Lesson Plan: Judging the Validity of Evidence

Grade Level: High School

Subject: English Language Arts

Duration: 60 minutes

Objective: Students will be able to judge the validity of evidence presented in various forms of media.

Materials:

• Whiteboard and markers
• Handouts with examples of evidence from different sources
• Access to the internet and/or library resources
• Rubric for formative assessment

Procedure:

1. Motivation (5 minutes): Begin the lesson by asking students to share their opinions on a controversial topic, such as climate change or gun control. Ask them what evidence they have heard or read to support their opinions. Write their responses on the whiteboard.

2. Establishing Purpose of the Lesson (5 minutes): Explain to students that in today’s lesson, they will learn how to judge the validity of evidence presented in various forms of media. Tell them that this skill is important for making informed decisions and forming opinions based on reliable information.

3. Presenting Examples (10 minutes): Distribute handouts with examples of evidence from different sources, such as news articles, social media posts, and advertisements. Ask students to work in pairs to analyze the evidence and determine whether it is valid or not. Have them share their findings with the class.

4. Discussing New Concepts (10 minutes): Introduce the concept of bias and explain how it can affect the validity of evidence. Ask students to identify examples of bias in the evidence they analyzed in the previous activity.

5. Practicing New Skills 1 (10 minutes): Divide students into small groups and assign each group a different topic, such as healthcare or immigration. Ask them to research the topic and find evidence from at least three different sources. Have them present their findings to the class and explain why they believe the evidence is valid or not.

6. Practicing New Skills 2 (10 minutes): Ask students to work individually to evaluate the validity of evidence presented in a news article or video clip that you provide. Have them write a short paragraph explaining their reasoning.

7. Developing Mastery that Leads to Formative Assessment (5 minutes): Collect the paragraphs that students wrote in the previous activity and use a rubric to assess their understanding of the concept of validity.

8. Finding Practical Application of Concepts and Skills in Daily Living (5 minutes): Ask students to think of a real-life situation where they might need to judge the validity of evidence, such as when deciding whether to try a new product or support a political candidate. Have them share their ideas with the class.

9. Making Generalizations (5 minutes): Summarize the key concepts and skills that students learned in the lesson, such as identifying bias and evaluating the reliability of sources.

10. Evaluating the Learners (5 minutes): Ask students to reflect on what they learned in the lesson and how they can apply it in their daily lives. Collect their reflections as a formative assessment.

Assessment:

• Rubric for formative assessment of paragraphs evaluating the validity of evidence
• Reflections from students on what they learned and how they can apply it in their daily lives.