University of Utah, Department of Special Education: TREE Counterclaim Lesson Plan

Content Area: Language Arts

Grade level: 9th Grade

Name:

Casey Gressmen

Date: 9/18/2015

Core Standard(s):
W. 9.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence
1. Introduce precise claims, distinguish the claims from alternate or opposing claims, and create an
organization that establishes clear relationships among claims, counterclaims, reasons and evidence.
2. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of
both in a manner that anticipates the audiences knowledge level and concerns.
e) Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
IEP Goal(s):
Actual: Student will write a five paragraph essay including an opening paragraph, three supporting paragraphs and a
concluding paragraph 3 out of 4 trials over a 9 week period.
Revised (SMART): When given a writing prompt in her language arts class, the student will write a five-paragraph
essay including an opening paragraph, three supporting paragraphs, counterclaim with evidence, and a concluding
paragraph 3 out of 4 trials over a 9-week period.
Instructional Objective(s):
Students will write a counterclaim and distinguish it from a claim. They will create supporting details for each side and
distinguish them from each other. Then they will put their counterclaim in their paragraph using transition words such
as however or on the other hand.
Behavioral Objective(s):
Students will follow directions within five seconds on 9 out of 10 occasions in class.
Content (concepts, information, skills, new vocab, etc.)
Review claim, reasons, examples and concluding sentences
Vocabulary: Claim, Reasons, Evidence, Examples, Counterclaim, Conclusion
Instructional Materials Needed:
Student: Graphic Organizer for topic sentence, reasons, examples and a concluding sentence, writing journal, pencil
and lined paper.
Teacher: Whiteboard, markers

Procedures/Activities (add additional rows of Teacher [T] and Student [S] roles for each activity as needed):
1. Get students attention:
a. Teacher: Tell students that instruction will begin in five seconds and count down from five.
b. Student: Finish their conversations and begin working on their starter and listening to instruction.
2. Academic review /Gather background knowledge (6 minutes for review, objectives and expectations)
a. T: These last couple weeks we have been learning about what a claim is and how to use it in a paragraph as well as how we
can use reasons to support our claim. Can someone remind me what word we have been using to remember all the parts of a
paragraph?
b. S: TREE if students do not respond teacher will motion over to the wall that has the reminder on it and ask the question
again.
c. T: What are the different parts of TREE
d. S: The T is for topic sentence, the R for reasons
e. T: How many reasons should I have again?
f. S: Three
g. T: Perfect, so in TREE we have already said Topic Sentence and Reasons, what else is there?
h. S: Examples and the Ending
i. T: Great, and the final E stands for Examine meaning that I am going to examine my paragraph to see if I have all the pieces in
the right place. Earlier this week we have also learned what a transition word is. Can anyone remind me what the world
transition means?
j. S: It means to change and moves us from one idea to another
3. State instructional objectives
a. T: We have already learned how to put all the parts of TREE together, but we are only looking at the claim from one side- the
one that we are choosing to back up by giving supporting reasons and examples. We are trying to persuade the person reading
our paper to believe what we have to say. But, just like in other arguments, everybody likes to know that they are being heard
and that someone cares about what they have to say. Think about if your mom was really mad at you for not doing your
homework and just yelled at you for not doing it without listening to your side of the story. You would probably feel pretty angry
right? I would as well. To make our argument less one-sided we need to add a counterclaim or show evidence to support the
opposite side of our claim and show how it does not work. That is what we are going to do today. Are their any questions?
b. S: Answer questions from students or attentive listening
4. Review behavior expectations
a. T: While we are learning today I just want to review our expectations. Remember to raise your hand before speaking and show
respect to others by listening to their ideas. We are going to be doing some work as a class and you should be writing down
what we do on the board.
b. S: Attentive listening
5. Instruction
a. Model (8 minutes)
i.
T: Review prewritten paragraph that is projected so that the students can see. Think aloud about the parts of a paragraph
as you are reading and pay special attention to the parts of TREE and transition words that were learned this week. When
you find the parts of tree underline them with the colors that we have been using throughout the week (ie green for the
claim or T, and a different color for each reason. These colors should be seen in the conclusion as they correspond to the
parts of TREE in the above paragraph) Place a bracket around the examples and the conclusion to show where they start
and stop.
ii.
S: Attentive listening.
iii.
T: Now, right before we finish with our conclusion we are going to put our counterclaim. A counterclaim is the opposite of

iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.

the claim that we have chosen for our paragraph. Lets take a minute to think of ideas to support our counterclaim. If this is
our claim what would be the opposite.
S: Give opposite of claim.
T: Good, now we need reasons to support the counterclaim, any suggestions?
S: Give reasons to support claim
T: Fantastic, now we have a counterclaim and evidence to support it. But, why is our claim better than the counterclaim? In
other words, why is our claim stronger than the counterclaim?
S: Give reasons why the claim is stronger.
T: Great, we are going to put that in our paper before we put our conclusion. That means that we are going to use a
transition word like, some people think or however. This time I am going to use the transition phrase some people
think and give the other claim. For examples, some people think that it is okay to okay to text while they are driving
because they can focus on more than one thing at once. However, when you are looking at the phone you cannot see the
road. In conclusion

b. Guided Practice (10 minutes)

i.
T: Now that we have seen a paragraph that follows the format of TREE and uses transition words we are going to do one as
a class. Please pull out a piece of paper and a pencil and follow along as we go. I will ask for your ideas and feedback so
make sure you are paying close attention.
ii.
S: Get out paper and pencil and listen attentively.
iii.
T: Our question today is going to be: Should cell phones be allowed in class? How many think cell phones should be
allowed in class?
iv.
S: Some students will raise hand
v.
T: How many think cell phones should not be allowed in class?
vi.
S: Assumption is that fewer will raise their hands.
vii.
T: Ask students who raised their hands in favor for their claim and write it on the board making sure to put it in the correct
format.
viii.
S: Copy what is on the board
ix.
T: Now that we have the claim and the first part of our TREE, our topic sentence, we need reasons what are some reasons
that cell phones should be allowed in class.
x.
S: Students will give reasons why
xi.
T: Write students ideas on the board as a list so that they can be put into the paragraph. Start with the first reason and say
I want to put this reason in, but first I will need a transition word. What transition word can I use?
xii.
S: Students will give transition word
xiii.
T: Teacher will write transition word and fill in the reason reminding the students that the reason will need an example.
What example can I use to back up my reason?
xiv.
S: Students will give an example
xv.
T: What transition word or phrase can I use to start my example.
xvi.
S: Students will give word
xvii.
T: Repeat for three reasons and example
xviii.
T: Can anyone remind me what we learned today that we should put before our conclusion.
xix.
S: Counterclaim
xx.
T: Correct, we need to put a counterclaim before our conclusion. So if we chose the claim that cell phones should be allowed
in class, the counterclaim would be that cell phones should not be allowed in class. What was the transition phrase we
learned earlier to show a counterclaim?
xxi.
S: Some people think
xxii.
T: Correct so I will use some people think, and then state the counterclaim, cell phones should not be used in class. Now I
need to put a reason to support why some people would think that what do you guys think?
xxiii.
S: Because it can be disruptive

xxiv.
xxv.
xxvi.
xxvii.
xxviii.

T: Good, lets put because it can be disruptive. However, cell phones can give us knowledge at our fingertips. After the
reason I put a reason to support my claim. Now I am going to go to my conclusion.
T: Now we have our conclusion. Can anyone remind me what we need in our ending or concluding sentence?
S: Our claim and our reasons
T: Great, but first I want to start with a transition word
S: Students will give a transition word and teacher will fill in the ending

c. Guided Group Practice (8 minutes)

i.
T: Now that we have practiced on the board I want you to work on it in a group. Use this question as your topic: Is it better
to be an adult or a child? I want you to find 3 reasons to support your claim, then I want you to find a reason to support the
counterclaim. Remember that when we work in partnerships that you only speak to your partner and if you have any
questions you can raise your hand so that I can help you. You may choose your own partners but remember to find them
and begin quickly. You will have eight seconds to find a partner and begin working and eight minutes to complete the
graphic organizer. Ready begin Teacher will count down from eight.
ii.
S: Students will find a partner and begin working on the graphic organizer explained the day before in groups of two.
d. Independent practice (8 minutes)
i.
T: Now that you have found reasons to support your claim and your counterclaim you should write them in your graphic
organizer using the transition words we learned yesterday and today. . This should be done at your desk without talking, if
you have any questions let me know by raising your hand.
ii.
S: Begin working on transferring their ideas from partners into their own paragraph.
e. Error Correction Procedures
i.
T: Students may not put a counterclaim or may not put a reason why the counterclaim is not valid in their paper. I will ask
the student why they didnt choose the counterclaim as their claim which should elicit a response on a reason why it is not
as good. Then redirect them to use that as their reason.
ii.
S: Brainstorming with teacher and attentive listening.
6. Wrap up (5 minutes)
a. Review key concepts/ Check for understanding
i.
T: Ask several students what their claims were for the question and to give one of their reasons why. Then ask for their
counterclaim and how they redirected it.
ii.
S: Students will give their claim and one reason why to show they understood the structure.
b. Review objectives
i.
T: Today we learned how to put all the parts of TREE together to make a paragraph with a topic sentence, reasons,
examples and an ending. Tomorrow we are going to get another chance to do it by ourselves. You did a great job at raising
your hand before speaking and following directions the first time asked. Remember to do your self ratings and put your
papers in the basket when the bell rings.
c. Clean up

Adaptations/Modifications/Accommodations: Students who are struggling will be helped by those students who
understand the information, or grouped with them when we are split up into groups. A simpler graphic organizer will
be used to help them follow along and write their paragraph. The whole class has been focusing on adding transition
words into the paragraph as well. Students who are ELL or have a communication disorder may require more explicit
instruction on topic sentence (claim), supporting reasons and examples. So, instead of putting in transition words into

their graphic organizer that can be left out for now and instead focus on more basic parts of TREE. These students
may also require more time to do the assignment. This extra time can be provided in the study skills class
environment or allow them to take it home to finish instead of turning it in at the end of the period.
Reinforcement Procedures: Reinforce behavioral expectations and give specific praise for following directions and
staying on task. In order to help when students get off task I will move around to be in a closer proximity and restate
my expectations to the class.
Daily Evaluation
a. Before lesson: Previous work on similar subject and last weeks progress monitoring for their paragraph writing
to see what the student is struggling with at the time.
b. During lesson: While walking around and helping students, the teacher will check for understanding by making
sure that the students have a topic sentence, supporting reasons, examples to support their reasons and a
conclusion. Because transition words have also been introduced this week, the teacher will also check to make
sure they are starting to use their transition words to move from their different ideas.
Post Evaluation (data-based decision making): Every Friday the students will be progressed monitored on their ability
to write a paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting reasons, examples and a concluding sentence. They will be
given a topic and five minutes of think time. At the end of the think time they will be given fifteen minutes to write
their paragraph. They paragraphs are progressed monitored checking for correct content (Topic sentence, reasons
supporting the topic sentence and conclusion), correct structure (complete sentences, complex sentences,
capitalization and punctuation), and how effective the students ideas were in connecting with the topic sentence. The
weeks results will be evaluated by the teacher to help decide what the next weeks instruction will focus on. For
example, if the teacher notices that a majority of the students in a specific class are struggling with claim then it
would be beneficial to include a focus or mini lesson on claim to reinforce or reteach.
The teacher will focus on a one paragraph argumentative essay with a topic sentence, supporting reasons and
concluding sentence until about 85% of the students can get at least 85% on the rubric scoring. This would indicate
that the students have the correct content, but may be struggling with creating complex sentences or need to
develop ideas that further support their topic sentences. A copy of the rubric is included for your enjoyment and
review. When the students have grasped the concept based on the numbers above the teacher will begin to work on
breaking up the paragraph to focus on specific parts of a five-paragraph essay. If after three data points or three
weeks the students are following below the line the teacher will pull those students in during iFlight (biweekly 35
minute intervention periods) to provide extra practice and reteach. If the majority of students are falling below the
goal, the teacher will reteach during class time going back to the basics of TREE and making a claim.
Follow-up Activities: We will continue to work on the TREE model for writing a paragraph as we go through the parts of
an essay. Counterclaim will now have a heavier focus and be required for each paper. Students who finish early will be
assigned to work with students who are struggling to get their idea from their graphic organizer to their paper.