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Lesson 5

We will examine the central claims of “Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas of “Bowling Alone”?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • Excerpt from “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” Robert D. Putnam, National Endowment for Democracy and The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss – Write

We will participate in a jigsaw to determine the central ideas of “Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam.

Step 1

In this jigsaw, you will first work with your expert group (e.g., Expert Group A, Expert Group B, Expert Group C, or Expert Group D). As you read and analyze different parts of "Bowling Alone," you become an expert on those lines.

You will then form home groups made up of experts from each expert group. In your home group, you will share your analysis of “Bowling Along” from your expert group in a jigsaw discussion.

Step 2

Form Expert Groups A, B, C, and D as assigned by your teacher.

In your expert group, read your assigned section:

  • "Whatever Happened to Civic Engagement?"

  • "Countertrends"

  • "Good Neighborliness and Social Trust"

  • "Why is U.S. Social Capital Eroding?"

First, read and discuss the central claims of your section. Underline or highlight the central claims and the evidence Putnam uses to support the claims. Answer the following guiding question on an Attending to Details Tool:

  1. In this section of the text, what argument does Putman make?

In the Express your Understanding section of the tool, explain whether you agree or disagree. Explain why.

You are now an expert on the section assigned to your group.

Step 3

If your teacher has assigned home groups, form them now. If you are to form your own home groups, find students from each other expert group. Ensure that each home group has at least one expert from each expert group.

In your home group, discuss the central ideas for the section you analyzed. Take notes for the section you did not analyze on a new Attending to Details Tool for each section.

Activity 2: Discuss – Read

We will reconvene into our original expert groups to synthesize what we learned in our home groups.

Return to your expert groups and discuss what you learned about the other sections.

Discuss the following questions:

  1. What is Putman’s central idea of the entire text?

  2. What details support this central idea?

  3. How are these details presented so they work collaboratively to create the central idea?

Activity 3: Discuss

We will critique the essay “Bowling Alone.”

Engage in a whole-class discussion on the following questions:

  1. What is the central idea? How does the author support this argument?

  2. Is this essay relevant today? What do you agree with? What do you disagree with?

  3. According to Putnam, what are the roles and responsibilities of Americans and American communities? What is at risk by not engaging in civic activities? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

  4. What would you add to the essay? What criticism would you offer to Putnam? Who is left out or what assumptions are being made about American society in addressing the questions of community and civility in this text?

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

We will study important concepts and challenging words from the text, paying attention to their use and meaning in the context in which the author presents them. We will use the Vocabulary in Context Tool as needed and write down important words in our Vocabulary Journals so that we can refer back to them later in the unit and incorporate them into our own work.

For this activity, you will use a Vocabulary Journal. If directed, you might use a Vocabulary in Context Tool for words you can decipher from the text; for others, you might use morphology to decipher the meaning, or a reference resource to check if your meaning is accurate. For some words, your teacher might present you with definitions.

Working as a whole group, review the Vocabulary List for the words for this text. Locate the words as they are used in the text, using the provided page number, and consider these questions for each:

  1. What does the context suggest the author means when using the word? What is its connotation, and how does that compare with a dictionary definition, or denotation?

  2. Why is this word and its meaning important in the author’s ideas in this part of the text?

  3. How might I use this word in my own thinking, speaking, and writing?

Write down the words and definitions with your notes about their meaning and importance in your Vocabulary Journal. For each word, identify the vocabulary strategy (e.g., context, morphology, reference resource) you used to determine its meaning.

Share your responses with the whole group during discussion.

Activity 5: Read – Write

For homework, we will read and annotate the rest of “Bowling Alone.”

For homework, read and annotate the rest of “Bowling Alone.” Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal. Respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. How effective is Putman’s argument?

  2. What makes his argument effective?