Lisa Johnson Lincoln County Middle School Language Arts Lessons created using a process developed by the National Project i3 College Ready Writers Program funded by the Department of Education.

Writing Standards Emphasized in the Mini-Unit Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using valid reasoning. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others, while avoiding plagiarism. Draw evidence from informational texts. Write routinely over longer and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of disciplines, specific tasks, purposes and audiences.

Mini-Unit Sequence Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7 Watch YouTube video, “Utopia/Disto pia” and write first thoughts. Analyze quote and discuss. Discuss goals for the mini- unit. “What might our initial claims look like?” Discussion of a good claim. Watch video “Utopia: A Perfect World.” Complete “It Says/I Say” chart. Write paragraph in which you discuss your feelings about a utopian society so far. Add to your first thoughts. Examine a sample student response. Look for effective starter sentences that make a claim. Use peer review to lift the quality of our early writing. First and second reading of article, “Experiments with Utopia.” 1 st. Highlight important terms or words that you feel will be important. 2 nd. Capture 4 important points from the article on Post- it© Notes. Add to your writing, making sure to use source material Whole class brainstorms new or revised claims that narrow the focus. Discuss and “vet” claims. Write your “refined” claim. More research: “From Utopia to Dystopia: Technology, Society and what we can do about it. Using all relevant evidence, build on your claim. Complete a draft. “But here is what I’m thinking.” Use sources within your writing. Write a conclusion. Edit and Revise! Is there anywhere within your writing that you could add more sources to back up your claim?

Watch the Video Utopia / Dystopia, created by DaliDarl10. Utopia / Dystopia, Quick-write your first thoughts. Be ready to discuss.

Making a Claim In this unit we will make a claim on whether or not society would benefit from a utopian society. We will back our claim up with valid reasoning and relevant evidence. Claim: An statement that people can either agree or disagree with. In addition to being arguable or debatable, a good claim is defensible (there is actually factual evidence which can be used in its support), compelling (people would care about debating it), and nuanced (it is narrowed in scope or sophisticated in its construction).

What is your response to this statement? “Just as a day is a balance of dark and light, so is life.” Be ready to discuss your ideas.

Let’s consider these claims as we explore the idea of utopia: Because of the struggles that humans face, a utopian society would be better. Even though humans face struggles that can be very tragic, a utopian society would not be better.

Watch the video and complete It Says/I Say chart In your notebook, create a t-chart. On the left side write “It Says” and on the right side write “I Say.” Utopia - The Perfect World, posted by The Future Revealed Utopia - The Perfect World As you watch the video, record what it says about utopian societies on the “It Says” column of your chart. Discuss your responses with a partner. Add to your chart if new ideas are shared that you find compelling.

“I Say!” Now take some time to record your thoughts about the video in the “I Say” column. Discuss again with a partner and continue adding ideas that you find interesting or compelling.

Using the information you acquired watching the video, write a paragraph explaining your thoughts and feelings about the possibility of living in a utopian society. Use the sentence starters below. “The video [insert title] explains …” “ According to …” “Supporting my example, …” “Just as the commentator in the video [insert title] explains…….” “Although the video [insert title] says …” “While the video [insert title] explains …”

Sample Student Response According to the video, “Utopia, A Perfect World,” humans crave a society free from depression, war and hunger. I wonder if that would even be possible, considering how selfish and unkind we are as a human race. Could we ever overcome our self-centered human traits in order to create such a society?

Peer Review Review your partner’s new paragraph(s). Did he/she use sentence starters that show where the evidence came from? Did he/she make a comment about the evidence. “The video [insert title] explains……..” “ Although the video [insert title] says…….” As the video [insert title] states……..” “According to……….” 1. Underline the starters you find. 2. Make a * anywhere you see an opportunity for your partner to add one of these phrases. 3. Circle the comments your partner wrote about the evidence (the facts). 4. Draw an arrow to show where your partner COULD make comments about the information presented. 5. Switch papers and talk about your suggestions.

Are these sources credible? While YouTube videos are often entertaining, they are also often not fully sourced. In other words, we cannot identify the source in order to determine whether it is from a reliable institution, author, publisher, or agency. One way to “vet” such sources is to compare the information they provide with recognized authorities. As you read and research, keep in mind the goal of comparing information to check its accuracy with what we have gleaned from the videos.

Research Read the Article Experiments with Utopia by ( Looking at the title, what do you think the main idea of the article will be? Be ready to discuss! First reading: Highlight important terms and definitions. ( This will help you later when we quote the text.)

Second Reading Divide into groups: RE-READ Experiments with Utopia by The Independence Hall Association, whose website is For the first reading you highlighted important terms and definitions. For the second reading: On Sticky notes, capture the most important information that stands out to you as a group.

Add To Your Writing Using the evidence from the article Experiments with Utopia, add to your writing that you have already done. Has the article changed your opinion in any way? What evidence can you add from the article that can back up your claim so far? Re-read what you have written so far. Then write what you are now thinking. These questions may help: Is a utopian society a good idea? Would it help us solve our many social issues? Is it even important to worry about solving these problems? Explain your thinking.

Student Sample: Citing Sources to back up a claim. The video “Utopia: A Perfect World” suggests that utopian communities will always fail because of human nature. Most of the original utopias were created for religious purposes. According to the article “Experiments with Utopia,” “Gradually utopian communities came to reflect social perfectivility rather than religious purity.” To me, it’s like humans corrupted the idea of the original “utopia.” People were too concerned about being “socially perfect” to keep utopias the way they were originally made.

What’s your answer to the problem? What should we do HERE? Bring it home. Let’s brainstorm claims about this issue. Good claims Show the writer’s position on the issue. We should or we should not … It would be better to …. Try to narrow the topic. We could focus on human suffering, depression or universal health care.

Possible Claims Because history shows that utopian societies will / will not work, world leaders should/should not practice utopian principles. Our government should/should not adopt utopian policies. Because universal health care is a utopian notion that is impractical to implement, the U.S. should repeal ObamaCare. Because universal health care is a utopian notion that is essential for citizens’ quality of life, the U.S. should not repeal ObamaCare. Because a utopian society would end the violence that has overtaken our world, we should promote utopian teachings in schools. Because a utopian society would restrict human feelings and make it impossible for us to have fulfilling lives, we should not promote utopian teachings in schools.

Brainstorm and “Vet” Our Claims Let’s add to this list of claims, testing their strength. Does the writer take a position related to the idea of utopia? Does the writer narrow the topic? How? Can we see what direction the writer plans to go? How? Is the claim debatable, defensible, compelling, and nuanced? Choose one that interests you.

Here’s What I Am Thinking Write your claim at the top of a page and then write a paragraph or more explaining your thinking.

More Research Read the article From Utopia to Dystopia: Technology, Society and What We Can Do About It, by Alijandro Garcia De L Garza. Using the “Student Argument Planner,” write down any information about the article that stands out to you. Use the questions in each column to help you explain the relevance of the evidence to your claim. In fact, each row of the planner can become a “draft paragraph” that you use in your essay.

Student Argument Planner Source: Title, author, publication, website URL, date, page numbers, etc. Evidence from the article (fact, statistic, quote, etc.) Connection: How could you connect the evidence to your purpose? How can you help readers see the RELEVANCE or importance of this fact to the context or situation? How and why does this evidence support your claim? Give examples. Possible Outcome or Result: What might happen if we use this evidence to make a decision about how we’ll think, act, or believe? The text says… Here’s how it applies to my claim: If we do this… Connecting Evidence to a Claim: Argument Planner Claim: _______________________________________________________________________

Completing a Draft: Gathering Your Sources/Evidence Review your notebook entries and notes. Select the most compelling and relevant pieces of evidence that you will use to support your claim.

Complete a draft Using a Gretchen Bernabei “Kernel Essay” organizer such as this one: Overview of the problem or issue Some people think…….. (you don’t agree with them) Here’s what I’m thinking……. (your claim and evidence, with commentary that explains how the evidence is relevant to and helps prove your claim) In the end, I say……….(your strong conclusion)

REVIEW AND REVISE! Review the chart, notes, and article for any other support that will help you convince your readers. Make sure you introduced each piece of evidence (fact) by identifying the source. Maker sure you have explained how and why each piece of evidence helps you prove your claim. Change the framework sentences to make them your own (Some people think, Here’s what I’m thinking, In the end, I say)

Student Sample: Conclusion Do you choose sameness and no decisions, or do you choose complete free will? While the utopian thinkers would have us make things equally good for everyone, there is a terrible price to pay: our identities as free men and women. America was founded on freedom…individual freedom. We are free to do good and we are free to make choices that have horrible consequences. To maintain that precious freedom, however, we must take the good with the bad. Our government should not adopt utopian policies.