Objective #1 Students will understand that evidence is not always self- explanatory, and therefore will develop a model for informal reasoning. CCSS Argument 11-12: Use precise words, phrases and complex syntax to make explicit the relationships between claims and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claims and counterclaims.

Objective #2 Students need rules for interpreting data, and the rules can change from context to context. As a result, they will apply criteria to judge the relative merits of a set of proposed school mascots and prepare a written analysis. ( CCSS Argument 11-12: Use precise words, phrases and complex syntax to make explicit the relationships between claims and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claims and counterclaims.

Mascots are a way to identify and distinguish a school or a community

Forks High School from Twilight

Fast Times at Ridgemont High Mascot: the Wolf

Napoleon Dynamite

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Mascot: The Bulldog

Scream Mascot: The Panther

American Pie Mascot: The Trailblazers Much of the film is based on the writer's days at East Grand Rapids High School in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the film, the town is called "East Great Falls", and the high school sports the same school colors — blue and yellow — along with a similar mascot — the Trailblazers instead of the Pioneers.

The Sunnydale Razorbacks from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

Mascot: The Lions

The Laurel Hill Hoboes and the Chinook Sugar Beeters

The Hickman Kewpies The Coalinga Horned Toads The Richland Bombers

Hoopeston Area Cornjerkers The Frankfort Hot Dogs The Watersmeet Nimrods

Do you like the mascot? Why? If you were to select a different mascot, what would it be? Why would you select it? How was the mascot selected?

University of California Santa Cruz, Banana Slug Do you think this mascot is a good one? If you like it, what makes it a good mascot? If you don’t, what makes it a bad mascot?

Freeport, Illinois The Pretzels Do you think this mascot is a good one? If you like it, what makes it a good mascot? If you don’t, what makes it a bad mascot?

Divide into 4 groups (about 6-7 per group)

5 Propose 5 rules a new school could use to select a mascot

REPORT OUT

REPORT OUT

Imagine that E.J. Nelson Elementary School has just opened but has not yet selected a mascot

Mascot Problem The E.J. Nelson Elementary School is having a contest to select the school mascot. The mascot’s image will appear on the gym floor, on school stationery, on school-spirit clothing, and on school publications. Four drawings have been selected for final consideration, and you are one of the judges. Here is what you need to do: Evaluate each of the drawings, and write an explanation of why it would or would not be a good mascot, based on the evaluation criteria that the class developed together. Keep the evaluation criteria in mind, remember the profile of the school and community, and study the details and attributes of the proposed mascots.

Profile of E.J. Nelson Elementary School E.J. Nelson Elementary School opened two years ago in Floodrock, Illinois. Floodrock is located in Saline County, which is in the very southern region of the state. The current enrollment at E.J. Nelson is 315 students. The surrounding area has two major industries: farming and coal mining. The area has long been rich in coal mines, and many families in Saline County have had some connection to the coal mines. Since fewer homes and businesses depend on coal as an energy source these days, the activities in the mines have slowed and the coal companies employ few residents. Nevertheless, the citizens of Floodrock and the rest of Saline County still associate themselves with the coal industry. The school is named after E.J. Nelson, who was the president of the United Mine Workers of America for 40 years.

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