Tools for Visualizing Information: Final Project Website address: Jennifer Sisco-Smith December 9, 2015 EDTC 635 Professor Eric Mountain

About this Lesson/Unit Plan The overall objectives of this unit are: –Comprehend information about a topic obtained through reading texts and viewing videos. –Develop a clear thesis statement about the topic. –Analyze the information they have gathered. –Develop relevant arguments to support their thesis. –Determine which pieces of evidence will support their arguments best. –Compose an organized and clear persuasive/ argument essay. –Revise and edit a partner’s essay. –Collaborate with group members and develop a clear and organized presentation in order to take part in a class debate. –Listen to others of differing opinions during the debate and develop counterarguments/rebuttals “on the spot” during the debate. –Use tutorial videos as needed and graphic organizers throughout to produce their best work.

About this Lesson/Unit Plan Common Core State Standards (Grade 7) –Reading Informational Text (RI): 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10 –Writing (W): 7.1, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10 –Speaking and Listening (SL): 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.6 –Language (L): 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 Throughout the course of this unit, students will be motivated and engaged in a variety of ways, and the different “phases” of this unit provide a variety activities and materials to appeal to different learning styles. Students will be developing their own personal opinions and arguments to become more emotionally involved in the lesson. In addition to conducting research and writing essays expressing their opinions and reasoning, students will also engage in a class debate where they will present and argue their points with their classmates in an attempt to convince their classmates to change their positions on the issue.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Remember – Read “The Progressives” by Monica Halpern and view videos linked to the “Progressive Era” video playlist. Recall and take note of facts from the reading, videos, and outside research on the note-taking handout. Understand - Recognize and explain why the information gathered through the reading of the provided text, the viewing of the provided videos, and the outside research about their topic is “essential” to know. Apply – Interpret the factual knowledge gained and use that information to form a thesis (opinion) and make inferences about it in order to better explain the significance of those facts. Analyze – Students will relate the facts they learned to their thesis. Then they will organize their arguments and supporting details/evidence using a provided graphic organizer (outline) as they prepare to compose their persuasive/argument essays. Evaluate – Students will be arguing their points in both a persuasive/argument essay as well as a class debate. They will judge and select which reasons and supporting details/evidence will best support their thesis. Also, students will evaluate one another’s work through peer revising and editing. Create – Students will be authoring a persuasive/argument essay. They will also work collaboratively to formulate relevant arguments and judge which supporting details/evidence will work best as they design presentations for a class debate about the topic they wrote about in their essays.

Brainy Bits & Pedagogy “Chunking” –The project the students are completing using my Google Site (the persuasive/argument task) is organized in different “phases”. –The various assignments throughout this larger task build on one another. The assignments from each phase feed into the assignments in the next phase. –Throughout their work on this argument/persuasive task, students will be associating and connecting the work they did in each phase with the work they will be doing in the next phase. –The purposes of organizing or “chunking” this work in phases is so that students are not overwhelmed and so that they get a more thorough understanding of each aspect of researching for, developing, writing, and debating an argument.

Brainy Bits & Pedagogy (continued) “Sense” and “Meaning” –Sense: Students will make sense of the task in a few ways. Students will learn about the topic by reading a nonfiction book about the subject (“The Progressives”), viewing videos about the subject, conducting their own outside research about the subject, and taking notes on the information they have gathered. Also, they will be learning what research is and learning ways to conduct valid internet research. Lastly, they will be learning about how to organize a persuasive/argument essay and debate. –Meaning: For students, meaning is created through some of the tasks they will be completing. Students will need to use the knowledge gained through their research to develop their own thesis statements, come up with logical reasons to argue that thesis, and determine which pieces of evidence best support their arguments. Then students will use that to compose a persuasive/argument essay. After that, students will collaborate in teams to develop “presentations” for a class debate. Throughout the debate, deeper meaning will be created as students listen to those of conflicting opinions and form counterarguments/ rebuttals “on the spot”.

Brainy Bits & Pedagogy (Continued) Transfer, Rehearsal, and Closure: –As students finish one “phase” and move on to the next “phase” of this unit, they will be gaining knowledge and then applying that knowledge. –Students will be making connections between the pieces of information they learn from their reading, watching of the videos, and research. –Students then use that knowledge and put it into practice by isolating what information is essential to and supportive of their personal arguments. –Students are retrieving the skills and prior knowledge they have already learned about persuasive/argument writing and using them in this unit’s task to write a persuasive/argument essay. –Additionally, they will use their prior understanding of grammar, spelling, and overall content clarity and organization in order to constructive revise and edit their partners’ essays. –Students will deepen their understanding of being persuasive and using logical reasoning in a culminating activity as they collaborate with classmates and participate in a class debate.

Brainy Bits & Pedagogy (Continued) Gregoric Learning Styles: –Concrete Sequential – Following step-by-step directions for each “phase” of the unit, gathering relevant facts, forming logical arguments, organizing their individual pieces of writing, and working both individually and with others of the same opinion in an organized way to develop their arguments and reasons to present in the debate. –Abstract Sequential – Conducting research through provided materials and outside materials, analyzing information and forming individual logical opinions and arguments, writing an essay to express his/her own opinions and views on the topic. –Concrete Random – Researching several sources to find relevant supporting details, making inferences about those pieces of information to better understand them, participating in a debate with other classmates. –Abstract Random – Collaborating with others at various points in the writing process, working in a group to organize and develop arguments for a class debate, and staying focused on the opinion they formed from their research.

Brainy Bits & Pedagogy ( continued ) Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences –Linguistic: Students are reading various pieces of text, taking notes, and composing persuasive/argument essays. Students are also developing debate presentations to be used in a class debate. Additionally, students will be revising and editing one another’s writing and commenting/rebutting others’ verbal arguments. –Logical/Mathematical: Based on the information gained through reading of the provided text, viewing the provided videos, and researching their topic further, students need to develop clear thesis statements and develop logical arguments to support that thesis. – Intrapersonal: Students need to develop individual thesis (opinion) statements and determine what pieces of evidence will be best to use in order to support their individual arguments. –Interpersonal: Students will be working in pairs to revise and edit each other’s writing. Also, students will be working in teams to participate in a class debate about the topic. –Visual: Students will be viewing several videos as part of this assignment. Also, students will be completing several graphic organizers throughout each “phase” of this assignment.

Brainy Bits & Pedagogy (continued) Difficulty vs. Complexity DifficultyComplexity To complete this assignment from start to finish, there are several “phases” that must be done in order – each leads to the next. Each phase is multi-part and is designed to take several days to finish thoroughly. Students are presented with multiple resources (tutorial videos, graphic organizers, etc.) to organize their thoughts and check the accuracy of their responses. Students must use the facts they are presented with through provided text, provided videos, and individual outside research to form a thesis about the topic. Students need to develop logical reasons to argue their opinions. They also must determine which pieces of evidence based on the information they have collected will best support their reasons. Students must also work collaboratively to present their arguments and form relevant rebuttals during a class debate.

Works Cited (For this Powerpoint and the website linked to slide 1) "Center for Teaching." Center for Teaching. Web. 6 Dec "Mind Styles - Anthony Gregorc." Mind Styles - Anthony Gregorc. Web. 6 Dec "Scaffolding Methods for Research Paper Writing - ReadWriteThink." Readwritethink.org. Web. 6 Dec Sousa, David A. How the Brain Learns. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin, Print. Web. 6 Dec “Introduction to Argument Essays” video: “Progressive Era” videos: (in order of appearance on the playlist) QeGHWLg&list=PLnrG03GscO9P8JkdOhHvIOxLiLVaPURru&index=4https:// 935QeGHWLg&list=PLnrG03GscO9P8JkdOhHvIOxLiLVaPURru&index= Z12QRDwE&list=PLnrG03GscO9P8JkdOhHvIOxLiLVaPURru&index=7https:// Z12QRDwE&list=PLnrG03GscO9P8JkdOhHvIOxLiLVaPURru&index=7 “So What is Research Anyway” Videos Playlist developed by Jennifer Sisco-Smith: “Persuasive Writing” Tutorial Videos Playlist developed by Jennifer Sisco-Smith: Powerpoint Images: Slide 4 (Bloom’s Taxonomy image): Slide 9 (Multiple Intelligences image): *All other images in Powerpoint are from Clip Art **Handouts, rubrics and directions on the website developed by Jennifer Sisco-Smith (unless otherwise specified)