Section 3: Overview

Developing a Perspective on American Homeownership

We will begin to determine how each of us will respond to the unit’s Central Question: How viable is the American dream of homeownership? Each of us will select a complex issue within the topic of homeownership in the United States and join a research group made up of members studying the same topic. In groups, we will read, analyze, and discuss additional arguments and other texts in our common focal area and use them for further research. From our reading, analysis, and discussion, each of us will frame, explain, and defend a perspective and position that will lead to the development of an argument in Sections 4 and 5.

• Lesson 1:

  We will consider subtopics of homeownership and choose one to research further. We will develop argumentative positions for our chosen subtopics.

• Lesson 2:

  We will organize into research teams based on our subtopics, review what we think about our subtopics and what we know so far, and plan what we will read, analyze, delineate, and evaluate to extend our understanding of our subtopics.

• Lesson 3:

  We will continue to research data about recent homeownership patterns, considering trends in society and housing that affect the viability of homeownership. We will work in research teams to analyze data from a recent Pew Research Center study. We will then develop analytical claims about the issues and data we are studying, which we will share with other students in a jigsaw discussion. This will allow us to further develop our abilities to interpret research data, form claims, and facilitate a comparative discussion.

• Lesson 4:

  We will delineate the arguments we individually researched and discuss the information contained in them to help other students on our research teams decide if they would like to use those texts in developing their own arguments. Additionally, we will learn about faulty reasoning and examine our research for different kinds of logical fallacy.

• Lesson 5:

  We will share additional information within research teams and then individually begin to develop perspectives and positions to drive the development of our final arguments.

• Lesson 6:

  In a peer review, we will each present and delineate a proposed argument in response to our selected subtopic question. We will use our peers’ feedback to revise elements of our argument and submit them for review to our teacher.

• Lesson 7:

  We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic. We will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

• Lesson 8:

  We will share the understandings we have gained by reading our independent reading texts and continue to read our texts.