Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• SL.6.3 – Work Time A: Students delineate the arguments and specific claims presented by their classmates.
• SL.6.4 – Work Time A: Students present their arguments and claims to peers, sequencing their ideas logically; using relevant descriptions, facts, and details to highlight main ideas; and demonstrating appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
• SL.6.4 – Work Time B: Students give feedback to their peers about their presentation of their arguments and claims. Their feedback may include comments about the speakers’ logically sequenced ideas; their use of relevant descriptions, facts, and details to highlight main ideas; or their general presentation skills, including eye contact, volume, and pronunciation.
• SL.6.1d – Closing and Assessment A: Students participate in a discussion to review and reflect upon key learning from the Mary and Katherine argument essays.
• In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners, persevering as they read and analyze a new text with partners.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• Several words on the Present and Delineate Argument: Collaborative Essay note-catcher are reviewed during the lesson. Extend this work with vocabulary by also reviewing the meaning of accentuate from Part I of the activity. Encourage students to use different strategies to determine the meaning, to connect it to the work being done in this lesson, and to use it in their own sentences.
• Students who chose to complete the anchor text in its entirety and read about the fourth hidden figure, Christine Darden, should be encouraged to make connections to her work during the reflection discussion in Closing and Assessment A.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• Students have been collaborating with a partner to write an argument essay focused on a hidden figure featured in the anchor text, either Mary Jackson or Katherine Johnson. In this lesson, partners pair up with a group who wrote their essay on a different individual to delineate the arguments and specific claims presented by their classmates.

Support All Students

• The Peer Assessment task of Work Time A invites students to evaluate their classmates’ presentations and identify general stars and steps. Some students might focus on presentation-related skills like pronunciation, which could feel threatening or alienating for ELLs, especially those who feel self-conscious about the way their English sounds. As needed, remind the whole group that “clear pronunciation” does not mean accent-free speech and that, as a matter of fact, accent-free speech does not exist! Everyone speaks with an accent, and accents are an important part of who we are. Provide suggestions and examples for evaluating presentations that do not disadvantage ELLs; for example, focus on logical sequence of ideas, eye contact, or enunciation. ▲
• Review the directions for the Present and Delineate Argument activity several times to ensure clarity. Remove extra rows or columns on the assignment matrix for students who may be overwhelmed by too much information.

Assessment Guidance

• During Work Time A, circulate among the groups, and use the appropriate Speaking and Listening Checklist (informal assessment) to formatively assess at least half of the students during this lesson for their ability to present an argument (SL.6.4). There is another opportunity to formatively assess the remaining students during Lesson 10, prior to the end of unit assessment in Lessons 15–16. Students can also be formatively assessed on SL.6.3 in this lesson by collecting and reviewing their completed Present and Delineate Argument: Collaborative Essay handout.
• During Closing and Assessment A, use the Speaking and Listening checklist (informal assessment) to formatively assess SL.6.1d. There is another opportunity to formatively assess any remaining students during Lesson 10, prior to the end of unit assessment in Lesson 17.
• Encourage students to apply what they learn from this lesson about effective arguments as they plan and write their independent argument essay for the mid-unit assessment.

Down the Road

• In the next lesson, students continue their research about their focus figure for their independent essay. They also share their learning from their independent research reading work.