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Lesson 3

We will each write a synopsis of our planned argument in response to the Central Question: How do we balance the common good with individual rights and personal liberty?

Lesson Goals

Reading and Knowledge

  • Gather and Organize Evidence: How well do I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to support an argument about a controversial issue related to the ethics of public health decisions?
  • Evaluate Information: How well do I evaluate the relevance and credibility of information, ideas, evidence, and reasoning presented in texts related to my subtopic and question?

Writing

  • Form Claims: How well do refine and focus my claims and counterclaims so that they are clear, meaningful, and defensible?
  • Organize and Develop Ideas: How well can I write an expository synopsis of an argumentation plan that is coherent, well-reasoned, and fully developed and supported?

Texts

There are no texts for this Lesson.

Materials

Tools

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

As a class, we will review the task and expectations for writing a synopsis of our planned argument.

Review the Section 4 Diagnostic Checklist and its expectations, making sure you are clear about what writing a synopsis entails.

Activity 2: Write

We will write a synopsis that presents and explains our Central Question, ethical approach, argumentative position, supporting claims, organizational plan, and use of evidence.

Using the task expectations as an outline, write an expository synopsis that addresses your final proposed argument’s issue and question, ethical approach, perspective, position, claims, reasoning, and use of evidence.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We will review our synopsis with a partner, make any final edits, and submit it to our teacher for final review and commentary.

Have an editing partner read through your draft synopsis, checking to see how well it meets the task’s criteria and answering the following questions:

  1. Overall, does the synopsis help a reader understand the elements in the argument and their relationships?

  2. How likely is it that the argument will meet most of the criteria from the Evaluating Arguments Tool?

  3. What gaps in the research or evidence need to be addressed?

  4. What specific aspects of the planned argument still need additional thinking or clearer communication?

Use your partner’s feedback to make revisions to your synopsis.

Activity 4: Write – Discuss

We will reflect on our work on the Section Diagnostic and assess how prepared we are for the Culminating Task.

Step 1

Choose at least three of the questions below and respond to them in your Learning Log:

  1. How well did you take necessary action to prepare for the task?

  2. What went well for you during the completion of this task?

  3. What did you struggle with during the completion of this task? How did you push through that struggle?

  4. How well did you actively focus your attention during this independent task?

  5. How well did you develop and use an effective and efficient process to maintain workflow during this task?

  6. What would you do differently during the next Section Diagnostic?

Step 2

Review your Culminating Task Progress Tracker. Think about all you have learned and done during this section of the unit. Evaluate your skills and knowledge to determine how prepared you are for the Culminating Task.

  • Add or refine any skills and content knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

  • Evaluate how well you are mastering skills and knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

Step 3

Review the Central Question of the unit:

How do we balance the common good with individual rights and personal liberty?

Respond to the following question in your Learning Log:

  1. How has your response to the question evolved, deepened, or changed?