Tyler Chorebanian

Lesson Plan Template

Lesson: How to write a solid argument essay. What C.H.O.R.E.S. is and how it aids us in
argument essays.

Objective: Create a nuanced thesis. Develop an understanding of the use of C.H.O.R.E.S

within argument essays and how to use them to support your nuanced thesis.

Vocabulary terms:
Nuanced thesis - A thesis with minor details that greatly increase the complexity and make it
more interesting. Also could be a counterthesis.

Current Events
History
Observations and own experiences
Reading
Entertainment and Environment
Sports and Science

Bell-ringer (on the board): Hello class. Our main focus during this period will be to learn

what CHORES is and how to use them in our Q3 writing

pieces. CHORES is the acronym that helps us remember

where to draw evidence from when we write argumentative

essays. I know all of you are curious as to what it actually

means. The C in CHORES stands for Current events, the H

for history, the O for observations and our own experiences,

the R for reading, the E for Entertainment and Environment,

and the S for Sports and Science. As a warm-up, you should

all try to generate three pieces of evidence, one from a

different CHORES category, to support the open thesis on the

 board.

- *Thesis on the board*

- The development of technology has greatly

improved human life; however, technology’s

negative impact on the world needs to be

acknowledged.

Lesson Procedure/Activity 1 I want all of you to take out something to write with, iPads are

fine. I want all of you to jot down the main ideas from this

slideshow, at least a line or two for each slide. These notes

will be helpful in the next activity.

First slide (What I would say)

What is the most important part of your argument essay?

Correct. It is the thesis. If you have a strong thesis the rest of

your essay will come easy. For structure, always have your

thesis as the last sentence of your introduction paragraph; this

will let it stand out to the grader. Tip: If you don’t know what

to do for an intro paragraph don’t stress, just write a thesis. As

long as your thesis clearly argues something you will get the

thesis point, no introduction is needed to get that point.

Another tip is to make your thesis what you truly think. Don’t

simply argue the side that you think will sound better. It is
easier to argue something that you believe in.

Additionally, making your thesis nuanced will strengthen it

quite a lot, and also give you more to expand on in your body

paragraphs. The easiest way to make a thesis more complex is

by presenting a counterclaim. What this means is that you

state an argument, but also address the other end. This will

later set you up to expand on the counter-thesis and hopefully

provide evidence to shut it down. From essays I have read, the

only ones that get sophistication are those with counterclaims.

Second slide (What I would Say)

Why CHORES? Well, CHORES is just an easy way to

remember where most evidence is retained, also the categories

that CHORES provide tend to be relevant to your prompt

allowing you to spend less time pondering on what evidence

you will select. In the argument essay, you are encouraged to

use personal stories or experiences to support your nuanced

(hopefully) thesis. In my own experiences, supporting your

argument with personal anecdotes tends to be the easiest

evidence to use because I can easily refer to my feelings

during that moment. If you need to, you can use anecdotes

throughout your essay, but changing up what types of

evidence you use and referring to other elements of CHORES

 will provide you with more specific evidence, ultimately

strengthening your argument.

Third Slide

Please Review your notes with a partner or two, make sure

you have all the main ideas written down, and talk about one

thing that you will do to make sure you get a good score on

your Q3!

Lesson Procedure/Activity 2 For this next activity, you will all need your writing tools or

iPads out, computers are fine as well. I will project a prompt, I

want all of you, independently, to write down a thesis; I will

set a timer for one minute. Make it as developed and complex

as you can. After the timer ends, you will bullet-point three

pieces of evidence to support your thesis. Make sure to write

down what letter of CHORES helped you in finding your

evidence. I will set an additional two-and-a-half-minute timer

for that.

Once each person at your table group has finished this task,

you will all work together to develop a nuanced thesis based

on the prompt projected and two well-structured body

paragraphs that support your argument. You may use evidence

you already thought of, or work in collaboration to think of

 more. Please consider everyone's thoughts and ideas as it will

be the best way to build strong evidence, commentary, and a

thesis.

Additional activities Once there are 20 minutes left in class I ask that everyone stop

working no matter where they are, and share what they have

with me via email. I will post everyone’s essay to Google

Classroom for each table group to read and grade the essay.

Everyone knows that the more essays you read, the better

yours will be!

Whoever gets the best average score will get a piece of candy!

Yay!

Assessment/Lesson Closing I know you all enjoyed this class today and that you look

forward to delving even deeper into CHORES and

argumentative essays for homework tonight! Please write a

third body paragraph for an essay of your choice that was

done in class today. For a challenge, choose an essay where

the counterargument was not addressed in the body

paragraphs! If you do this you will get an extra point on your

Q3 which is next Monday! Use your notes from today to

prepare for it, I will also share a few of last year's AP exam’s

Q3 responses for you to read and grade. Have a good day.