Argument 47

An Argument—or a Fight? 2lesson

MATERIALS

❑❑ Chart paper and markers

❑❑ Charts:

– Argument Table

– Array for Multiple Meanings

❑❑ Student Readers

❑❑ Writer’s Notebooks

❑❑ Thesaurus

❑❑ Online Resources packet:

– Sample Array

NOTE TO TEACHER

This lesson will examine synonyms for argue. You will use examples in a thesaurus. You may want to remind students what a thesaurus is and how it is structured. You may want to stress that words often have multiple meanings. In this lesson the synonyms for argue will be examined.

students’ learning

objectives

❑■ Learn multiple meanings for “argument”

❑■ Distinguish the academic meaning and use of “argument” from other, more general, meanings

students’ language objectives

❑■ Identify and evaluate synonyms for the term “argue” using an array

❑■ Understand and define the language elements of a formal argument (claim, warrant, evidence, etc.)

target words

❑■ argument, n. a coherent series of statements that you use in order to try to convince people that your opinion about something is correct; also, a conversation in which people disagree with each other angrily or noisily

❑■ argue, v. to give reasons for or against something: reason; also, to speak angrily to someone about something that you disagree about

❑■ claim, n. a statement of belief open to challenge by those who disagree; v. to insist something is true in the face of possible contradiction

❑■ warrant, n. an explanation that links the evidence to the claim by explaining how or why the evidence is useful to the argument

❑■ reason, v. (sometimes to reason with) to try to persuade or influence or to arrive at conclusions by the use of evidence; n. an explanation or logical defense

❑■ array, n. a collection of objects arranged in a particular order

prep

❑■ Make two charts for today’s lesson:

– Argument Table

– Array for Multiple Meanings

❑■ Determine how you will display the “Sample Array” for students.

independentwriting

❑■ Independent writing will begin next week.

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Foundations Study48

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

opening

Sharing Recent Arguments❑■ Several students yesterday had a chance to share the stories of arguments they had recently with friends or families. Today, share with your students the argument you wrote about.

– It might have been with a family member or a colleague or even with a student.

– Share something that is real and typical, but not so personal as to be distracting.

❑■ Take a moment to review the kinds of arguments you heard about from your students.

❑■ Capture some characteristics of these kinds of arguments on a chart.

– The “Argument Table” in the Student Reader on page 2 suggests how you might set it up.

– Use your argument first to model the information you want to gather.

– Then ask several students to help you to fill in the chart for their arguments. What may result is that students will have to do some more explaining, filling in the backstory for what started the argument.

– For example, a teacher might report about a family argument regarding the use of video games. The child of the teacher was understandably eager to play with games she or he received as a gift. The teacher/parent insisted that the games be used only after homework and chores were completed. Coming home early, the teacher discovered the child playing the video games, insisted that the child stop immediately to finish homework and chores, and threatened to take the games away.

STUDENT READER

“Argument Table,” p. 2.

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Argument 49

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

opening

continued

Sample Table: Arguments

What you argued about

Who argued?

Strategies used by

either side

How it turned out

Whether a 6th grader is allowed to spend time playing with video games.

Parent and child

•shouting

•name-calling(“tyrant!”)

•punishment,time out

•threats

6th grader reluctantly finishes homework and chores in order to get to play video games.

Which movie to see: G-ratedorPG

Brothers and sisters going together to a movie

•remindersof promises made earlier

•reasonswhyone movie would be better than another

•threatstotellparents

•stompingfeet

They went to theG-ratedmovie, but one sulked and claimed it was stupid

❑■ After you have charted several examples, stop and look for common characteristics of these kinds of arguments.

❑■ List some of the strategies that students reported using or seeing used in their arguments: they might include the following:

– sharing emotions

– shouting

– silent treatment

– supplying reasons

– appealing to sympathy

❑■ Ask for volunteers who can report having won their arguments.

– What were their arguments about?

– How did they “win”?

– How do they know they won?

❑■ Ask students to take out their Student Readers and open to the “Argument Table” graphic organizer on page 2. PE

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Foundations Study50

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

opening

continued

❑■ Have students use the Argument Table to write about a recent argument that they were involved in.

Sharing Homework❑■ Before moving on to the work period, ask students to take out their homework, the examples of arguments that they found in media, and share it with a partner.

❑■ Ask several students to share about the kinds of arguments they were able to find.

❑■ Ask them to enter these arguments on the Argument Table in their Student Readers.

– What is the issue the parties argued about?

– Who were the participants?

– What strategies did either side use?

– How was the issue resolved?

❑■ Tell them to save these papers for later.

work period

Looking at Kinds of Arguments❑■ Today’s work period will have several related activities. During today’s work time, students will explore in a number of ways what it means to argue.

❑■ Explain to your class that the focus of this study will be to look at argument in a special way, not necessarily the way we have been using it in the common experiences we share.

❑■ The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus lists a number of words that we might use to describe the kind of arguments we usually have with our families and friends:

– For the sentence “The children are always arguing,” listed under the call word “argue” in this thesaurus, the editors list these possible synonyms: quarrel, disagree, squabble, bicker, fight, wrangle, dispute, and feud.

– All of the words on the list capture some features of the kinds of arguments we have experienced.

❑■ Start by putting the words on the board and asking students if they know these words.

❑■ Begin with the words they do know, and then provide definitions for the ones they aren’t sure of.

Arranging Words in an Array❑■ Ask students which is more serious:

– to argue or to quarrel?

NOTE TO TEACHER

Issues File. You may develop a classroom resource by setting up a file of articles and information on current issues. As your students bring in their homework assignments at the beginning of the study, ask them to donate their articles to this file and make it accessible to students when they begin writing their papers. Be sure students have all the necessary citations about the articles’ publications.

Argument 51

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

work period

continued

– to disagree or to fight?

– See if they have a sense of the differences among these ways of arguing.

❑■ Next, have students try to put the words they know into an array, moving from the least serious kind of argument on the left to the most serious on the right. The Online Resources packet contains a sample array with instructions:

Sample Array

sad

unhappy miserable depressed suicidal

In the array above, one person is saying that to be unhappy is the least serious level of sadness of the four choices; to be suicidal is the most serious kind of sadness.

Now, use four of the words (quarrel, disagree, squabble, bicker, fight, wrangle, dispute, or feud) and put them in order. Start on the left with the least serious way to argue and move to the right so that each new word is more serious.

ways to argue

❑■ Ask students to work with a partner to create an array of at least four of the words.

❑■ After 5 minutes, ask one or two pairs to write their arrays on the board.

❑■ Lead a discussion to see whether others agree or disagree with their placements. Is there general consensus that some words represent more serious kinds of arguments than others?

❑■ Ask the following questions of your students, one question at a time, taking the time to explore what students think:

– When a girl reports that she fought with her boyfriend last night, is it likely that the fight was physical? How do we know?

– What is the difference generally between an argument and a fight?

❑■ Is an argument always a fight?

❑■ Is a fight necessarily an argument?

❑■ Point out to students that “fight,” like “argument,” has an array of meanings.

NOTE TO TEACHER

Array. As you begin talking about arranging words in an array, this is the appropriate time to go over definitions and record vocabulary in the glossary of the Writer’s Notebook.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Sample Argument Array. The Online Resources packet includes an array sample with additional suggestions for placing the words for “argument” in order.

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Foundations Study52

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

work period

continued

– When two people disagree with each other, does that necessarily mean they have argued about their disagreement?

– Is it possible that two people can disagree and not argue? Explain.

❑■ All students are experienced at arguing, even when they don’t like to do it.

❑■ Tell students that arguing with our family and friends can be important, building skills to help us with another kind of argument, the kind this study is leading us to understand.

Introducing Another Kind of ArgumentUnder the same call word, “argue,” the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus gives another sentence: “They argued that the government was to blame.”

❑■ Write the sentence on the board for students to see.

❑■ Tell them that for this sentence, the editors of this thesaurus list the following synonyms: contend, assert, maintain, insist, hold, claim, reason, and allege.

❑■ Of these words, two will be especially important in our study of argument: claim and reason.

❑■ There are places in our culture where this other kind of argument shows up.

– Explain that these other places include in government:

•when legislatures argue for the passing or defeating of a proposed law

•in debates of candidates running for political office

•in courtrooms where lawyers present arguments for the jury who must decide on the innocence or guilt of someone accused of a crime

•in the academic world where, using debates and argument essays, students learn to argue effectively and logically for or against a particular proposition.

❑■ When arguing in an academic or legal way, it is necessary to explain the evidence in support of an argument using a warrant, even when the speaker or writer believes that the listener or reader can figure out how and why the evidence is helpful.

❑■ Now have students take out their Writer’s Notebooks and turn to the last page to the “Glossary” where students will be listing the language of argument.

Argument 53

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

work period

continued

❑■ Ask them to record the target words given at the start of this lesson. Definitions are provided.

❑■ Note that on the last page of the Writer’s Notebook, students are asked to name the word and give its definition, but they should also give an example of how the word is used.

❑■ Give students time to record the words, definitions, and examples. Be sure to leave enough time for the closing activity.

closing

Summarizing the Day❑■ Review the following points with students:

– There are many synonyms and uses for the word “argument.”

– We all have experience arguing with family and friends.

– The tactics and strategies we use in arguing with family and friends may or may not be useful in academic situations. We might call our sibling “cry-baby” or “jerk” but using name-calling in a debate or essay is not generally considered logical or effective.

– In an academic argument, we often include warrants, explanations of how the evidence supports the claim.

homework

❑■ Students will again look for and find examples of government and academic arguments in newspapers, in magazines, on the Internet, or on television.

❑■ In every case, students need to be sure to cite sources, following the instructions on the “Collecting Information” guide in the Student Reader. If students do not take their Student Readers home they will need a copy of “Collecting Information.”

❑■ Let students know that they did the same thing for yesterday’s homework but now they should try to find another example tonight.

❑■ Bring a written example to class of an argument you have found.

– If it is on television or online, write a brief summary of the argument, including the same headings as the “Argument Table”:

•What did they argue about?

•Who argued?

•What strategies did either side use?

•How did the argument turn out?

NOTE TO TEACHER

Glossary Instructions. Some teachers have students make cross-referencesbetweentargetwords and the use of concepts in their own writing.

STUDENT READER

“Collecting Information,” p. 1.

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Foundations Study54

Lesson 2 • An Argument—or a Fight?

2 Foundations Study Argument

Lesson 2 • Argument Table

Argument table

What you argued about

Who argued?Strategies used by

either sideHow it turned out

Whether a 6th grader is allowed to spend time playing with video games .

Parent and child • shouting

• name-calling (“tyrant!”)

• punishment, time out

• threats

6th grader reluctantly finishes homework and chores in order to get to play video games .

Which movie to see: G-rated or PG

Brothers and sisters going together to a movie

• reminders of promises made earlier

• reasons why one movie would be better than another

• threats to tell parents

• stomping feet

They went to the G-rated movie, but one sulked and claimed it was stupid .

Student Reader

Foundations Study: Argument © 2010 America’s Choice

Online Resources • Lesson 2

Sample Array

sad

unhappy miserable depressed suicidal

In the array above, one person is saying that to be unhappy is the least serious level of sadness of the four choices; to be suicidal is the most serious kind of sadness.

Now, use four of the words (quarrel, disagree, squabble, bicker, fight, wrangle, dispute, or feud) and put them in order. Start on the left with the least serious way to argue and move to the right so that each new word is more serious.

If the class needs additional help, you could show them the sample below.

ways to argue

disagree squabble quarrel fight

Online Resources packet

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