
identifying what the intended audience thinks, feels, expects, and needs. He writes about
making connections to real world purposes and audiences.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I would have done several things differently.
Unless it was a full lesson, I would not have the students come up with the points for the
argument. Instead, I could have chosen an argument that was already fleshed out, maybe
from the Pro/Con website. I would have used an example of effective audience awareness
and discussed it. I also would have given the students more time to write their paragraphs
and more time to discuss them afterwards. One thing I would keep the same would be
having the students write about the same topic. By having the same topic, students can
better demonstrate and understand the different audiences.
I have really enjoyed teaching these mini lessons this semester. By having to
teach more than one, I was able to learn from each lesson. Teaching the mini lessons
makes me feel more prepared to teach writing in my future classroom.