Lesson Plan – ACP ENGLISH – W131
UNIT: Developing critical thinking (analytical thinking) as a habit of mind
August 4/5, 6/7 2015
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
 Understand and apply the Five Analytical Moves
 Infer implications from observations
 Understand how freewriting can lead to more in-depth thinking about an issue or topic
ASSESSMENT:
 Class discussion
 Brief writing
ACTIVITIES:
1. Have students go to WA in chapter 1 and review beginning on p. 17. Remind them of the
walk around the building. Direct students to read through the bottom of p. 17 and the
words “interesting,” “strange,” and “revealing.” Remind them that we will use these
terms this year and avoid the terms like and dislike and boring, etc.
2. Go back to the notice and focus from the building and work with a small group and draw
some inferences based on what you saw. Look at the top of p. 18. Then focus on the
comments at the top of p. 19 and the whole page regarding rhetorical analysis.
3. Go to you summer reading: Think about what the author is saying about Starbucks.
What did he notice, for example, that produced some of his inferences that allowed him
to write the book? (At this point we can discuss the book.)
4. Go to the discussion of freewriting on p. 20. Stress the importance of freewriting for
analytical thinking. Use the syphon example.
5. Have students discuss their comments on the 15 basic appeals for advertising.
6. Give them an ad to work with. Have them go through the five analytical moves and then
produce a couple of paragraphs of freewriting over the ad.
7. Have students bring in their own ad and prepare a presentation in which they analyze
the ad for the class. Use Keynote to provide an image. Can be video. But it must be an
in-depth look at the ad – not superficial. Use the five analytical moves.
NEXT LESSON: THE “SO WHAT”