Lesson Plan #1 – Effective Paragraph Building

Learning Objectives:
1. Students should understand the five primary components of effective paragraph
building.
2. Students should be able to apply today’s lesson to the Rhetorical Analysis and Position
Paper assignment.
3. Students should understand the basic principles of clarity and cohesion and how they
contribute to effective paragraphs.
4. Students should be able to distinguish between correct and incorrect literary transitions
depending on the context of the sentence.

Assessment:
 The students understanding of cohesion and clarity within the revision process will be
assessed during the Kahoot activity at the end of the lesson. The activity will asks
students to form groups of four and answer the different multiple choice questions as a
time. If the groups are able to answer the questions correctly, then the learning objectives
will have been met. At the end of the lesson students will be asked to write down what
they took away from the lesson and any remaining question they regarding paragraph
building. I will compose a FAQ of the questions asked by the students and send it out
later that day.

Materials Needed:
· Pen & Paper
· Fearless Writing pages 379 – 382
· PowerPoint:

Lesson Plan - (Estimated time 30ish mins)

 In-groups Discussion (5 mins)
o What are reasons for beginning a new paragraph? What are some reasons for
combining paragraphs? What strategies do you employ to achieve concise
paragraph writing? What’s your planning process when writing papers? How do
you often organize your paragraphs?
 Steps for Building Effective Paragraphs (10 mins)
o 1. Stating the Main Point in a topic sentence
o 2. Sticking to the Point
 If you would like to introduce a new idea it might be helpful to conclude
the previous paragraph and begin a new one with an alternative topic.
o 3. Repeating Key Words
 Known-New Contract!
o 4. Providing Transitions
 Certain words and phrases warrant the writer to establish a connection
between what has been originally stated. Be sure to use transitions
carefully, many a times transitions are not interchangeable
  In this way, transitions act as the glue that binds the components of your
argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.
 Ex. Smoking is bad because it causes a range of health problems,
including lung cancer, emphysema, and asthma. However, it can
damage the fetus during pregnancies.
 Ex. Smoking is bad because it causes a range of health problems,
including lung cancer, emphysema, and asthma. For example, it
can damage the fetus during pregnancies.
o 5. Aim for Clarity and Coherence
 Coherence
 The quality of being logical and consistent
 Why we can understand a paragraph from one sentence to the next
 Clarity
 The quality of being clear or easy to understand
 A clear sentence is usually one that refrains from complex
grammatical structure AND wordiness
 Kahoot Activity (10 mins)
 Lesson Plan #2 – Logical Fallacies
Learning Objectives:
1. Students should be able to evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use
of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or
distorted evidence
2. Students should be able to consider counter-arguments for their Position Paper and
present the information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and
logically.
3. When addressing counter-arguments students should be able to address rebuttal
using logic lines of reasoning to tear down opposing sides arguments

Assessment:
 The feedback from the previous lesson plan indicated the students enjoyed closing the
class with a Kahoot activity. Similar to the previous lesson plan, the Kahoot will asks
students to form groups of four and answer the different multiple choice questions as a
time. If the groups are able to answer the questions correctly, then the learning objectives
will have been met. At the end of the lesson students will be asked to write down what
they took away from the lesson and any remaining question they regarding
counterarguments and the Position Paper.

Materials Needed:
· Pen & Paper
· Fearless Writing pages 379 – 382
· PowerPoint:

Lesson Plan - (Estimated time 30ish mins)

 Logical Fallacies Review (10 mins)
o Hasty Generalizations
 Generalizations based on insufficient or unrepresented evidence
o Non Sequitur (Does Not Follow…)
 A conclusion that does not follow logically from preceding statements
o “Either Or” Fallacy
 The suggestion that only two alternatives exist when in fact there are more
o False Cause
 The assumption that because one event follows another, the first is the
cause of the second
o Straw Man
 An argument that focuses on an irrelevant issue to detract attention from
the actual argument
o Ad Hominem
 Attacking the person proposing an argument, and not the logical
soundness of the argument
o False Analogy
 The assumption that because two things are alike in one aspects, they’re
alike in all aspects and are comparable
 Kahoot Activity (10 mins)
o Based off the feedback from the previous lesson plan, this Kahoot will include
examples of logical fallacies. The students will have a choice of four types of
logical fallacies and must select the fallacy present in the example.
o The students will be split into five groups and will have to work collaboratively to
answer the question.
Lesson Plan #1 Reflection:

Returning UTAs have the option of reusing old lesson plans or creating new ones. I decided
to create lesson plans different than the one's I used during the previous Spring semester.
One major difference between this semester and the previous one would be presenting
lessons on my own. During my first semester as a UTA I had a partner and we presented
both lesson plans together. Nevertheless, I don't believe presenting on my own impacted the
delivery all too much.

I presented the first lesson in the beginning of October around the time students were
beginning to finish up their Inquiry Assignment and beginning the Rhetorical Analysis Unit.
I decided to focus on effective paragraph building because I see it as foundational for
academic and professional writing. I wanted to present on a topic that students
could transfer to all subjects outside of ENGL101. Per most of my lesson plans, I like to
begin with a brief lecture defining key terms and going over important points. I like to keep
this to no more than 10 to 15 minutes to provide time for an interactive activity. To
encourage group discussion and collaboration, I decided to create a Kahoot! which is an
interactive learning device students can engage with using their phones. After the activity, I
asked the students to provide me with feedback on areas that worked well and suggestions
they have for future lesson plans. The majority of students wrote that they loved the
Kahoot! but wish they had more examples of effective paragraphs.

Lesson Plan #2 Reflection:

I used the feedback students provided to create me second lesson plan. For this lesson plan I
decided to focus on logical fallacies. I chose to present this lesson towards the end of the
semester as students wrote their Position Paper. I wanted to ensure students had a
firm understanding of logical fallacies in order to avoid integrating them in their Position
Papers when creating lines of arguments. Similar to the previous lesson plan, i ended
the activity with a Kahoot! to test their understating. However, this time using their
feedback I decided to center the Kahoot! around examples. Specifically, each question was a
statement that made use of a logical fallacy. The students had 20 seconds to select the
correct logical fallacy that was made in the statement. Different than the previous lesson
plan, more groups answered incorrectly for more questions. Which was good! This let me
see which logical fallacies students were still struggling to grasp and thus, I was able to
explain the particular fallacy in more greater depth. In the future, I think I will use more
examples during the assessment activity to effectively gauge whether or not the students
absorbed the information and can apply the concepts within their writing.