Using the Argument Protocol with Book Clubs

[Day 3 Notes from Mary Ehrenworth's Session]

There will be a 4 day argument institute in Oct, Nov, or Dec (only 75-100 people-not first year people)
[The coaching institute accepts 600 people, and last year they turned away 2,000 people]

Tip: Do perspective video work IN SMALL GROUPS! Let kids sign up! Give kids agency, but also make your small groups HOT so kids WANT to be in small groups!

Launching Argument Talk Protocol
-The benefit of a protocol makes it very efficient

Tips she discovered when trying this with kids:

• When she started it with NonFiction, engagement was really high, but the level was low [They assumed all NF is true]
• Backed out to social arguments/literature arguments
• Use texts that are more nuanced, but build toward a more nuanced text
• If it doesn't go well, it might not be the kids, it might be the text
• Text Recommendations:
• Fly Away Home (airport a good/bad place to live)
• Other texts with polarized view points
• Don't underestimate the power of doing social arguments
• Kids get revved up when it's something they know about

Argument Protocol

In science it is important to put on the table your emotional knowledge and folk knowledge because it WILL influence what you see.

• Talk with a partner about how you feel about rats

As a teacher, think about the argument:

• Since Sandy, there have been rats in places where they haven't been before
• Lots of electrical fires in NYC have been traced back to rats
• With money coming in for support from Sandy, should the money been spent on eradicting rat infestation
• Some countries eat rats due to their high protein

Read Aloud: Oh Rats! The Story of Rats and People by Albert Marrin

Set up your notes to collect evidence for both positions.

Your potential audiences might be:

• UN Special Forces (Military)
• World Health Organization
• Gates Hunger Research Organization

You need to suspend judgement, because you don't know which side you will have to take! (You need to be open to evidence for more than one side)

*We are trying to teach kids how to spin evidence

RATS
FRIEND	FOE

After reading, our assignment is Team 4A: UN Special Forces as well as World Health Organization, and we are PRO RAT.

10 minutes for our team to plan:

1. Time keeper so each person has 1 minute

2. Everyone speak? Spokesperson?

3. How are you going to be listening to the other team?

2 minute debate for each side

5 minute caucus

2 minute rebut for each side

Tell your opponent what moves they did that was powerful

Whole group share out: Moves she noticed that we did that worked well:

• Analogies (Tip: Taylor analogies to your particular audience)
• Logical consequences (Text says A. We say A leads to B which leads to C)
• Possible Implications (Imagine what else could happen)
• Unintended implications (It could go to here and here, but what if it goes to here?)
• Conditions (Under these conditions, what could hold true?)
• Tricky math/statistics (If text says "As many as" you can say "As few as"; 14,000 rat bites sounds like a lot. But do the math, it really isn't that much)
• Persuasive language (While it's true that... We heard you say... We'd like to address the point that...)

If your group were to write a persuasive essay, what might it look like?

Different ways to organize:

Intro: Claim

-1 first part that is your position

-Counterargument

Conclusion: "Having weighed it, it's very clear..."

Intro

While it's true...

Nevertheless...

Conclusion

Intro

Have all evidence for argument

Conclusion: "It is true that ____, but nevertheless..."

Intro: While some say ___, nevertheless

Hunger (Counter, Yours)

Disease (Counter, Yours)

Conclusion

*This was done at the end of the year.

*Try to get them to think beyond the text