American Education
System
Wednesday
Friedman “Obama Needs to Speak Honestly About Education”
Activity 1: Quickwrite
What role do your parents play in your
educational life? Would you like it to
be more, less, or is it just right? Going
forward how would you like them to
be involved?
Noticing Language
Look at pages 36-37 which has Thomas Friedman’s article “Obama
Needs to Speak Honestly About Education”.
Looking at context (the way a word or phrase relates to the
sentence it is in) can help us understand the language an author
uses more effectively.
Identify these words and phrases and write in the left margins
what these words mean in context:
–
–
–
–
–
Laundry list
Bully pulpit
Accountability
Inexorable downward progression
Educational complacency
Annotating the Text
Thomas Friedman is writing about a speech that Arne
Duncan, the secretary of education, gave. Friedman
thinks President Obama should talk about education
this way. As you read, ask yourself if you agree that
Obama should speak this honestly about education.
▪ Annotate by looking for examples of ethos, pathos
and logos. Label at least one example of each.
▪ Additionally, Make at least 3 thoughtful
annotations per page.
DO NOT TURN ANYTHING IN!
▪ Hang on to the activities we did today and
bring them to class on Thursday/Friday and
we will continue working with this text.
American Education
System
Thursday/Friday
Friedman “Obama Needs to Speak Honestly About Education”
Considering the Structure of
the Text
Now that you have read and discussed the content of
Friedman’s article, you are ready to begin analyzing its
organizational structure. First, divide the text into sections:
▪ Draw a line across the page where the introduction ends. Is
the line after the first paragraph, or are there more
introductory paragraphs?
▪ Divide the body of the essay into sections on the basis of
the topics addressed.
▪ Draw a line where the conclusion begins. Is it the last
paragraph, or does it begin before that?
Activity 2: Descriptive
Outline
Now that you have “chunked” the article into
different sections, you are going to analyze what
each of the parts “say” and “do”
Use the handout to build a descriptive outline of the
article “Obama Needs to Speak Honestly About
Education”
Activity 3: Writing a
Rhetorical Précis
A rhetorical précis is both a summary of an article and it shows
understanding of its arguments. In a précis you demonstrate
comprehension of the complexities and nuances in sophisticated
writing. The rhetorical précis includes five parts.
▪ Part 1: Introduce the author, the title, and the main argument.
▪ Part 2: Explain how the author develops or advances the argument.
▪ Part 3: State the author’s purpose of the text.
▪ Part 4: Describe the intended audience and the author’s relationship
to the audience.
▪ Part 5: Explain the significance of this work.
Use the rhetorical précis outline handout to write a rhetorical précis of
“Obama Needs to Speak Honestly About Education”
Activity 4: Thinking
Critically Questions
1.
Do you think that parents and students take education seriously? Explain your
reasoning.
2.
Identify and explain two of the concerns that the teachers addressed. Do you agree
with their concerns?
3.
Considering the structure of the text, and Friedman’s main point, do you think it was
effective for him to use the teacher’s quotes before mentioning Duncan’s speech?
4.
Reflect on this data. When I asked my colleagues “How many kids don’t turn in
smaller homework-like assignments?”, here’s what they said:
– 9th grade English 40%
– 10th grade English 50%
– 11th grade English 40%
– 12th grade English 25%
5.
Why don’t American parents ask for more challenging educational standards?
Due Now:
▪ Activity 1: Quickwrite
▪ Activity 2: Descriptive Outline (handout)
▪ Activity 3: Rhetorical Précis (handout)
▪ Activity 4: Thinking critically Questions